Living the Simple Life

Awesome Webcam Program Called WebCam Max

2009-07-08T02:00:00.001-07:00

I have been using Webcam Max for quite a bit now to do videos, live streams and the like. I will say it has the best options of any client out there for Windows. With later versions, you can of course quick switch between sources, have as many Picture-in-Picture sources (PIP SOURCES) as you want, or can run. And it has some good, and some silly, effects. With Webcam Max, you can closely emulate the look at a feel of Chris Pirillo’s stream at live.pirillo.com Take a screen grab of a chat widow, and a black bar at the to, and manually input a topic header inside the program.. It is impossible right now to automatically get the topic, as there is no way to get an RSS feed. That is, until the developers incorporate it into the code.

Now, while it is great, it’s also nice that the support people at least look and respond to emails. I posted an idea of using RSS feeds for it, and the support contact was receptive to the idea. It showed that someone was actually looking at the emails and sending out a written statement, not a canned reply from an automated bot. Another good point is that from inside the main source options, for the Webcam, you can chose any video source that is on your machine. It’s awesome for TV Capture cards, and is what I use when streaming my games from my xbox 360.

Now, with the PIP sources, you can grab part of the screen, useful if you want to incorporate chat into videos or live streams. Besides screen, you can have pictures or a movie playing. It also gives you the option to clear the PIP selection. A drawback to the way it Webcam Max has it now, the PIP settings are not saved, nor can you define one that I have found that will keep the position, size, and location of the source. This is the worst for screen. You must re size the box in the window to get it where you want, and you must move where the screen capture is. Still though, minor annoyance, but nothing that is a major problem to overcome.

Webcam Max does have a a big drawback, and that only being if you are on a weak, single core system. The more PIP soruces and effect you have, the more CPU
it takes up. Howver, with most dual core systems, that is not a factor anymore. However, if you are on a decent system that isn’t a few years old, you can download this great peice of software here.

It's my 100th Post....and Boy is it a Big One...

2008-04-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

Yo, Yo, Yo, what's happening People? I just wanna say that this post is going to be a great one. Thanks to my friends Steve and Danny for inviting me along with them to Orlando to the annual King of Wake Competition in Orlando on April 27th. We got there around 1030am and stayed til the end of the event at 430pm. By watching the slideshow above you will see that I got a lot great shots of the scenery (God's greatest gifts when it comes to men) and some great shots of the action on the water. Considering that the pics were taken with my cell phone, they came out much better than expected. Those guys on their wakeboards just make it look so simple to be pulled behind the boat and do all the tricks that they can without bombing out and flying face first into the water. After the event, we went to the Ale House for a couple of pitchers of beer and caught the last 20 laps of the NASCAR race from Talladega. Then we headed over to IKEA before they closed at 7pm. IKEA rocks let me tell ya. I definitely like the way they have the store set up. Granted a lot of their stuff is rather cheaply made, but, hey you all know how cheap I am, LOL. I would love to go and spend about $200 on a few things there and completely redesign my whole condo. After leaving IKEA, we rode on over to the Parliament House to prowl for some hot gay men and enjoy the buffet that they usually have on Sundays. We stayed at the P-House until about 1130pm before heading over to Hanks. While we had a blast at both bars, we didn't leave until almost 2am to head back home. Then we somehow got stuck in a traffic jam on I-4 and it took us 45 friggin' minutes to travel 2 miles. I tell ya, from the beer, and sitting in damn traffic my eyeballs were floating down the interstate. Luckily, there was a bottle that I could use since I sure couldn't hop out and use a tree. So, I got back home right after 4am. I uploaded all the pics to the computer and finally headed to bed by 6am.

Not Much to Report...But.....

2008-04-22T23:52:00.001-07:00

Yo People, how's it going? Not much to report here on the news front. Been working and enjoying the wonderful weather. I am actually working on my tan for once. It's ashame I live in the Sunshine State and never get to enjoy it. So, on my past days off Missy, Tommy, and I hung out. On Sunday, Tex, Missy, John Jr, and I went to the Beach Bucket. Kris, if you are reading this, then you of course remember it. It's a nice little restaurant in a Time Share (Imagine that), that has a nice patio oceanfront. Of course, I took pics of the guys and gals frolicking on the sands of Daytona Beach. I will come back tomorrow evening and edit this post and add some good pics that were taken. We had 3 buckets of beer between the 4 of us. Which ended up being 3 beer for me. It was Budweiser and I prefer not to drink it because it can be known for headaches. But, somehow, I was fortunate not to get one. Tommy picked us up and dropped Missy and the boys off at their house and then he was heading to the Streamline. I wasn't having that. I wasn't in the mood for that. So, I walked home but not before stopping by Wendy's for an evening snack. Well, I apparently came home and dozed right off in the recliner and woke up right in time for Desperate Housewives at 9pm. And, of course, you know I was glued to ABC at 10pm when Brothers and Sisters came back on. There's just something about that show. I just can't explain it. Oh yeah, May I have your attention please.......Drum Roll Please..........I had 3 resolutions at the beginning of the year, and I have entirely accomplished one of them and the second one is in progress. I resolved to stop biting my fingernails (30+ years habit I have never stopped), quit smoking cigarettes, and to drop my weight down to 170lbs. Well, I am very proud to say that I haven't bitten a single nail since mid January. I did however, break my first nail last week opening a beer of all things. But my nails are now actually hanging over the tips of my fingers. I am so proud to have accomplished that one. On April the 20th, I declared that I would stop smoking cigarettes cold turkey. Here it is Wednesday morning 3:10am, and I haven't had a cigarette since Sunday. What made me to decide to quit smoking you might ask? Well, those of you who know me well enough, know I am one cheap bitch. LOL. I finally realized that my smoking habit was running me anywhere from $85 - 105 per month. I was smoking over a pack a day. How ridiculous to waste all that money on cigarettes? I think it is. I will be the first to admit, that I do enjoy smoking cigarettes, though. I enjoy having a beer and cigarette together. There's just something about the two that almost always go hand in hand. Tonight, was my first night back at work, and that was the true test. Being bored on a Tuesday night and not smoke. I actually did very good. I instantly chewed some gum every time I had a craving for one. It worked to my advantage of course. Well, to reward myself for not smoking, I have decided that I want to fly to Vegas for a few days in mid-July or early August. Bette Midler and Cher are performing at Caesar's Palace Colosseum. The tickets are relatively cheap in comparison to other concerts. I figure I can fly, get a nice employee discounted hotel room, and rent a car and take in the sights. I would love to make arrangements while I am there to see the Grand Canyon. I am thinking about taking the helicopter ride for that. I have always wanted to go to Vegas. Who knows, I may like it enough to move out there? LOL. I have been known to fly the coop several times on occasion. But, I will be sure to do it with complete planning as I did with the Tampa move as well. I figure with the Tax rebate we are supposed to be getting, I will pay an extra month's rent with it, while paying for the rent as I would usually. I would pay an extra month in June, so that I wouldn't have to pay rent until Sept 1. Meaning that by early July, I can organize my Vegas trip and not be in debt. Time will tell. As this is the early stages of the planning. On a different note, I want to say, last week I decided I would back up my important files and do a complete restore on my computer. I know I have mentioned I hate WINDOWS VISTA with a passion. I don't surf the web all that much except for the usual sites I always visit. But, for whatever reason, last week my computer was running extremely slow. I mean, so slow, I could have been impregnated and delivered the child quick than what my computer was running. So, after backing up my computer's file to DVD I took my computer to work and started the restore process there. I was prepared and made a list of the programs that I wanted to install back on after I was done restoring it. It took forever to get the restore complete because Vista is so damn slow. I brought the computer home and finished getting everything set back up and reorganized to my liking. There, is something I highly recommend y'all do. I have used it for a while now, but I was still always using internet explorer. I highly recommend using Mozilla's Firefox browser rather than Internet Explorer. Once you get everything tinkered to your liking, you can literally breeze through doing your normal day to day routine/sites in a matter of a couple of minutes rather than a long drawn out process. There are a few add-ons that make it the best yet. I am extremely happy using it instead of IE. All my friends, kept telling me to switch, but I will admit I was hard-headed and stuck on the IE. Okay, I just realize that the title said Not Much to Report, But.... I guess I have reported on more than I thought I was. I am going to finish sweeping up the the third time, since the floors are now drying. Yes, I sweep them twice before I mop it and then once more after it's been mopped. With two hairy pussy's in the house, I have to make sure I get all hair out of here. Peace out!

Daytona Gay Pride Festivities....

2008-04-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Hello People. How's it going? All is well here. Since my last post, not much has happened. Other than on Thursday, which was another night in hell at work. To sum it all up, I will make it quick. We had some guests who checked in a couple of weeks ago, that have done nothing but caused the staff grief. They have had to leave a couple of times, because we were sold out and didn't have availability for them to stayover. The wife is a raging bitch. She does nothing but complain about irrelevant things that are beyond our control. Such as, parents not watching their children while they are at the hotel. We aren't babysitters, you know. I bent over backwards to try and accommodate them, but that didn't appease them at all. While playing room roulette in the system, we had another problem room that caused us headaches from the time they checked in on Thursday. Well, around 930pm, I hear a call come across the radio about a light bulb catching on fire. I happened to be on the phone with the GM (one of about 10 calls in 2 hrs to him) and he wanted me to go take pictures. When, I walked in the room, it smelled like an electrical fire. Somehow, the light bulb and the socket, shorted out and literally caught the socket on fire. Luckily, it didn't cause any damage other than ruining the lamp. I had to move those guests into another room. Which meant I had to play more room roulette in the system. Which generally isn't hard to do, unless you are sold out in advance. Which we were sold out of course. So, I had to go to the Streamline after work and have a drink. I was so stressed out from the nights events. But, over the course of the weekend, it wasn't stressful at all even though we had cheerleaders, a wedding party, and a family reunion all at the hotel. Okay, enough about work. On to the picnic. Missy couldn't make it because they sprung a last minute wedding banquet at him. He asked his co-worker if her son could work, so he could join us for the once a year event celebrating our gay pride. And she told him no. Considering, whenever asks for time off and always works around their schedules, he was highly pissed at her. So in other words, it wasn't as much fun as could have been. The picnic itself was a dud in my opinion. Tommy swung by and picked my friend John (not Missy) and me up. We were supposed to meet Grace along with Jeff and Rob there. There were probably 100 people when we got there around 2pm. Of those 100 people, there were probably 75 lesbians and the rest were guys. There were a good number of kids and dogs running around. The weather was cloudy and it was actually chilly as well. We didn't stay but probably about 30 mins because it was just so boring. So, to spicen things up, we headed over to the Streamline. Our friend, Curly, was bar tending. It's always a blast with Curly. Would you believe that it was actually warmer at the Streamline, even though we were 4 stories up and closer to the ocean. It was so strange. I ordered the first round for Tommy, John, and myself. I ordered the beer, vodka & 7, and the screwdriver and then a round of Washington Apples. Well, some hag across the bar asked what the shots were and I told her. Then, it seemed like she was our best friend for the rest of the afternoon. She continued to buy us shots for a good 2 hours. So, needless to say, we were all well lit by 5pm. The sun miraculously came out around 4pm and it warmed up nicely. Our friend Leo swung by and then we decided we were going to go to the new bar that opened up, Solar Nights. When we got there, Grace was about to head over to the Streamline and meet us. I ordered another round for us and we headed outside so we could sit and smoke. I tell ya, I had a great time there. It reminded me of the times, that we had a few years ago at a bar that used to be down the street called Madonna's. We probably stayed at Solar Nights for a good 2 hrs just sitting outside. Then we headed back over to the Streamline. I think we had one round and we all called it a night. As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time. But, that's what we usually have when we all get together. I am thankful to have a great circle of friends that are like my family here locally. Well, I am going to bed now. I plan on getting about 12 hours of sleep, so I can get back in the work groove til Sunday. Have yourself a good week and as always, Peace out!

Just a Quickie...

2008-04-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Hello People. Hope all is well with you. I am sitting here watching Purrfect Predator on Animal Planet HD. It's talking about bobcats, lynx, and cougars. From all the pictures you have seen of Meeko, you know his perch in the house is on top of the cable box. But, he is so cute right now. He is sitting tall and proud up there. But, his eyes have been glued to the wall with the projector on it. He has literally been meowing out to the wall hoping that one of the cats on TV will talk back to him. He's is howling more than meowing. LOL. On, other news, work has been friggin' crazy. Since they fired the one looser that was working on the desk, they haven't replaced her yet. So that means we are understaffed. I have been going in early and working my shift alone. And, I tell ya, it's driving me insane. I am so busy for about 4-6 hours non-stop that finally when it slows down, my head is spinning and I just wanna knock myself out. Dealing with the switchboard that never stops ringing, the reservation line that is ringing at the same time as the switchboard, and a line of guests 6-8 deep is really stressful. I am all about giving great customer service, but when you are alone it seems customer service is the last thing on the mind. I just want to get them up to their rooms and make sure they are pleased with everything. And I just want to UNPLUG the damn phones. But, of course, that isn't the way I operate. I literally just grin and bear it and hope for he best. Well, I am tired of ranting. I going to bed. Peace out!

Another Day at the Helltel...

2008-04-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

Psst, People. It's 446am and do you know where I am? LOL. I am here blogging again. But, I had to blog about my crazy day at work. I guess I should have known it was gonna be a strange one because I overslept. I never oversleep. I usually get up no later than 1230pm. I usually hear the mailman delivering the mail between 1030am and 1230pm. Well, I when I did hear the mailman, I woke up out of my sleep. Then, I heard the knock at the door. So, of course I rolled out of bed and answered the door. Didn't put my glasses on. She told me I had a certified letter from the Hilton. I signed for it and came in and opened it. They, for some odd reason, sent my last pay stub by certified mail. LOL. I looked at the clock and shit my pants practically. It was 203pm. I called work and told them I would be there about 15 mins late. Well, when I walked in the door at work, I saw Kerri walking an elderly lady into the lobby and telling her everything would be okay. I went and punched in. The first call of the day for me was from our porter's mother that said her son had an emergency and wouldn't be in tonight. Then I heard the story behind the escorting. The lady must have gotten confused and was found in another room 2 doors down from her actual room. The guests in the wrong room walked in on her. She was sitting there eating some fruit loops, a banana, and drinking Rum right from the half gallon bottle. She was even popping their vitamins. She even plugged in the iron and left it on. We couldn't find the actual people she was supposed to be with. To be safe, we locked the guests out of the room, so they would come to the desk so we could explain what had happened while they were away. We had a late checkout at 3pm. Well, I asked around 330 if they had checked out. I had the maintenance man go up and check the room to see if they had left. He radioed back and told me that they were gone. So we thought all was well. Then the family of the lost lady came in and Kerri explained to them the story. That's when they told us that she had brain cancer. They said she shouldn't have been left alone, but they thought it was okay to leave her for 90 mins while they went and did their TIMESHARE tour. I was thinking to myself, 90 mins is a long time to leave a lady that was in her condition, but I didn't speak that aloud. So all was fine. Well, after they walked away from the desk, it wasn't 5 mins later when a lady come up to the desk to make a complaint. I was checking in another couple when the lady told Patrick that she wanted to know why the maintenance man was drunk and was trying to escort them up to the room. Granted we have smelled alcohol on him before, he did a decent job around the hotel. The guest said he wreaked of alcohol. By this time, Kerri and my GM were on a conference call. So, we couldn't interrupt that. We apologized the best we could and she went on her way. The maintenance man stopped by the desk, and I could smell the alcohol on him from 5ft away. Patrick even got a whiff of it too. I filled out an incident report of what happened with her and what was said. Well, around 430 I went downstairs to smoke a cigarette. I sure didn't expect to walk back into hell again. But, low and behold, I did. Patrick told me he just saw the window of a car in the parking lot just explode. Their was no one around it and just busted and crashed to the ground. I just shook my head and laughed. So, we made the calls up to the room and their number on file only to get voicemail for both. I left a VM in the room for them to call the front desk ASAP. Well, about 515pm, they called down and I explained what had happened and ask them to come down to the desk. They were a nice African American couple that just couldn't believe what had happened. It was a rental car. I went ahead and called the police so they could have a report filled out for the rental agency. While waiting on the police to show, I answered a call for someone asking to speak to the GM. I realized that it was the guest that was complaining about the drunk maintenance man. I transferred the call to him. Then the police showed up about 15mins later to start working with the couple's incident report. Well, as my GM was leaving, he told me didn't want the maintenance man going into any occupied guest rooms for the rest of the evening. I knew I would be the Do It All Bitch for the rest of the night. Which I actually don't mind doing, since it breaks the monotonous on the front desk. I had a few housekeeping and maintenance calls when my GM called and told me he wanted me to send the drunk home and to call and speak with him tomorrow. Well, I tried radioing him for 10 mins while looking all over the hotel for him to let him know. I just couldn't find him nor would he answer back on the radio. Then all of the sudden he appeared in the back office and before I could inform him of the outcome, he said he was fed up and going home for the night. Then, I informed him of what my GM had requested. So he went on his way. Then, I kindly helped the couple with the busted window by grabbing a wetvac and vacuumed their car out and got all the broken glass out of the door frame and such. There was glass all over the inside and outside of the car. The police determined it was just an act of nature. I have heard of windows popping when the weather changes from hot to cool in a matter of minutes. We had a nice quick cold rain shower come through around 4pm and of course the window popped around 430. I gave them directions to the rental agency so they could get a replacement car. And wouldn't you know it, all of the above happened from 245pm - 7pm. What a crazy evening it was. LOL. Okay had to share it with y'all. Hope you got a laugh out of it all, cause I know I sure did. Now, its 523am and I am taking my happy ass to bed. Peace out!

April Has Sprung....

2008-04-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

Hola, People. Hope you are all doing fine and dandy. I know for sure I am. I just can't believe it's already friggin' April. It's 249am, right now. Let's see how long this entry will take. As I, have a good bit of blogging to catch up on. LOL. I know I have promised you a few out of you out there that I would catch up on here and add some more pics and such. Well, I frankly, have not in the mood to sit here and type all the happenings. But, now I am, and here we go. LOL. As I mentioned in the last entry, the owner of the Streamline passed away on March 12. What I failed to mention at the time was that they were having a Celebration of Life on his behalf on Easter Sunday. I must say when Missy, Tommy, and I stopped by the Streamline, it was a touching experience. You will see that in the pictures. There were at least 150 people upstairs. They had rainbow balloons tied to the railings on the balcony all the way around the place. It was so windy, but they managed not to pop or fly away. There were tables for 8 with nice white linens all the way around the top of the balcony. Whistle Junction catered the food. As the sun was setting we released all the balloons and said a few words in remembrance of Eric. He will be missed. All on the inside of the Penthouse and the Nascar bars were displayed items and pictures of Eric's journey around the world with his family and friends. It was rather nice. Overall, it was a nice experience. The painted the exterior of the balcony upstairs and put a new coat throughout the Penthouse as well. A lot of people don't like the Streamline, but I am one of the few that actually do. Granted, it's full of hustlers and trolls, but if you look past that, there's no other bar in this town like it with it's panoramic views of the city and the beach. The hustlers, nor the trolls, for that matter really bother me. Most know, that's not my scenery or choice in life. But, every time I go, I always have a good time with friends and the bartenders. Okay, let me move on. I have been working the evenings at work. When I worked in NC in the hotel business, it was a little different. We didn't have to deal with perturbed time share tourists. I now remember why when I went to Tampa I wanted to leave the hotel business. They drive me insane sometimes. I just have a low tolerance to ignorance these days. But, I do take into consideration, that they may just be oblivious to the facts and not really not what common sense really is. I had one this evening that just about made me lose my temper. I was literally shaking. She continued bitching about how the time share people told her this and that. I asked her to relax and let me get them checked in so they could at least enjoy the hotel and not have to worry about their stay with us. I have been saying this alot lately, but it's women like her that absolutely make me happy that I am gay. If I was to be her husband, I don't think I could take her mouth that would never shut up and all it spewed out was whining and complaining about little things that didn't need to be discussed in a place of business. She was totally out of line so much, that after 15 mins of listening to her moaning, I had to threaten her with "I will refuse you service, if you don't relax and not complain anymore". But, she wouldn't and I tried to stick with my threat. I called the Welcome Center back and advised them that we were refusing service to the client and I would be sending them back so they can direct them to another hotel to stay at. However, my boss came back, and I advised him of everything and he wouldn't let me do it. He said give them the best customer service possible and write down the complaints. Of course, I replied with, how can I give good customer service when she is being a raging bitch and won't keep her mouth shut. He said just do it. So, it took every last nerve I had to go back with that fake smile and get them checked in. But, the ladies friend, told her to go outside and keep her f'ing mouth shut as well. I got my curtains finally for the living room. Of course, thanks to Missy, he advised me that I should use the ones that I got with my comforter set back at Christmas. Well, the two panels that came with it weren't wide enough. So, I hopped on http://www.brylanehome.com/ and ordered another set up curtains. I also ordered a nice black sheer curtain as well to go behind them to help keep out the sunlight. Of course, my idea worked because it filtered out the sunshine but still let in the actual light. I can now comfortably still watch and see the projector during broad daylight now. This past Saturday at work, if anything could go wrong, it did. We had a washer break down, meaning that all of the rooms weren't clean and inspected until almost 5pm. We also had an elevator break down. And to top it off, we were SOLD OUT. Everything in the hotel is brand new, not half assed repaired. But, it sucked having those issues arise. I got my first full power bill this month. Amazingly, it was even lower than last months, which was for 3 weeks. Only $26 is all it was. I am impressed with the way my condo stays at a constant 72-28 inside even when its almost 90 or 40 outside. I haven't had to crank up the A/C just yet. And at this rate, I don't want to turn the damn power hog on. LOL. My children are doing quite well with each other. Meeko has pretty much gotten acquainted in his new surroundings and he's a good cat. Jerry is still king of this condo and will always be. He still thinks he can get on my counters in the kitchen, and knows I won't tolerate it. He probably wallers all over them when I am not home just to be spiteful to me. LOL. Well, it's now 3:55am and I am going to go to bed. Hope you all enjoyed this post and I will be blogging again soon. I really want to get this down to a pattern of blogging at least once a week if not twice. Have a great night and as always, PEACE OUT!

3 Days of Pure....

2008-03-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

People, what's going on? I wanna say after a long 2+ months, Tommy and I are back on speaking terms. It was a very quiet 2 months without having him talk to me. This all happened back on New Years Eve. I was a raging bitch and I hurt his and Mary D's feelings. Mary still won't speak to me, but that is her decision and I respect that. I met Missy and Tommy down at the Streamline last Monday night at 130am to watch Space Shuttle Endeavour launch into space. That's when Tommy and I put the past behind us and are back to our usual selves now. But, now to the past three days. Let me just start off with saying, WOO HOO it's Spring Break 2008 here in Daytona Beach. I have never been to college, and have no desire for it or wallet for it for that matter. It all started this past Friday. I really didn't intend on going to the bar after I got off work. But, a buddy of mine, hopped on the trolley on my way home and said he was going to the bar for "1" drink. I figured, "what the hell, 1 drink would be great". All I can say, was that the 1 drink turned into probably 10 or 12. I had blast that night at the Streamline. I was on a roll for sure. It was one of those nights that I had way too much fun. I luckily didn't wake up with a hangover on Saturday. I went to work and I'll be damned if I didn't go to the bar again. I did find out that the owner of the Streamline passed away on March 12th. That is really a sad thing. But, I am very thankful for the memories he allowed us to have over the last 4 years. Saturday night at the bar was really fun as well, since it was Latese's birthday. She looked damn good all dressed in black with her white pearls on. Well, I stumbled home from the bar at some point. I woke up Sunday morning and had plans to hook up with Missy and hang out with him at the Bermuda House at their tiki bar. I met up with him around noon. That's when he passed the news on that one of our friends, Kat, was in a wreck last week. She had apparently gotten off work that morning and was on her way home. She was in a Miata convertible. She apparently didn't see that someone had hit a horse and she slammed into it. She flipped her car about 4 times and of course totalled it. She was almost killed. She broke her neck, a few vertebrae, and got really banged up. She has been in the hospital since it happened. She is now in the intensive care unit and in the halo setup. I do wish her the best of luck and a speedy recovery. Missy and I then went over to the Bermuda house around 1215pm only to find that the bar hadn't opened up yet. So, we decided to stroll up the beach to the Beach Bucket. I took my shirt off and decided I was gonna work on my sunburn. Yes I mean sunburn. I have to burn first before I tan. Tommy called to find out where we were and he met us there. We sat there for about 3 hours sipping on Beer and watching all the activity on the beach. Whether it was the cars that continuously kept getting stuck. Or the hot boys that were playing Frisbee and volleyball. I was seriously trying not to get obliterated while drinking, but what hell, it's SPRING BREAK. LOL. We left the beach bucket and went to Missy and Tommy's house. Well, the woman in me came out yesterday. I was in Missy's bedroom and Jack came in and said that a black snake had crawled up on the back porch and turned around and hauled ass off the back porch. You all know how much I am terrified of snakes. Well, I sat in the doorway to the back porch for about 15 mins. My heart was about to beat it's way out of my chest. Well, John wanted me to go in his bedroom and get something. Well, I looked where he told me and I couldn't find it. So, I ventured back out on the back porch and told him I couldn't find it. He moaned and bitched because I couldn't find it and he went inside. Well, the bitch he can be he was, he came back on the back porch and said "here it is", and I turned around to see, and he threw a rubber snake at me. I thought I was going to really have a heart attack then. I screamed and hollered while everyone else was laughing their asses off at me. I almost shit my pants. I knew I was roasted after 3 hrs in the sun, and countless beer I was toasted by then. LOL. I'll be damned if we didn't go back to the Bermuda House and hung out there with a few guys that had come down from NY on their spring break. After a couple of beer and a shot of tequila and another hour of sun, we went down to the Streamline. An acquaintance of ours was celebrating his 35th anniversary with his lover. However, I was not in the drinking mood anymore. I only had 2 beer and I was over it. I saw the boys on their way home and then I practically almost crawled home. SUN AND ALCOHOL DO NOT MIX. LOL. I crawled up on the couch and dozed for a few hours. I woke up around 8pm and surfed the net for an hour and decided to snooze again and woke up around 2am. I surfed the net and played on Pogo.com for a bit. I crashed again and woke up around 1030am this morning when Missy called to confirm that he and I were going to go four wheeling on the beach today. Someone that checked in the hotel had gone on their time share tour. They were given a voucher for an hour rental on a four wheeler. I figured that it would be culture for me to hop on a four wheeler and ride up and down the beach. Well, come to find out Missy has been here 26 years and has never ridden the four wheelers on the beach. Well, Missy didn't want to have (his words) "a wasted hardon shoved in my back while riding a four wheeler. Which I didn't want him to be shoved up my ass for an hour. So we paid $8 to upgrade to the "little red car", which was a red golf cart that looked like an old classic hot rod (so hot it went only 10mph. We had a blast watching the boys, the hags, and everyone else enjoying their time at the beach. After our hour was up, you don't have to guess what we did. LOL. We met a friend of Missy's, along with Tex, at the Grand Seas and we of course had a beer. I told Missy I was not getting Shitfaced today. After spending the last 3 days shitfaced out of my mind, I was going to relax today and not drink myself to death today. Well, Tommy met up with us and then we went to the Bermuda House for a round or two. Then John Rozier came by and visited us for a round. Well, we left there and then went back to Missy and Tommy's house and sat there with John R, Tex, Jack, and us 3 and had a couple more beer. Tommy went and took a quick power nap. Missy and I went to the back porch and chilled out. Missy told me Tommy would be napping for 45 mins and I'll be damned if she wasn't correct. About 45 mins later out strolls Tommy raring to go down to Beach Street for the block party they were having for St. Patricks Day. I refused to go down, but he was kind enough to take me home. I came home and napped for a few hours. Before I go tonite, I do wanna mention that Meeko and Jerry are doing well. I was actually very surprised last week when I witnessed Jerry beat the living daylights out of Meeko. They were all over this house like you wouldn't believe. It was comical as all get out. Okay, it's 1am and I have been doing this blog entry for over 2 hours now. Have a great night and Peace out!

1st Month Passes...

2008-03-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Psst, how's it going People? All is great here. I never imagined how happy I would be living alone. But, alot of things have happened in the last month. Just to name a few, moving in my own apartment, leaving the Hilton, starting a more enjoyable job, riding the bus again (something I actually enjoy doing as well), acquiring a new family member to the house (Meeko), and there's been a few other things that have all contributed to my happiness. For those who know me well enough, I am one of those people when they get their mind set on doing something, that I will be anal about making sure there's a few plans in place just in case something fails. I am adding some more pictures that I have taken through the week of the Bike Week Festivities. I can say that this is one of the more enjoyable Bike Weeks that I have had. I don't know why, but I have always said, that life is what you make it. So I am banking on that's why I am much happier these days. Speaking of being happy, I got my first power bill today. It was a whopping $30. I was thrilled to death. Missy came by today and brought his MP3 player we ordered off eBay. It came from Hong Kong. It took just over 2 weeks for him to get it. But, its a neat little gadget for $20 shipped. Its a large peanut shaped player that has a 1gig USB storage drive built in it. We hooked the laptop up to the projector (since he is blind as a bat and can't see much LOL). We started rummaging through my music collection, which is actually his as well here on the computer. We managed to put 112 songs on it in about 15 mins. I gotta tell ya, having another cat in the house has been uplifting. I always thought Jerry was a lazy cat by choice. But, now that Meeko has gotten settled, he and Jerry are just like best of friends. They play around with each other and chase each other. Jerry likes to attack him from underneath the "cattertainment" center. I am very happy with that craigslist purchase. Meeko still sleeps at the foot of the bed. Sometimes he has snuggled up with a pillow. I just admire that he is a vocal kitty. You can talk to him and he talk right back to him. We had some nasty understorms come through this afternoon and evening. There was possibly a tornado down in Ponce Inlet. Well, I am off Sunday and Monday. I have one more day of dealing with the bikers. It will be nice to see them me on and bring the spring breakers in. I am hoping that with the economy in such a pitiful state, that more local colleges come to town. They don't seem as destructive as the out of towners that visit. Well, I am off to bed. Have a great weekend. Peace out!

Addition to the Family....

2008-03-03T19:44:00.001-08:00

Whadup People? I'm sitting here watching the science channel and learning about the story behind how the internet was brought to light. It's amazing that 10 years ago, I was just a baby when it came to surfing the world wide web. I was just realizing that anything that I could think of that I could search for on the net. Where would this world be without the internet and Google?It's actually an amazing story. But, I guess I've always been a geek in a sense. Wel as you know I had my housewarming party this past Friday. It was a complete success. Most everyone stopped by and I had a blast. But, before the party was happening, I came across something on Craigslist that I had to have. And it was even delivered to me. All for free. He's a beautiful Seal Point Siamese. His name is Meeko. He's the prettiest thing with blue eyes I have seen. I'm hoping that Meeko will be a little bit more loving than Jerry. Jerry, of course, is still the baby of the house. But, I must say, he was acquainted with Meeko in no time. He literally would scowl at him. Meeko did all the growling and hissing. Meeko sleeps at the foot of the bed with me. Jerry, still props himself up anywhere he can. He does like laying on top of that entertainment center I got. They both have full house privileges, except they know they are not allowed on my kitchen counters. By Saturday, they were doing just fine. I woke up and found that the house wasn't trashed at all, and I had it picked up in less than 15 mins. I love having a dishwasher. My life is so much easier having one. Missy and Tex swung by around noon on Saturday. We had a few beer here at the house and then headed over to the Streamline for a few more. As you can see from the pictures, Daytona is full of bikers in town. The view from Streamline is one of the best in town, because you can see both North and South on A1A. We have until next Sunday and then they will slowly depart town. I live one block from Main Street and I have heard the rumble of bikes for over a week now. I haven't even lost any sleep over it. Jeff met up with us at the Streamline and we all came back to my house. Jeff ran Tex home and Missy and I went back over to Jeff's for dinner. Well, Rob never got around to making dinner, so Jeff and I ran Missy home. With the bikers in town, there was no way to get around Main Street other than crossing the bridge and hitting one of the other bridges that come to the beachside. Well, wouldn't you know it, as Jeff was coming over the bridge, a motorcycle cop clocked him doing 55mph in a 40mph zone. Jeff, was all fine with that, until the cop gave him a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt. Jeff, however, was wearing his seatbelt and only unbuckled it after stopping to get his wallet out. We dropped Missy off and made it back to my house without any further delays. I slept pretty good Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning. I swept and mopped the floors. Even cleaned up the bedroom, which is something I hadn't done since moving in. I did go to the Streamline for a couple of drinks. I got home and was in bed rather early. I didn't leave the house today. Well, I am going to end this for now, enjoy the pictures. Have a good night. Peace out!.

Once Every...

2008-02-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hello, People. I know I have been a lazy bum last couple of weeks. But, I can be. LOL. Race Week came and went. Working at the Hilton was very enjoyable, but considering it was supposed to be busy, I barely made $50 for the entire week. But, the day after they left, I made $350 in one day. I did however quit the Hilton afterwards. I got a call from someone and they offered me good pay guaranteed. I started working there and like it much better. I am back behind the front desk, guess that is where I am destined to be. The hotel is beautiful. Completely renovated as of last year. Today, I am throwing a housewarming party. Invited all my friends to swing by at their convenience and check the new pad out. It's also my traditional Leap Year party. I did go thrift shopping the other day with Charlie and I actually hit some good bargains at Big Lots and Dollar General. I got some essential kitchen supplies for about $20. Where if I would have gone to Walmart I would have paid around $35. The thrift stores didn't pan out with much for me other than a collander and a paper towel holder. I have racked up on craigslist though. I got a very nice small entertainment center for $10 and a brand new set of pots and pans for $10. I am very happy living alone. It is so enjoyable not having to creep around someone else. Going to bed whenever I want. Leave to toilet seat up if I want. LOL. I enjoy cleaning the house up as well. Keeping the hair that accumulate from Jerry is the hardest part. But it doesn't take anytime to sweep the place up. I fill the dishwasher up a couple of times a week. I have cooked more in the last 3 weeks than I have in the last year. Isn't that hilarious? I am off the next 3 days and I will get a video of the apartment uploaded on here. I will also walk down to Main Street and get some video of the bikes and action that goes on down there. Well, off to get ready for the party. Maybe I can get some good pics of the party as well. Have a great weekend. Peace out!

New Lease on Life...

2008-02-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hey People. Hope you all are having a grand day. I sure am. Just an update on the move. It was all completed on Saturday. I signed the lease on Friday and the realtor was nice enough to give me the keys early. Jeff and I went to the Streamline to celebrate the occasion. I tell ya it was a nice feeling to get the keys to my own apartment. With that being said, I called work and asked if we could rearrange my schedule so I could get the move over with. They were very accomodating and let me have Sat, Sun, and today off. Fortunately, I had the power and cable scheduled to be turned on today. Without the internet, was all the motivation I needed to get the place completely set up. The power was already on, so that helped a good bit. Thanks to the help from Jeff, Rob, Missy, Danny, and Tex we got everything from Clay's house to the new apartment in about 2 hours. Fortunately I only live a half a mile away from his house. With the boys help we got the majority of the stuff packed up in totes unpacked in a matter of a few hours. With Missy's help I got the bedroom basically set up. We stopped working on the place around 730p. I believe I crashed for the night around 1030. I woke up on Sunday morning and did what I do best, which is bounce around the house and completed getting everything out of the totes and put in it's place. While doing everything, some of my friends stopped by for a visit. Everyone seems to love my bathroom because of the fixtures. Brian, Mike, and Chuck swung by during the early afternoon. By 7pm, I was completely finished. Got the projector and all the gadgets that go with it set up and in place. Greg and Jason came over from Deltona to have some dinner. Rob and Jeff joined us. We cooked 4 steaks and 2 chicken breasts on the big George Foreman that I have all at the same time. We made some macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, steamed vegetables, tossed salad, and I baked up some french fries. Dinner was splendid. After dinner, I put in my favorite movie since the boys haven't seen it. We were practically in tears pissing our pants. If you have never seen SORDID LIVES, then you must rent it or buy it....it will be one for your collection of best comedy. The boys left around 1am and of course I crashed. I must tell you that I am very excited about the apartment. I am glad I chose the one with no bedroom windows. My bedroom is nice and dark. The living room is small, but I have it arranged to make it a little bit more comfortable. My couch and loveseat are really too big for this small room. The kitchen is awesome because it has the bar in it. It is nice to chit chat with those in the living room and see them from the kitchen. I have plenty of cabinet space and the pantry is huge. There is a nice linen closet outside of the bathroom and it has a closet in the bathroom. It is where the air handler is and also the device that is my tankless water heater. It is supposed to save on electricity to not have to store hot water in the tank. I guess you can call it Hot Water On Demand. The laundry room is literally right around the corner from my apartment, along with the dumpster, and mailboxes. Well, I will post a quick video tomorrow of the place. I am about to hit the sack. Peace out!

Time to let the cat out of the bag...

2008-02-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hey People. Hope you all are having a happy February thus far. I know I am. I am very excited. I am finally taking a step in life in a direction I have never even attempted before. I will be signing a year lease on my own apartment. I have never lived alone before. I have reached a point in life where I want to live alone without roommates. I want my own independence. Granted I have really had a bit of good luck with roommates over the past 14 years, but I think the last year slowly made me realize that I want to live alone. I found a completely renovated 1 bedroom apartment in a complex only 1/2 a mile away from my job. The building has sat empty since the hurricanes of 2004. It's on the ground floor. It has brand new tile all the way throughout, brand new maple cabinets, granite countertops, fancy fixtures, and it even has a dishwasher. I will be installing an alarm first thing for sure. It's sorta small but since I have downsized a good bit, I will not have too much to deal with. I have just enough furniture to make the place look good. Another feature I like about the place is that the bedroom doesn't have any windows. I have always enjoyed having a dark bedroom. I will be moving in by Monday. I figure it won't take me too long to get the place looked lived in. I gave Missy the infamous disco ball and I am trading with Brian to get rid of my disco lights. Where that phase in my life was lots of fun, this time I am going with a very simple but conservative look. Most everything will either be black or white with the exception of some silver and grays. I am going to make a trip over to Orlando and visit the IKEA store. I have my sights set on a new coffee table and some floor lamps and shelves. I am also looking into getting a new comforter set as well. Not exactly sure as of yet what my bedroom is going to look like, but I know it will look great. Also on the news front, I will be starting my part time job in a couple of weeks. I am going to be working part time at a very nice hotel making decent money. I figure that working 18hrs a week part time will almost pay my rent alone. That will give me plenty of extra money to work on my next project that I am trying to accomplish. That project is going to take a few months just to make sure that it is a wise decision. I will be sure to record a video of the new place and post it on here, if I can figure out how to do that. Well, 430am comes early, I am off to bed. Until next time, Peace out and have the best one you can have!

LOST returns.....

2008-01-31T16:15:00.000-08:00

Hey People. Where to begin??? I'm probably gonna bounce around a little, but bear with me. I am SOOOO Happy right now because LOST is returning tonight. I watched the special enhanced version last night and learned a lot of things I didn't know. I have been patiently waiting for tonight. I don't even know where to start to think where they are going to take us with this show now that they are introducing us to future scenes. It's the fourth season and we have always dealt with the past and present. I'm sure I will be blogging alot about it because we only get 8 episodes since the Writers Guild started the strike in December '07. Hopefully that strike will end very soon. On to other news, work is great. I am about to hit my 90 days and I am looking forward to a promotion. I've been getting up at 430ish in the morning to go to work. But, it's nice getting off around 230 in the afternoon. I filed my taxes and I am getting a nice refund check that I plan on using wisely. It's part of the the few surprises I have spoken about in my last blog. I'm not gonna disclose them just yet, but so far at least one of the two seem to be falling right in place. I will know for sure in the next few days, and as soon as it does, I will be sure to blog about it. Let's just say, it's par for the course for me. I'm sure you won't be surprised. One of my co-workers made a comment saying she wished she were as "adventurous and ambitious" as I am. She knows when I get a burr up my ass, I do what it takes to make it happen. (Get your minds out of the gutter!!) I think I have always been one to go all the way when I put my mind to it. Well, I am going to log off for now and get ready for LOST. I will post more soon enough. Peace out!

A Work in Progress....

2008-01-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

Yo, wassup people. I figured I would give an update as to what is going on. I am glad that the slow season is over with here in Daytona. I have officially been made a bellman at work. Which is actually interesting considering that in my 14 yrs of working at the many jobs I have had, I have never worked for tips. I can say that I am happy about having money in my wallet everyday now, rather than living paycheck to paycheck. It seems I am budgeting money better now than before. But, I can tell you, that I do enjoy being a bellman. Since my employment began back in November, I have DROPPED 20+ pounds thus far. Which is something I am glad to say, that just by me working my ass off. I'm used to being lazy at work. Standing behind a counter or sitting at a computer on the phones. With all the lifting, pushing, and pulling I do now, it's slowly starting to pay off. But trust me, it's the only work I do. I would say on average, I walk 5 miles a day on a slow day and if we are busy, I can easily walk 12+ miles a day. Granted I walk to and from work. It also helps that I have extremely cut back on my drinking habits as well. Of course living with Missy I drank way more than I should have, but no matter what, we always had a great time. I can say I haven't even drank a case of beer since the beginning of the year. There have been many days that being a bellman have paid off (taking home almost $200 a day). I have had several guests write letters to management in reference to the service I provided them. I also have put forth my knowledge and have been working on a concierge book for us to use at the bell stands and the concierge desk. My managers are thrilled that I am I as outgoing and flexible as I am and eager to do whatever it takes to keep the guests happy and satisfied. They have really tried to get me to go back behind the front desk, but that is not going to happen. I REFUSE to do that again for a long time. On the home front, my bedroom is finally finished. I actually got the projector and it's shelf hung on Monday. I got tired of waiting for someone to help me and I just did it myself. I had to hang a white sheet up to cover the wall since the projector didn't like projecting on the orange wall. I was very impressed with how well the sheet actually worked. I swear I will post some pics of what it looks like. Either my friends are lying to me or they agree with me that considering the colors I chose to paint this room turned out much better than anticipated. I do want to let you all in on a secret....but I am not letting the cat out of the bag just yet. I foresee some exciting changes in my future within the next couple of months. For those of you who know me well enough, you all know that when I put my mind and willpower into something that I really want I usually get it. I hope that is the case this time around. There are going to be at least 3 major developments occurring in the next 2-3 months. I will tell you just one of them though, in March when my insurance kicks in, I will be getting me a prescription to the Chantix. I have talked to several people that have taken it and it made them stop smoking. I am determined to quit for good. Our insurance actually pays everything but $20 for it. I think that is a helluva bargain considering its about $160 a month. So you all can wish me luck on that adventure. I plan on doing what I did last time (joined the gym) when I quit smoking and that was reward myself with something in a similar fashion. Maybe just buy a weight set and bench and work out at home. I am shooting to weigh 170lbs by my birthday in May. So, if quit smoking and continue to drink lightly (which are two things that I actually enjoy), I think I will be able to be healthier and happier with who I am striving to be. It's all just a work in progress. I will keep you all informed of course. Who knows what the future has in store for me? I can only hope and try to make sure it's all positive. Well, have a great weekend. Peace out!

2008 Is Here.

2008-01-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year People. This was the first New Year that I was home and in bed by 10pm. I was sleeping soundly as it came into effect. Went out to dinner with Mary and Tommy at the Ocean Deck. Then we had a drink at the Streamline. After that Mary and Tommy left me behind at the Streamline and headed on down to Main Street for the block party they were having there. I was ready for a laydown by 930pm. Only had 4 beers and 1 shot. Finished painting my bedroom today (minus the baseboards). Got my new comforter set put on the bed and hung my pictures up on the wall. I have to paint one more wall back to white since I am going to put the projector in the bedroom. I have to it up for Jan 31st since LOST is coming back on supposedly. The writers' strike is affecting it as well, but we at least got 8 episodes a coming. Well, I am loving my job. I am looking forward to my changing of positions in Feb. Who knows, I may become a bellman. There is plenty of money to be made there, that is for sure. Well, I'm gonna finish the last couple of packs of cigarettes I have and try to stop smoking. My New Years' resolutions are the typical ones. I am determined this year to get down to 165lbs. I will stop smoking. I will get in shape. I will continue to be as happy as possible. I will get a vehicle this year as well. I see my future be bright and happier than ever. I hope you all have a prosperous New Year ahead of you and get everything you want out of it. Peace out!

Oh what a feeling...

2007-12-15T10:03:00.001-08:00

Hey People. How's it going? All is just great here. I am glad to say I have officially moved. I am slowly getting settled in to my new home. It's a cute old house. I have a great roommate, whom I have known for about 6 years. He was looking for a roommate. I came and checked the house out and immediately fell in love with it. It has a huge living room, enclosed front porch, huge kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, fenced in front/back yard, and a pool in the back yard. I moved everything out of Missy's house and Mary's garage on Thursday. Missy was rather impressed that I didn't have that much stuff to move. I did downsize a good bit from having the yard sale. We actually made it happen with 3 vehicles in one trip. All I have done so far is set my bed up. I missed my bed. LOL. It's been a long, but great, 4 months without it. I can say, that I had a grand ol' time staying with John and Tommy. But, I do expect to have a great time in the new house. It is going to be a showplace when Clay and I finish decorating it and putting some TLC into it. It will be a great place to entertain others as well. Well, I am cutting this short for now, I have to be at work in a bit. Til next time. PEACE OUT and Happy Holidays!

Yep, I'm still alive...

2007-12-05T13:51:00.001-08:00

Howdy People. I am still around. Not much to post about other than a few exciting things. Life is great. I have been in the company of my friends and we are making the best out of everything and having a ball while doing it. Let me update real quick on this while I am thinking about it. Remember when we held John's Bday Party at Stroh's? Well, 2 weeks after that, the Volusia County Motel/Hotel Association named John the Food & Beverage Employee of the year. That's an honor considering there are about 8,000 hospitality workers in Daytona. So after he went to the party and received the award with Mary E, Tommy & I met them at Stroh's to have a couple of celebratory drinks. We had a blast and John was in shock that he was even nominated. Wouldn't you know it, that 3 days afterwards, Stroh's CLOSED on us. That was like a favorite 2 blocks away hangout for us to go to. On to something else, I have left my old job once and for all. I have been working for a new company and I am really glad to be there. I also painted the majority of Mary D's interior house (minus the bedrooms) over the last month. I took my time and I think it looks pretty damn good if I say so myself. I helped with rearranging everything that we could and it looks snazzy. I also had a garage sale over at Mary's. We planned it for a week in advance, and we advertised in the http://www.newsjournalonline.com/ , along with the http://daytona.classifieds.floridapennysavers.com/CLASS/PClass.aspx , and I heavily used http://www.craigslist.daytona.org/ , too. You wanna talk about a comical time those 3 days were. We priced everything a week in advanced. We then woke up around 5:30am on 11-16-07 and set everything up in the driveway. By 7am we were pretty much setup completely. In the newspaper and pennysaver we had the ad say we were starting at 9:30a until 3:30p. Then when the ad came out first in the pennysaver, we noticed that a few other neighbors in the neighborhood were starting at 8am. The literally lived within houses of Mary. So, I then started blasting Craigslist to let everyone know that we were starting at 7:30am until ?. Our first customer (both Fri and Sat) showed up at 7:15. On Friday, Tommy showed up with some stuff to throw in for us to sell. He stayed til around 2pm. John showed up around noon. Well, on Friday, Mary and I were practically going non-stop with the customers. We served our last customer at 6:30pm. We had over 350 people stop by just that day. For the group we made over $400 just on the first day. On Saturday, we probably had about 125 people swing by. My Mom also was married on this day (best of luck you two). And on Sunday, (Mary and I were entirely over it by then), we might have had 50 people. On Friday night, Mary and I drank more than we should have, but we well deserved it. On Saturday, I didn't start drinking until about 2pm and averaging less a beer every 2 hours. We served our last customer this day around 6pm. Well, Mary decided to "pants" me after closing time around 8ish. Her neighbor Patty was aver and the kids just happened to be outside when she did it. I felt like I was in the cartoons, cause I just froze in my tracks and literally was sputtering words out of my mouth. About 3 seconds later I realized what she had done and yanked my sweatpants back up. We laughed bout it for about 2 hrs afterwards. Sunday wasn't as busy as we expected. We practically marked most everything down to $0.25 or less. I ended up bringing in almost $500 for the weekend and the other 3 came in with about $250. Not bad for 3 days work. Okay another subject, back in early October, We found out Josh Turner was coming to town. And of course, those who have read my blog over the last year might remember when I tried to go see him at the Volusia County Fair and his concert was already sold out. Well, Mary E, Tommy, John, Brandon, and I, bought our tickets. He appeared in concert with Danielle Peck on 12-1-07. The seats we had were great, but the persnickety old geriatric people that were there were ass holes. I laid into one lady because she was so rude. But, Josh sang the song (Would You Go With Me) that John and I wanted to hear first. His other songs were okay but we listened anyways and drank too. At intermission, we got up to use the rest room and decided we weren't going to watch the rest of it. Well, I had the keys to Tommy's truck, and he didn't want to leave until he heard Long Black Train. So he was pissed, but not for too long. He and I had decided to split 3 nights at the Streamline and stayed up there. You can see by the pics we had a great time though. But, later that night I was at the bar, and in rare form. Must have been the boots and hat. LOL. Woke up the next morning completely drained with no energy the entire day. Other than that most everything is the same. I will be glad to blog more when more happens. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday Season. Til Next Time, PEACE OUT!

A month already? ? ?

2007-10-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks. I realized it has been a while since I blogged. I have been non-stop busy. Not too much going on in my world except being happy as can be and enjoying myself way too much. This past weekend was Biketoberfest here in Daytona. I for once got out from behind the front desk of the hotel and actually worked parking detail. I had such an enjoyable time socializing with all the bikers from all over. I talked with people from Alaska, New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Maine, California, Utah, Nevada, Illinois, and of course, Florida. I worked 40 hours in 3 days to help with the parking. Just watching the bikers ride up and down A1A was fun. I took many pics and some video. The video didn't do too well being from my cell phone. Some of the women though were fine as hell wearing their revealing tops and tight pants. The guys looked hot too. Nothing else really new on this end other than this. Enjoy the pics. Peace out!

Surprise Surprise Surprise

2007-09-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hey People. It's been a great week. Mary D., Mary E., Tommy, and I planned a surprise birthday party for John. He turned 49 on Sept 17. He really had no clue that we were up to no good. We literally did some of the planning right in front of him. As you can see from the pics in this post we had a blast. We had it at Stroh's Sports Bar & Grill in Ormond Beach. It was at the perfect location directly across the street from the beach. We invited about 30 people with the logic that half would show up. We had Stroh's cook up 100 chicken wings and a veggie tray. We also had them put Happy Birthday John on the Marquee. We told John that we were going to go down to the Streamline since his birthday is the same as the owner, Eric. The Streamline always throws a party for Eric and they provide a buffet. We figured we could throw John off from thinking we were up to something since we usually always go to Eric's party. Mary E. called and told John that she was at Stroh's for a few minutes and having one drink and to come and get his gift. So he thought we were still going to the Streamline anyways. We pulled up at Stroh's and he didn't even notice that everyone's car was there. He did notice the Marquee but still didn't have a clue that the party was inside for him. He walked in and made one of his usual frowning faces in shock. LOL. Mary D. had Publix make John a photo cake. Tommy and I got in touch with John's family and they gave us some of his childhood photos and we found the perfect photo of him when he was 5 years old and dressed up as a pirate. I think you will agree it was a cute cake. The guests that showed up were, in no particular order, Mary D, Matt D, their 2 sons, Mary E, Larry, Rob, Jeff, Tex, Brian, Shannon, Bradley, Tommy, Brandon, and myself. We had such a great time. We had requested for our favorite bartended at Stroh's to serve us. Cindy did an excellent job. She kept the beer and liquor pouring for a good 4 hours that we were there. I can personally say I am glad to be back in Daytona, because having my friends around is the best feeling there is. My mom called me to inform me that she is engaged and getting married in November. As much as I would like to go up there, I don't foresee it happening since I am trying to get back on my feet. But, it would be nice to see my sisters and their families. I'm hoping to get this condo. It's been completely updated with beautiful tile, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and it overlooks the courtyard. It's on the ground floor as well. Time will tell. Not much other news going on other that. Guess I am going to log off for now. Ta Ta for now, PEACE OUT!

The Saga is About to be OVER....

2007-09-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hi People. Just wanted to do a quick update and keep you up to date on what's going on. Life is great. I can honestly say I am once again happy. I know that I had to see what it would be like living somewhere else other than Daytona. But, I dipped my toes in the water and found out that it wasn't the right place for me. But, I didn't fall on my face by checking Tampa out. I did have a great time while I was there. But, without having a car, it was not as enjoyable as it could have been. But, being back in Daytona is such a nice thing. I'm back with all my friends who I missed so much while I was in Tampa. I got to see them once a month usually but that wasn't enough. It really only seems as if it was just a few days ago that I left Daytona in the first place. I guess my friends are really like my family. They don't judge me, they accept me, and enjoy the company. There's a surprise in the near future. I don't want to blog about it just yet, just in case it doesn't pan out. Once it does or I know for sure I will definitely blog about it. I am leaving early in the morning with Tommy and taking him to GA to get his license issue resolved finally. It's nice being able to drive around though, but I am glad he will have his license back. I have been so paranoid driving his vehicle. I have put over 1200 miles on it just in a little over 3 weeks since arriving in Daytona. I have made a new friend here as well. We are just seeing where the days take us. Well, I am off of here for now. As always, Peace out and Yahoooooooo til next time.

Where to begin???????????

2007-08-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hello people. It's been 3 weeks since I blogged and boy have things been in a whirlwind. It's funny how life throws you a curve ball when you least expect it. But, at least this time, I was able to hit the ball out in left field without it being caught for an immediate out. You all know that I was thoroughly happy for working for the state. The job was just not suited for me. Then, for whatever reason, to this day I still do not know nor really care about at this point, Rachael and I went our separate ways. She got all pissy at me for whatever reason, which she never shared with me. I'm not one that lives well in a hostile environment or home for that matter. Well on August 9th, I finally had enough and immediately started planning on moving back to Daytona. I reserved a UHaul truck to move everything over on August 17th. So, I decided to call Missy and Tommy and let them know of my initial plans. Tommy said that he and Missy were literally just talking about me 5 mins earlier. Tommy got pulled over on August 8th, for driving on a revoked license. In order for him to immediately resolve the issue he had to go to Georgia and pay the fine that revoked his license. Well, miraculously out of all of friends, I am the only one with a valid license. I told him that I would hop on the Greyhound bus that night and take him to GA on Friday to get it taken care of. I arrived in Daytona around midnight on the 9th. We pulled out of Daytona around 10am on Friday and made the journey to Brunswick, GA. Well, wouldn't you know it, the DMV there wouldn't accept a copy of the certificate he needed to clear his record. So that trip was a bust. But, I figured we could get back to Daytona in time to get a duplicate original of the certificate he needed. I hauled ass from Brunswick back to Daytona in less than 2 hours. Granted it was over 160 miles but I had to make it back to the place here in Daytona by 430pm. Well, wouldn't you know it, I pulled up at 427pm and they had locked the place up tighter than a tick. So, that trip was an entire waste of time and money. On Saturday morning, I decided to call Mary D. and ask her if she had room in her garage to store some of my stuff. She told me that I would need to clean out her garage and rearrange it for my stuff. So, I grabbed Phil and we headed over there to start that. Her garage was like a sauna, don't think I have sweated as much in my life. We literally yanked everything out of her garage and then put it all back in rearranged in about 3 hours. So, I had changed the moving plans to actually just move on the 14th, so Tommy could have his license back and he could drive me to Tampa and I could drive the UHaul back. Well, I checked with the Georgia DMV and they were not open on Mondays, go figure, as my luck would have it. So then, I changed the reservation for the truck to the 13th. Tommy and I were trying to figure out who we knew with a license that could drive a stick. We only knew of a couple of legal drivers that possibly could. Tommy works overnight at Walmart, so I rode over there on the night of the 11th and told him about GA closing the DMV's on Mondays and then I decided I would stop by the Streamline after leaving him and have a drink while I was waiting to pick Phil up from work. Wouldn't you know it, I wasn't there 2 minutes and my ex (Rob and his other half Jeff) were there. They literally saved the day because Jeff knew how to drive a stick and they offered to help me make the move back to Daytona by driving and helping load the truck up. So, the hardest part of the planning of the move was over. Wouldn't you know it though, I woke up Monday morning at 7am to go and get Tommy from work. We had planned on heading over to Tampa around 9am on Monday. I opened the front door only to immediately notice that Tommy's truck had a flat tire. So, Phil and I hopped in the truck and very slowly drove it to the end of the street to the service station. We got the flat tire off and pulled the spare tire out. My luck, the spare had a nail it. But, it was a very slow leak. I called Tommy and told him of the drama that had arisen. He decided he may as well go ahead and put all new tires on the truck since he had not replaced them in 4 yrs. So, off to Walmart we went to get them put on. It wasn't til after 1130am when they were installed. So, we headed back to the house, because I forgot the keys to the Tampa house. Then we tried calling Jeff and Rob, only for Tommy's phone not to even work because the 6 key was broken. So we swung by and picked them up. I had a total of 5 friends including myself loaded in the truck and we headed straight to Tampa at 1230pm. We pulled up at 3pm where I had chose to pick the truck up only to find they didn't have the truck I had reserved and that I had to go somewhere else and pick up the truck. Good luck crossed my path, I actually knew where this location was. It was literally next door to my job. We pulled up at the house at 4pm on the nose and I ordered pizza for the guys while I got a game plan as to how I was going to pack. I racked my brains throughout the whole weekend as to how I was going to pack the whole house up and load the truck up. I tell ya, we did it in exactly 3 hours. The crew I had to move was awesome to work with. I was literally all over the house telling them where to put this and that and they worked their asses of. Without them, this move would have had many more headaches. The house of course wasn't packed at all, so I bounced all ever getting things ready to be packed and hauled out. I knew Tommy's job was going to be to lay on the bed and sleep while it deflated. He was exhausted from having to work the night before and not getting much rest on the ride over. I deflated the side he wasn't on first figuring it would take a lot longer since there wasn't any weight distributed on that side. It deflated rather quickly. So, then I deflated the side he was on, and went about packing totes and putting everything in the front yard to be eventually loaded into the UHaul. I periodically kept checking the bed along with the other guys and it seemed to keep inflating Tommy's side somehow. The remote was by his feet and he was passed out, so I know he wasn't messing with it. So that became one of the many outrageous moments during the move. But, by the time I was ready to break down the bed, it was finally deflated. We loaded both Tommy's truck and the UHaul up and were ready to leave. I was just about to hop in the UHaul when Rob said that I was forgetting something. I forgot to grab Jerry. The UHaul had 2 captain chairs and there wasn't a seat in between them. We made Phil a pallet out of all my clothes on hangers for him to sit on. As soon as I got on the Interstate, it poured rain as hard as possible. I really didn't enjoy that at all. For being a cat, Jerry rode better than one would think. He curled up in Tommy's lap and never moved or meowed. He was so great. We pulled back up into Daytona at 930pm. Well, I definitely needed a drink or two after the day of moving and driving across the state and back. We were sitting there in Missy's living room when around 11pm the doorbell rang. Rob and Jeff had taken Tommy's truck to their house for the night and we were supposed to meet them on Tues morning to unload it all into Mary's garage. Well, I forgot to grab the cooler of food out of the truck when we stopped at the rest area to tell them to just go on to their house for the night. So, we all wound down after a few (maybe many) drinks into the wee hours of the morning. We laughed several times very hard at the fact that Tommy an his experience in the bed deflating process. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Well, Missy passed out around midnight and then one by one everyone else hit the sack. Well, I was so wired with adrenaline and just ready to get the whole moving process over and get the truck back to UHaul in one piece (because I opted not to get the insurance)that I didn't get much rest from August 9th until August the 15th. Well, on the day of the 14th, we met up with Rob and Jeff and they followed me over to Mary D's house so we could unload. Missy thought she was gonna be lucky and not have to help in the moving process. Haha, that wasn't the case, because I dragged him along with us to unload. We littered Mary D's front yard with all my stuff so I could somewhat arrange her garage as we filled it up. The funniest moment of unloading was when Missy and I were standing in the garage when the armoire was being unloaded off the truck. They got it off the truck and Tommy was going to bring it up the drive way on the handtruck. Missy says to me "Here comes the armoire". Not 2 seconds later, we hear, CRASH and SMASH. Then, Missy says to me, "There goes the armoire". The armoire is the piece of furniture that I and everyone else hates moving because it is so heavy and bulky. We filled the garage up with practically everything I own minus the few things that I loaded into Tommy's truck that I need until I get my own place. I returned the Uhaul exactly to the minute in 24hrs. So, I don't think that was a bad move at all. That Tuesday evening, Tommy made a delicious meatloaf and we had everyone over that helped with the move. There was lots of drinking involved, just because we all needed it. Almost everyone was passed out by 8pm and I was still running strong off the adrenaline and all. I went over to Rob's and Jeff's to wind down a little and we headed over to the Oceanwalk and lounged in their hottubs and the pool. I even jumped in the ocean that night. That is something that I normally don't do because I am terrified as to what is in the ocean. Before I ever got to Tampa to move everything back to Daytona, I had 2 job offers. It was nice to know that I had some bridges not burned. I listened to both of the offers and of course took the better offer. It just happens that the offer I took is making me just as much money as I was making in Tampa. The cost of living is much cheaper in Daytona, so it should work to my benefit in the end. I told the boss that I wouldn't start until the 20th just to give me time to wind down and get back in my groove. He really wanted me to start a lot earlier, but wasn't going to allow that to happen. On the 15th, I, for the first time, slept about 8 hrs straight. That was the first time that I had done that since initially getting off the bus. I don't know how I made it through with very little rest, but I did. But, in the end, all the thanks and gratitude that I have goes out to Missy, Tommy, Phil (who did most of the grunt work), Rob, Jeff, Danny, Mary D, and Mad Mary. Without their help and support and open hearts, I could have never pulled this move out of my ass. I just think it's funny how I planned the move to Tampa last year over 3-4 months only to move back to Daytona in less than 4 days of planning and actually making it happening. It is very nice to be home. I told Missy one day that "My roots are in Daytona and I'm glad that I kept them watered while I was away". At least I can say that I did give Tampa a try and I wouldn't mind going back over there to live once I get a car. It's one of those cities you must have a car to get around. I made some awesome friends over there that I already miss, but as they say, home is where the heart is. And for me that is Daytona. I will be getting my own place to live in the very near future. This time I am not going to have any roommates (if I can help it and afford it). It will be the first time that I have lived alone. But, I have enough friends here that it will be a nice change and I will not always be alone. Well, I have been working on this post for an hour now, I am going to close for now, but I will keep ya updated as things happen here. As always, Peace out!

Slacker Alert...

2007-08-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Boo.....People. I'm sure I didn't scare a soul who reads this blog. Yes, I have to admit that I am have a complete slacker these past few weeks. Not much has gone on. I made my trip over to Daytona a couple of weekends ago. Had a blast as usual. Went to the bar for a couple of hours with Missy. That was just like any other time we go, we always have a grand old time. Afterwards, don't ask me how, but Brian talked me in to going to BooksAMillion with him to get one of the first copies of the Harry Potter book that was released. Somehow, we got there at 1210am and by the time I smoked one cigarette he was already in and out of the store. Then, on Saturday, Missy, Mary D., her boys, and I went thrifting. I think my best purchase was a t-shirt that exactly matched to the exact color of the crocs that Missy got me for my birthday. Maybe I will get a picture of them posted on here. I hopped on the early bus that Sunday and came back home. I've been out on the floor for 3 weeks now at work. Boy, I must say, it's a total change for the worse. I'm not too sure how I like it. Trust me, there's so many different policies and rules in place to receive food stamps, cash assistance, and Medicaid. And it seems like everyday something is completely changing just after you get used to doing it the way it was before. I did have a funny call yesterday though. A lady called in and said that she had picked up one of our cards at the library. It had all the important numbers to help them get public assistance. It just happened that the number for Medicaid was wrong and it was actually to a dominatrix sex line. I verified that the client was right by calling the number. I got a good chuckle when it answered. I'm just hoping I can last til April so my probation period will be over with so I can put in for a quick transfer to get the hell off the phones. I really don't wanna lose the benefits for working for the state, but I can only take so much of the stupidity, ignorant, and worthless people we have to talk to on the phone. Missy is definitely coming over this month. He is taking a few days vacation and coming over. He will be coming over the 16th and staying til the 19th. I have a reservation in to rent a car. I figure I would take him over to St. Pete and visit the Salvador Dali Museum. He mentioned he wanted to watch a pro baseball game. It just happens that's the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are playing at home against the Cleveland Indians. I always watching the movie Major League. I haven't been to a Pro baseball game. He also wants to go to the Chinese mall again to pick up a studded belt he had seen before when he was here back in April. I'm going to drive him back over to Daytona so I can bring back my thrift store treasures. Ben went to the vet today get his nuticles chopped off. Poor thing. Jerry is overdue for a haircut, so I may get that done next Friday after I pick up the car for the weekend. Well, I am done racking my brain on as what else I need to blog about. So maybe I will be blogging more often now. Time will tell. Be good and Peace Out!!!

1/2 a year gone by....

2007-07-15T17:51:00.001-07:00

How's it going People? Can you believe that 2007 is officially half way over? My my my how time flies as we get older. It just seems a couple of months ago that I moved to Tampa. Before you know it I will have been here a year. Not much is going on, really. I am still having trouble getting my diploma. I know I barely got through school by the hair on my nose, but still to get a duplicate copy is pure hell. There is only one company that makes the for school I went to and the company representative (who was the representative when I was in school) was a complete asshole to me. I ordered the thing 2 months ago and still haven't received it. I was moved out on the floor this week at work. It's got its good points and it has its bad points. Guess I will just have to deal with it just like they are gonna have to deal with me. I really haven't done much this week other than watching Big Brother 8 all the time live online and on TV when it comes on. I am going to apply to be a house guest next year, even if I have to take a leave of absence from work. LOL. I did the yard today in the middle of the day. I couldn't cut it first thing this morning because it was still wet from yesterday's rains. It didn't take but about 1.5 hours to do all of it. I got a little sun in the meantime as well. I bought my ticket over to Daytona this coming weekend. I haven't been over there since Memorial Day Weekend. I miss Missy and Tommy so much. Missy says he will be coming over here in August for a few days. That should be lots of fun. I may just rent a car for a couple of days if he does come over. Who knows? LOL. Well, I'm off to bed, Peace out. I will be adding some pictures on the next blog. I finally got pictures that I had on my cell phone transferred by bluetooth over to the computer. I plan on uploading a variety of pics that I had on there. Okay, now off to bed. Peace out!

Have ya missed me...

2007-07-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Long time, no blog People. How's it going? I haven't blogged in while since much has not been going on. Work has been pretty tedious on me. But, I am officially being kicked out of the nest tomorrow and being put out on the call center floor. That means, I am just another warm body to answer the phones officially. I have to wait until April of next year to actually see if I can get transferred off the phones and move into another department. Life around home has been normal. Rachael and I rearranged the living room, I think it is better this way. It still needs a little tweaking. It's official, my DUI is now a thing of the past. Finally after four years, I have complete closure. I reinstated my license yesterday. I am hoping to get a truck or car by years end. My vacation over Thanksgiving week was officially approved this week. So I am going to try and make a trip back home to NC and visit the family. I can't wait to see my nieces and nephew. I guess my moving to Tampa has been somewhat of a reality check. I have realized some things must happen if I want to continue being happy in life. Ben and Jerry have become best of friends it seems like. Ben literally boxes with Jerry and beats him up. But, Jerry fights back when Ben isn't looking. Maybe I can get some video uploaded on here showing the action. Well, I am going to bed. Hopefully I will blog more. Peace out!

Some People Got Their Wish....

2007-06-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

Hello, People. How ya'll doing? It's been an interesting week for sure. After my last post, I woke up from the nap and I started a coughing spasm. By the time I was done, I was hoarse. I lost my voice completely. What came out of my mouth sounded like a high pitched little girl. I didn't go in to work Monday. When I woke up Tuesday, the coughing had given me the worst headache and my voice was almost non-existent. I was horrible. I went to the doctor. The Dr. gave me a prescription of antibiotics and a cough syrup with codeine. The syrup worked like a charm. I passed out. I didn't get my real voice back til Wednesday. I did go back to work today, but, with a terrible headache. Listening to the people on the phone only made it worse. We finally got the dryer replaced here at the house. The old one finally died. Now it will be the dishwasher next, can't wait. Even though I rarely do the dishes as it is. Hell, I barely dirty any as it is. LOL. The yard is still dying away. I hope it dies quick. Well, it's time bed, I will post again over the weekend. Peace out!

Lazy Week...

2007-06-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hola, People. Hope you are having a great day. I'm just getting curled into bed and figured I would jot down what has happened this week. I worked some more out in the yard. I threw some weed and feed down in the backyard. Then turned around and sprayed it with more liquid weed killer when I had to initially water it. Finally, the weeds are dying at a fast rate. Also, mowed the entire yard as well. Once a week, it has to be cut, just so we don't get those snakes in the yard. We had new neighbors move in this week as well. Hopefully, they are like the rest of the neighborhood. Didn't really do much around the house this week, since it pretty much stays clean. I cleaned the bedroom up and cleaned the bathroom up. Michael cancelled the trip to Daytona. I went over to Bryan and Robert's place Saturday night for the monthly campfire. There were about 25 guys that showed up. I am officially the Fire God. All those years in Boy Scouts paid off. I didn't even have to use Girl Scout Fluid. This fire wasn't as raging as the last one, but it was just as hot though. The mosquitoes were out in full force with smoke or no smoke. They were doing their damndest to suck us dry. I think everyone had a great time. Now, I going to take a nap. Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. Miss ya Daddy. Sayanora, Peace Out!

Weekend Fun

2007-06-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

What's going on People? Not much currently. But, it has been a great weekend. Friday, work was not bad at all. Michael and I decided earlier during the day that we would go out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. He swung by and picked me up. At the time we had the afternoon sea breezes that usually cross the state during the summer clashing just to the east of us. We left the house and went the back way. I looked out the window and saw a beautiful rainbow. It wasn't entirely complete at that time, but it was very bright and you could see the vivid colors that it had to offer. By seeing the rainbow, it reminded me of the time, while living in Daytona when a weak tropical storm's eye had crossed over us and I actually saw a "double rainbow". I told Michael about that, low and behold, we turned onto US Hwy 301 and he looked out his window and saw another rainbow on top of the rainbow that we had originally seen. By this time, the first rainbow was complete from one side to another. Unfortunately, like the idiot I am, I left my cell phone at home so I couldn't take a picture. But the rainbow lasted for at least 15-20 mins. It was really an awesome sight to see. We had dinner and walked outside and the rainbow was gone, but I looked up ad actually saw the trail from the shuttle launch. I got excited because I now know if the weather is clear I should be able to see the shuttle launches from here. We got back home and then we headed out and played pool for a couple of hours at a local bar. I got up around 8am on Saturday and worked out in the backyard trying to uproot the weeds that are back there. I got about 1/3 of the yard done. Lisa stopped by to hang out and she wanted to go see a movie. We saw The Invisible. It was a good movie for the most part. We got home and I took a nap until Michael got here. We then went to the www.saturdaynightdinnerclub.net 's weekly dinner. Lisa and Rachael joined us. We actually had a very good time. Rachael was somewhat nervous, but after a couple of margarita's she was just fine. After dinner, the girl's went their way and Michael and I stopped by Cityside for a couple of drinks and played some darts. We got in around 1130pm and listened to some music and until finally falling asleep. But, we did sleep in until 11am this morning. That was novel in itself. I haven't done much today except relax and play with Jerry some. He has completely adjusted and I know he enjoys his new home. Ben literally pounces on him and Jerry sits there for a while taking it and then swats at him. We figured out why Jerry goes on the meowing spree at 4am. Rachael was shutting her bedroom door at night and Jerry must get bored and wanna play with Ben. Since she left it open one night, Jerry hasn't meowed loudly at night. I'm looking forward to the trip over to Daytona next weekend. Michael seems ready to go as well. It should be a good trip. Well, I guess I'm gonna watch some news and play some pinball. Peace out!!

Hard to Believe...

2007-06-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hey People. Hope all is well with you. Its been a fun filled week. Monday evening after work, Michael and I worked out in the backyard. I moved a fancy palm tree out of the middle of the back yard and put it in the corner. Michael yanked up 2 garbage cans full of plants and stuff. The backyard is coming along very well. I still have to get rid of some more plants along the edge of the fence, but they are all dead. Lisa decided that she was going to get rid of her 5 piece sectional and planned on bringing it over here today. She sent me a message yesterday letting me know that she was replacing her mattress. She has a king bed as well. It's one of those Sleep Number beds. When I got home from work on Wednesday, I moved the table on the back porch outside and set it up with the umbrella. I stripped the bed and moved the mattress in the garage. Then, Michael and I rode over to her house to pick the mattress up. It's literally in about 10 pieces. We got it back home and it was rather easy to set up. I slept the best I have slept in a long time. Amazing they say a mattress can make the difference. It truly does. Today, I completely cleaned the back porch to get it ready for my home theatre furniture to move out there. I put a good bit of stuff in the garage to get it out of the way. I vacuumed the whole porch and wiped everything down. Then I moved the furniture out there and set it up. I completed setting up the outdoor table and chairs and stools. I cut the backyard again. Lisa called me around 230 and said that her son and friend were on their way over with the sectional. I was ready and waiting. Then about 10 minutes later she called and said 2 pieces had fallen off the truck on the interstate. She said they would come here and unload what hadn't fallen off and she and I would go in her car to get them since the were the small sectional pieces. We hopped on the interstate and of course had to get back on in the other direction where they had fallen off. That was a chore in itself. We had no idea if they were going to be ran over into a million pieces or still in one piece. Traffic on the interstate was busy as hell. We couldn't pull off in the emergency lane on the right, because there wasn't one. We pulled off on the left hand side. She had the top down on the car. We literally had to run across 4 lanes of traffic to the side where they were. The cars were going 70 + mph. We made it across to the other side. She grabbed the one closer to the car and walked up about 100 feet to the other one. Then waited for the perfect chance to run across the interstate and loaded them in her car. They somehow fit perfectly and weren't beat it up at all. Only one had lost the legs on it. Amazing, huh, for them to be heading down the interstate at 60mph and Lisa watching them bounce 3 times on the highway. So, then, we headed back to the house. I tried setting it up one way and it didn't look right. So I took the curved piece and stuck it in a corner by itself. Now the couch is at least 12ft from one end to the other. Now everyone can enjoy the projector in a comfy couch. It's burgundy red leather. It compliments Rachael's red and black curtain scheme. I will take some pics and share on here at some point. We figured we can comfortably sit 16 people in the living room with plenty of room for some to stand. I can't wait to throw our first house party. Missy is planning his next visit over mid July. Lisa may throw a dinner party for www.saturdaynightdinnerclub.net at her house. We are hoping she will host it that weekend Missy comes over. She definitely has the room to entertain, that's for sure. LOL. Well, I'm gonna watch some Fast Cars and Superstars. Have a great evening. Peace out!

The Wait Is Over....

2007-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yo Yo Yo People. I hope you all are having a grand ol' time. I know I am. Now that I have my baby girl back, I'm getting back in the swing of things. I got my laptop back on Friday. Luckily, it was covered under the warranty, but they had to replace the motherboard. However, I thought I was lucky when I turned it on and realized that they didn't have to do a complete restore on it. But, my luck, I had to do it after all. I must say, if you don't have to upgrade to Windows Vista yet, DON'T. If you do though, beware that if you use Internet Explorer 7 with Vista, that you can't uninstall it at all. My laptop kept giving me certificate invalid errors. After spending over 1.5 hrs on the phone with HP, I ended up having to wipe my hard drives after all. Fortunately I really didn't have much on them anyways. Most of what I did have I stored on Gmail. This week overall was a very good week considering it was a short week. Without having the internet, it sorta sucked though. I think I could live without cigarettes longer than I can without the internet. I did mention to Rachael at some point this week that I was gonna start looking for a kitten/cat, so Ben could have someone to play with. I figured I wanted to get a Siamese because I can remember the one we had while growing up. That cat was so damn mean, he didn't care who or what he crossed paths with and he would attack you. Daddy named him C.F.H. (Cat From Hell). He was really that bad. I figured I would find one come payday. I thought I would put a jump start on the hunting process and I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a Siamese Cat/Kitten. It was barely an hour and I had 3 - 4 hits. However, the one that got my attention wasn't Siamese. He is a purebred Blue Point Himalayan. He's 2 yrs old, neutered, and declawed at that. His owner only wanted a $75 adoption fee for him. She sent me 2 pictures of him and I immediately fell in love with him. On Saturday evening I joined Michael and some of his friends out for dinner. We met up at Grillsmith. The food was decent. But, we had a good time sitting around chatting about this and that. After dinner, we stopped by Cityside and had a couple drinks and played some darts. Then on Sunday with help from Michael, we rode up to Wesley Chapel and looked at the cat. He was so calm in her arms, while outside he never tried to claw her to death in trying to get away. The pictures she sent me don't do him justice at all. She passed him over to me and he was just like a doll in my arms. I asked what his name was and I about fell off my rocker when she said "Bobo". I knew well in advance what my next pet's name was gonna be. With Rachael having her dog named Ben, my pet's name is gonna be Jerry. He probably weighs about 10-12lbs. You can see in the pictures that his haircut is like that of a lion's. He rode in my lap all the way back and we stopped at K-Mart to get the necessary stuff to start him off. When, we got him home, no quicker than me going out to get something out of the truck and me to get back inside did he disappear. Rachael, Michael, and I looked all over the house and couldn't find him. Wouldn't you know it, Jerry crawled up in the damn recliner and didn't wanna come out. Ben loved him to death though. Jerry never batted an eye at him, hissed, or anything. So, I put Jerry in my bedroom, so he could calm down some while I set up his box and bowl. He's good at playing hide and seek. Because I don't have many places in my bedroom to hide, but he managed to get under my captain's bed and crawl up in one of the drawers in the back corner. I decided I would take a nap before the girls and I headed over to Michael's for dinner. When I got up, he was still petrified and in the drawer. So I pulled him out and put him in the bathroom. Wouldn't you know it, Jerry laid in that litter box for at least an hour before we left for dinner and wouldn't get out. Since, we took Ben with us to dinner I figured Jerry would have run of the house while we were out. Michael cooked a delicious dinner for us. Sirloin steaks topped with bleu cheese and mushrooms, along with steamed broccoli and a salad. Lisa bought dessert. We had a delightful time watching Ben playing with Michael's dogs. He was just like a kid. At home he has energy, but tonight, he barked for the first time and he was non-stop full of action and playfulness. I'm sure when Jerry relaxes a little, him and Ben are going to be best of buds. When we got home, Jerry was darting out of the bathroom and I could tell he's getting used to his surroundings some. He's jumped up on the bed with me a couple of times as I have been typing the blog out. Well, I'm heading to bed, as always, Peace out!

Birthday Week

2007-05-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hey People. Hope you are all doing well. I am doing just groovy. First of all, I wanna remind everyone to take a moment and remember our troops. Today is Memorial Day, and we all should remember that without our troops fighting the current wars and all the past wars, that there wouldn't be such a thing as the freedom we have in today's times. We take a lot for granted when it comes to freedom, but that freedom comes at a price whether we lose another soldier to a roadside bomb or from being shot at. Keep the families of those soldier's in your hearts. On to other news, I still haven't gotten my laptop back from the shop. Boy, do I miss the internet. The withdrawal symptoms are horrible. But, in this time of dire boredom, my friends close and a far have helped me through. Anyone that reads this blog, MUST listen to the new song by TRACY LAWRENCE & TIM McGRAW (FIND OUT WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE). I heard that song last week for the first time and immediately it became a number 1 hit in my book. The lyrics are straight to the point. Sometimes you think you know who your friends are, but this song clearly states how you really know who your friends are. Okay, back to the birthday week. Missy started a week earlier by sending me a card almost day. But, they weren't from him personally. I received one from the Golden Girls, Virgie Arthur, Paris Hilton, Diva Marie, and then one from him and Tommy. On 5-23-07, I missed another day of work due to technical glitch in Rach's car. So, to make the best of the day off I decided to finish cutting the yard. I started trying to cut it last Monday, but the damn lawnmower didn't want to start. On Tuesday, it started but acted like it didn't want to run at full throttle, but with extra time I was able to cut about 2/3 of the back yard before the mower decided it had enough. So, on Wednesday, I went out there and fought with the mower and got the rest of the backyard cut. I came in and took a breather break. I went back out there to fart around with the mower. I wasn't wearing any shoes (like the country boy I am). The mower was by the shed, and I reached down to yank the pull to start it and out of the corner of my eye I saw something black slither towards the fence. I immediately knew what it was. All in the same moment, I was jumping, running, and screaming at the top of my lungs. It was a damn 6ft long black snake. I ran inside to call Rach and Lisa. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Well, I tiptoed outside to make sure it had gone away and I'll be damned if I didn't see another black snake but it was only a 3ft one. For those who know me, know I am PETRIFIED of snakes period. So, I fought and fought to get the lawnmower up to speed so I could obliterate the plants that were beside the shed to get rid of any hiding places for the snakes. I did the best I could on getting rid of the plants and came back in to relax a little. Lisa stopped by since it was Wednesday and it was the season finale for LOST. Lisa had brought some stuff over for my birthday. She made the day when she gave me LOST seasons 1 and 2 on DVD for my birthday along with a great poster, t-shirt, and a big Great American Cookie Company cookie cake, and a bday card with a man for everyday of the week on it. Michael stopped by and brought his lawnmower since I was having so many issues with ours, and he finished the front yard along with the sides. We watched LOST and I was jumping out of my chair on a couple of occasions. It's going to be a long time til February when season 4 starts. On Thursday, I went to work in a jolly mood of course. Since it was my last day at work before hopping on the hound and heading over to Daytona for a extra long weekend. The weather was a little bit of everything over there. The winds were gusting up to 30+ mph at times. Missy gave me the gifts from him, and I knew they would be very humorous. The first thing was a plate that he had made me (he was drunk apparently, because he made it bass ackwards). Then he gave me a package of badminton shuttlecocks, to remind me to never tell my mother "shut up bitch". He also, got me a shirt, a wacky astray, and the most hideous pair of CROCS you have ever seen. Then, Missy and I went to the Streamline Thursday night when I got to town. I had 1 1/2 hrs to get caught up and get buzzed and it didn't take that long. We thoroughly had a great time. So good of a good time, we didn't even remember the cab ride home. We then partied til the wee hours of the morning. Catching up since the last time we saw one another. Missy passed out around 5am and I was still going strong when Tommy got home from work around 8am. I sat there with him and we talked for a couple of hours about the typical stuff. I finally passed out around 10am on Friday and woke up around 4pm. Missy and I decided we would go to the bar again, and wait on Kelly to catch up with us. Well, that was the first sign that I was getting older, LMAO. I was not at all in the mood to drink anything. We sat down there for a couple of hours and didn't even finish our second beer. Finally, I said, let's hail a cab and go home and Kelly could catch up with us at the house. The funny thing about the cab ride home, was that it was the same driver we had the night before. We didn't even know it, until I had made a comment that I wasn't in the mood for drinking. The driver popped up and said that wasn't the case the night before. Small world LMAO. Kelly, swung by sometime late Friday night, and we chilled for an hour or so. On Saturday morning, I chit chatted with Tommy for a couple more hours and he dropped me off at LaPlaya so Missy and I could hook up with Mary D. so we could go thrift shopping. For once, it was my trip to have the finds of the day. I found this way cool picture framed (will put a pic of it on here at some point). Mary D. got me this fuzzy lamp that will look good in my bedroom. We had a blast like we always do. With Mary D. its guaranteed to have a good time. We went back to Missy's house and had a few shots of Watermelon Pucker, and a few beer, and decided that we didn't need to go out. Some of the best times we have are sitting on the back porch listening to music and talking about nothing, LOL. We ordered pizza and by 10pm we were both passed out from the busy couple of days we had. I woke up on Sunday and packed my bag and waited for Missy to get home from work. We had a couple of shots of Pucker and a couple of beer. Tommy dropped me off at the hound station and I actually was surprised that every part of the trip was either early or right on time. Rach picked me up at the hound station over here and we stopped at Checkers for some dinner. Grant was here at the house doing some laundry and we watched the last 100 + laps of the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR Race. After the race, I crawled in my big comfy bed, and pretty much fell fast asleep and woke up when the cell phone going off at 645a to get me up for work, it just about went through the window. LOL. Well, I think I have blogged as much as possible about the Birthday Week and it's happenings. I wanna say thank you to all my Family and Friends for making it one of the most memorable ones yet. I may be 32 but I still feel just like a kid at heart and probably always will. I also would like to welcome Marian B. to my blog, she is the person I have known longest in life, since I was almost 9 years old. We talked a good bit on the phone and I'm sure she will find my blog interesting for sure. LOL. Well, it's high noon, and I have been working on this for an hour, think I am done for now. Peace out as always.

Life's little things...

2007-05-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

People....what's going on? This is going to be short and sweet. My 3 1/2 month old computer died on me without notice last Friday. It just wont turn on. Luckily it is covered under warranty. But it will be about 2 weeks before I get it back. Lisa is here and I am using here computer briefly. So I spent last weekend home alone with no internet. Wanna talk about BORED out of my mind. I woke up Saturday around 930 and practically cleaned my house from top to bottom in 3 hours. I am heading to Daytona tomorrow after work for the weekend. I will be heading back home on Sunday. My cell doesn't work over there, so if you call me just leave a message and I will get back with you. Talk to you all soon.

Triple Whammy....

2007-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Hey Hey People. Well, I decided I have to let you know about to saga that has been going on since Friday. It has only gotten more mind boggling. On Saturday, Rachael and Lisa went to our friend's salon to get Rachael's hair colored. You know from the pictures that Rach's hair was somewhat blond. Well, now its a nice dark brown. She really looks charming with brown hair. Michael did an excellent job with her. Rachael and her brother, Grant, rode in the rental car over to Daytona for mother's day. Grant's truck was over there since he borrowed their mom's BF's truck, to drive around in Tampa so he wouldn't attract attention to himself in his souped up truck. He's got one of those low rider trucks that is decked out with dark tinted windows, too loud of a music system, and very expensive shiny rims. While, they were in Daytona, he decided he was going to low his truck even more. Well, poor Rach, was ready to leave during the day, so she could get back and not have to drive through the afternoon thunderstorms in the rental. So, Grant wanted Rachael follow him back since his license is suspended until May 21st because of the DUI he got the first week I moved here in January. They didn't get back home last night until after 11pm. Well, I had a very hard time sleeping last night and I decided this morning that I might as well help Rachael get her car back and get the rental returned today. Wouldn't you know it, I was sitting out in the living room playing with Ben and Rachael comes around the corner saying, Grant called and said he was pulled over by a cop. You wanna talk about someone going into a frenzy, poor Rach called her mom and Grant's boss, to let them know he was going to jail. Then, we got another call from Grant saying that someone had to come pick his truck up that was licensed. So, I told Rachael, I would risk driving the rental and follow her in his truck. We got to where he was pulled over by the state trooper. The state trooper pulled him over because of his illegally dark window tint. Grant royally screwed himself by riding around in his truck. We aren't really sure as to what is going to happen to him. Because now he has violated his probation, he will definitely be going to jail for that. We aren't sure as to what is going to happen when he goes to appear before the judge. He's at risk of spending up to 9 months in jail because that's how much probation he had. I remember when I got my DUI back in July '03. I remember how selfish I was at the time, not to think of the consequences for my actions. My DUI was the biggest wake up call of all time, because of my stupidity for not telling a sole what I was doing or where I was going. And that came back and bit me in the ass, because of my selfishness, I waited til I found a job in Daytona almost 3 weeks later before I finally told my family where I was and what had happened. But, the damage from what I had done, was soon to be learned. Wanna talk about shock, I sent an email to my mom and sister, Robin, telling them about the DUI and my leaving NC overnight only to come back to Daytona. Robin sent me back an email telling me that Dad had passed away a few days before and had buried him the day before I sent them the email. I think about that situation in my life alot since it has helped me grow more mature and think about the outcome of things before actually doing something ridiculous. Daddy always said, "If you lay in the bed, you have to make it". He also said, "If you dance, you have to pay the fiddler". He was so right in a lot of the things he said and the way he raised us. I think about Dad alot, and today is birthday, and I know he's up there watching above. I wanna wish him happy 57th Bday. Miss ya Daddy. Mom called today and told me she received her gift today. So, I can tell you I got her a nice trinket box. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. It has Swarovski crystals on it and it plays "Always in my Heart". I hope she enjoys it. I wish could have been in NC for Mother's day, but that's the price you pay for living so far away. I hope to go up later this year and visit for a week or so. But of course that all depends on what happens between now and then. Well, it's been an hour now that I have been blogging, I am going to sign off for now, hopefully, the next blog will be on a Happier note. Peace out!!

Talk about BAD LUCK...

2007-05-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

People. Let me say its just been $hittiest week on record for a long long time. This week at work has just been non-stop. The phones would ring and it seem like the caller had nothing to do but bitch, whine, complain, curse me out, chew me to new assholes, and whatever else could go wrong went wrong. LOST, however, was off the chain this week. It appears they are "knocking" off one of the main characters, Locke. I went out with my friend Michael to have a steak dinner on Wednesday before LOST. It was very very yummy and tasty. Outback is always a good place for steak. I decided on Thursday that when I got home from work, I would eat me some din din and call it an early night and get plenty of rest, so I wouldn't be exhausted after work on Friday and enjoy the evening. So, I crashed and burned by 8pm. I woke up this morning right at 6 and checked the email and stuff. I was about to hit the shower when my alarm went off to get me up. I cut it off and noticed I had a missed text message from Rachael. She told me I would need to find a ride to work today. I by chance looked outside and figured something was wrong with her car, by the way it was parked in the driveway and I noticed a big stain on the driveway in front of her car. So I called out of work, and she woke up shortly there after. She told me the car wouldn't go anywhere. It appeared that her transmission had conked out on her. So, she called her brother Grant to borrow the truck he was borrowing from their mom's boyfriend. He came and picked her up and she came back home and called around to some tranny shops. She found Aamco and they were nice enough to send out a tow truck for her to tow it to their shop (which happened to be down the street from work). We followed the towtruck to Aamco. Well, as our luck would have it, we had to come back home because Rachael forgot the remote to her alarm. We took that back to the shop and we stopped by the mall on the way back home so I could order Mom's gift for Mother's day. I can't say what it is, just yet, not sure if she reads this or not. So we came back home after that and Lisa met up with us here at the house. Well Aamco called and told Rachael the amount to fix her car. I felt so bad for her because she was crying. It's gonna cost $2000 to rebuild the tranny and a couple of other things that are broke and that it would take a couple of days to fix but they are closed on Sundays. Rachael called Aamco back to tell them to go ahead and fix it and asked if they could install her spark plugs. Rachael already had the plugs here at the house, so that meant we had to drop them off at the shop. The guy was nice enough not to charge her for it. So I looked around online and I found that Enterprise had a 3 day weekend special on a car to rent since Grant needed the truck back. We decided we would split that together and rent a car. So with the truck, we stopped at the mall on the way there and picked up Mom's gift and then drop off the plugs at the shop. I figured with the crappy day we had had, I would treat us to lunch and suggested the Cuban Sandwich shop which was up the street. We then stopped at the post office so I could ship out Mom's gift. We then headed to Enterprise to pick up the rental car. Well, low and behold, as our bad luck would have it, we were almost to Enterprise when this woman in front of us hit her brakes and Rachael was going get in the left lane (6 lane highway) and pass around the woman. Rachael was checking the blind spot in the truck, to get over, and the woman in front of us hit her brakes harder than Rachael had judged. Just as I raised my voice and got "Rachael" out, we nailed the woman in the left read corner of her car. The truck stopped right where it was and knocked the woman's car about 10-15 feet in front of us. I called 911 and told them we had wrecked in front of Busch Gardens. The woman got out of her car and she had pissed her pants (sorta comical). She was in her mid 50's. She wasn't hurt and the damage to her car was light considering the damage to the truck. The front right corner of the truck was smashed in bad enough that you couldnt turn the steering wheel. It took about 45 mins to get a cop to show up on the scene. Then another cop showed up after that. They switched Rachael and the woman's info and gave Rachael a ticket for careless driving (unattentive to slowing traffic). They called a flatbed tow truck to bring the truck here to the house. Now, this morning's tow truck was very reasonably priced ($45 to tow about 10 miles away). The guy showed up to tow the truck home and it was, get this, $100 plus $4 per mile. We were only 4 miles from the house. It cost $29 a mile to tow that damn truck home. Rachael had Lisa come to the house so she could take her to Enterprise and still get the rental car. They were nice there at Enterprise and upgraded Rachael to a Dodge Nitro. It's a cute little crossover vehicle. So, now you know what I mean about....Talk about BAD LUCK.. Hope ya'll's week has been better than ours. But here is a cute picture of Rachael's pup Ben. He helps bring a smile to our faces for sure.

Zoom Zoom Zoom...

2007-05-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

What's going on people? Here it is another week gone by so fast. Not much happened this week. It's been a rather quiet week. Work has been work. Finally they switched my schedule to the same schedule as Rachael's. It sucked making her wait 30 mins for me to get off work. She's been a lifesaver for sure. LOST has finally gotten back into the groove of things. I'm already dreading the season finale. A new friend of mine invited me out to the country Saturday night for a bonfire at his house along with some of his friends. It was a great time. It brought back some memories of when Dad and I used to sit around the fire when I was a kid. Rachael got a puppy this week. He's so cute. I don't know what breed he is, but its something funny. He's so tiny. I laugh at him when he comes in my bedroom because he loves to sit in front of my closet doors. I have those sliding full length mirror doors. He sits there and just watches himself. Well, Brothers & Sisters is going off. I'm going to bed. Peace out!

Daytona and back...

2007-04-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hello People. Hope your Sunday is as easy going as mine. The trip to Daytona was a blast. It was weird riding through town and seeing all the new things going up and some of the old stuff being demolished. We left here on Friday around 515p and got into town around 745p. Traffic wasn't too bad except leaving Tampa and then a little bit of a rush hour in Orlando. The girls dropped me off at Missy's and they went and checked in at the Bermuda house. Missy and I had a few rounds of drinks at his place before heading down to the Streamline. We got down there around 1030p. The girls met us there later on and we watched the show downstairs and headed back upstairs and had another round. Then we dropped Missy off at around midnight. I was having a grand old time. I went with the girls up to Beaches. It wasn't too long there, that I just up and started walking back to Missy's house. Its about 2 miles away. It was nice to be back on my turf. I know I probably walked a good 4 miles in the 16 hours we were there. I Woke up Saturday morning completely drained. I guess I should have ate more LOL. Around 10a I walked down to LaPlaya and waited for Missy to get off work. I stepped out on the pool deck for a smoke and it was so pleasant The beach had a lot of cars on it and the people were all out sunbathing. I saw a pod of dolphins playing out in the ocean. We left Daytona around 115p and got back here at aroun 315p. I got a bite to eat and crawled up in my bed and rested for the rest of the day. It was a great visit over to Daytona. I got plenty of rest over night and now I am working on the laundry and not doing a thing. It's hot outside today. The back porch is 93 degrees. I think I'm going to ke me a little nap and watch some TV later on and get ready to go back to work.

Girls Night Out...

2007-04-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hey people. Hope all is well with you. It's been a rather boring week. Work is work, hahaha. I took 109 calls on Wednesday. I was just rolling right along. Today it was like I had every whiner, bitcher, rude person out there. But, we had a meeting today and they diverted all of the calls from our call center to the centers in Jacksonville and Miami. The meeting was 2 hours. It was over at 4. They turned the phones back on at 405. I refused to log back on the phones without my 15 min break I was supposed to have during the meeting. So Rach and I smoked a cig and went back in. I only took 3 calls until I got off at 5. Came home and relaxed a little. Getting ready to pack and head over to Daytona tomorrow night. Lisa, Rachael, Missy, and I are going out barhopping over there. It should be a blast. I'm throwing a cookout on Memorial Day weekend. It will be on May 26th. Figure it will be the official combo party of the year. Celebrating Memorial Day, finally the housewarming party, and my birthday all in one. Invited all that could make the road trip or flight down. We finally got a house where we can entertain and ya'll know how I like to entertain. Hope to get some pictures while in Daytona and post them on here. I really do miss my digital camera. Damn crooks. Grrr. Anyways, Guess, I am gonna get off of here and pack a bag. Next posting will have pictures. Peace out and be safe!

Another Week Passes By

2007-04-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yep I'm still alive People. It's been a rather fly by week with not too many happenings. Work was work. I finally was officially hired on 4-20. Yippee, I'm now a state employee and I can start receiving benefits. Luckily, the medical insurance is really cheap and I'm gonna get some dental coverage as well. I haven't been to a dentist since I had my wisdom teeth yanked when I was in the Air Force. Never had a cavity either. I've already put in to get a nice long weekend off next month all with pay. Think for my birthday this year, I'm gonna do a cookout here at the house. Since we have a grill and the space to entertain, I will do a at home celebration. I get off work at 5pm on my birthday (5-24)and don't have to go back in until Tues morning (5-29). Finally going back to getting paid bi-weekly. Which of course really sucks at the beginning because the bills are due at the beginning of the month and I don't get my first check from the state until May 11. But, I have budgeted correctly and all the bills are paid, but I'm just broke until that first check rolls in. This weekend has been my "home improving" weekend. I have these 4 heavy duty aluminum chairs that have been needing my attention ever since I acquired them back in '04. The paint on them had been chipping and flaking away. Mainly because they were in the salt air in Daytona. But, I took my cordless drill and started working on one yesterday. I worked on that one chair for about 4 hours in between the batteries charging. I've decided I can get them done quicker with an electric drill. So, Rachael's brother is gonna drop his off. I think with my hard work and patience these hairs are going to look brand new. Missy said he would just spray paint them and get it over with. But, these chairs are valuable and I don't wanna half-ass the job. Not sure what color I am gonna paint them. Time will tell on that. Gotta get the damn things sanded down first. Rachael rearranged her bedroom today, I'm glad she did. Now she has room to walk around some in there. I'm working on my tan(yes a tan). I've lived in Florida for 9 yrs and rarely ever had a tan. I'm not baking myself this go round . Small doses of the sun while working on the chairs and then a drink or two here outside in the sun goes a long way with me. Not sure or not, but our pesky neighbors may be moving out. Hopefully that is the case. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone up at Virginia Tech. That's just sad those innocent people had to die like that. I guess it could happen anywhere. Soon, I see our society having metal detectors built into buildings. Our world is really going to Hell in a hand basket that is already on fire. It's a shame. Well, on that miserable note, I need to get to sleep. It's already 1230am and I have to get up early. Peace out as usual!

A Blast from the Past....

2007-04-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

How's it going, People? Well, I'm sitting here watching Extreme Home Makeover and trying to keep back the tears. Tonight's episode was excellent. Well, let me get you caught up on Missy's visit. He got in Thursday evening. We did what we always do. Sit around, have a few drinks, party, and get caught up on the things that have happened since I went over to Daytona in March. He dropped some shocking moments, that I just wanted to put my foot up his butt for not telling me, but I would never do it. On Friday, I took the day off and we did nothing but sit out on the back porch, listened to tunes, and sat out in the sun for about an hour and a half. When Rachael got in from work, we went to my favorite pizza joint (at least all you can eat), Cici's. It never fails when I go there I become a pig with an empty stomach. We got back to the house, and I knew Brian from Daytona and Rachelle were stopping by later in the evening. I crashed and took a nap until they called. They hung out til about 1030pm or so and we slowly got ready to head out for a movie. But, on the way to the drive in, we stopped at the store to get some refreshments. It was ust one of those stops, that you knew you didn't fit in with the crowd. As we walked around the store, all the beady eyes, were following our every move. So, we hurriedly got out of there as quickly as possible. Then we headed on over to the movie. It has been since when ET and Ghostbusters were released since I have been to a Drive in. Rachael had never been to one. They had 3 screens playing movies and we could actually see all of them, since we had the top down. We saw Perfect Stranger with Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. I definitely recommend watching it. We had a blast. I definitely wanna go do that again. Once we woke up on Saturday, we went thrift shopping for old time's sake. I think Missy had a blast. We stopped by Lisa's house mid-afternoon for a break and to listen to her catch us up on her cruise over the last week. We then showed Missy downtown Tampa and took him over to Ybor City for a quick drink before the bus ride back to Daytona. We grabbed a burger and then walked up the street and found a bar that was open at 4pm in the afternoon. Ybor was totally different than it is at night. We had a marvelous time anyways. We dropped him off and the station and I came home and pretty much haven't been out of my bed since. It was great seeing him. I hope he gets to come over more often. He kept telling Rachael and me that we did great with the house. He thought I was gonna have all kinds of little projects to keep him busy, but we didn't even need to. Most everything is done around here. Missy has always harped on the fact, that I moved over here for the culture, well between Rachael and I think we gave him a extra dose of it. Who knows, I highly doubt it, but Missy could move over here. I had a blast this weekend. My next long weekend is Memorial Day weekend. And I get 4 days off then. I may go to Daytona that weekend, I don't know. I will see what happens between now and then. Well, I'm outta here for now. Peace out!

Missy is coming, Missy is coming...

2007-04-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all People. Did you forget about me? It's been a rather long week since I have posted anything. It's not that anything drastic happen, it's just been hectic at work and me just doing what I do best, and that's being lazy around the house. Let me catch you guys up to things as quickly as possible. Monday was not a bad day at work, I actually was in a great mood afterwards. I went with Trace to her house and we headed over to Peabody's. We had a blast as usual. We actually talked Trace's best friend Leora in to going with us. We all know Trace isn't a pool shark, but she is getting better. But, Leora seems to be a pool shark. She looks too innocent to play pool as well as she did. I am by far the greatest player out there. But, I do good for as little as I play. I remember the first time ever playing pool was back in the mid 80's when I was a kid in Grandfather Home before my family adopted me. We had a pool table in the basement, but I was the youngest kid in that cottage (Hickory Cottage was the name of it). I was only about 9 or 10. All the other guys in there were 14 and up. I was a rambunctious child in the day. LOL. But anyways, the guys would always beat me at pool, but before I left there, I was actually playing pretty good. Moving on, after pool, we all played some darts. Which, somehow I won for the night, woo hoo. I didn't do too much on Tuesday because work was so miserable. But, then on Weds. I made that dreaded trip to my least favorite store that I love to spend money in. With me getting sick and the first of the month all together, I ran the cupboards empty. I went to WalMart and spent $260. But, I made sure, I will not have buy food for a while. Rachael hates taking me because I stockpile so much stuff. But, I only have to go there once every 2-3 months. We got back and I got everything put up with 10 mins to spare before LOST came on. Which, by the way, is slowly getting back on track. The show irks me, but I'm too far in it to ever walk away from watching it. I know way too much about what is going on and I know too much about the characters to give up on them. I guess they caught me hook, line, and sinker. LOL. On Thursday I relaxed and bummed around the house. Friday, was a rather easy day, with all the people thinking we were closed for Good Friday, bah, didn't happen. LOL. When Rachael and I got home, I still had to break the big packs of meat apart to be frozen, so in an hour's time, I baked some Chicken with Tomato and Pesto sauce on top of some shells. Man, I tell ya, that Chicken was soooo good. We watched some Planet Earth which is always good and then we both called it an early night. Well, she did. I had a friend stop by and we partied until about 1030am Saturday morning. We had a blast. I slept in until around 630pm and then got up and ate some leftovers. I crashed rather early Saturday night, and slept like a baby until yesterday morning around 10am. I grabbed the laptop and headed out into the living room and hooked up the projector. I have subscribed to this cool online game site called GameTap. They have all the classic games from the past. It always reminds me of the first time I got to play the Atari 2600. My family brought me home when the adopted me, and I know my sisters and I played Pitfall, River Raid, and Kaboom until daylight the next morning. I loved that Atari. I have been playing all of the Pitfalls, Dig Dug, Kaboom, Freeway, Frogger, Asteroids, PacMan, and so many more I can remember right now, because it gets me so excited. But, the only difference is, playing it on the computer, you don't get the satisfaction from that old joystick with a single fire button. We never got to experience the Nintendo generation, but luckily we experienced the Atari one. Hehe. Today, at work, I was so calm and relaxed it was rather nice. LOL. I got an email from my supervisor that tomorrow morning I have my "interview" to be hired on full time with the State. They blew smoke up our asses, last week making us think it would happen last Friday. I figure since they actually gave us appointment times, that it finally is happening. If it is going to happen, it will be on April 20th. Which that will be a blessing in disguise once I get used to getting paid bi-weekly again. But, I wont have to wait to start benefits. Gonna get me some cheap life insurance, expensive medical insurance, and cry the rest of the way to the bank. LMAO. Wow, I have blogged about a lot in the last 30 mins, but I am officially announcing that Missy is coming to visit. I arranged for him to get over and visit for a couple of days. He's going to stay Thursday and leave on Saturday. It will be so great to see him. Its been a little over a month since I saw him last, but it seems like a lot longer. We always hung out pretty much most every day if not every other day. It's going to be a lot of fun. Give him a few beers and some time he will dig in the few totes left in the garage and he will finish decorating the bar, hehehe, better he than me drilling the holes just to hammer a nail on those brick walls. LMAO. I may even take a half day off, time will tell on that one. Speaking of bar, I having been working on designing the next one here on my computer. It's going to be a plain bar, but its going to have the nicities that all bar's should have. It's going to be a portable bar with electricity and hopefully it will have a beermeister in it. But, the best thing about this bar, is it is mine and it will be one of those pieces of furniture that will go with me everywhere. Hehehe. So much for keeping this short, but its now time for me to play some Uno on the phone and fall asleep. Be safe and PEACE OUT!!

Uh ? ? ? ?

2007-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

People, I woke up this morning and all the hair on my chest has fallen off. Why I don't know? It has been a great weekend otherwise. I got my weekend project done yesterday morning. I went ahead and cut and weedate the yard. I did it yesterday morning. I tell ya what, the yard is more like a dirt pit. The lawnmower did an excellent job of mulching all the oak leaves and I didn't even have to rake the yard. I did a little rearranging in the shed to make it easier to get the lawnmower in and out of there with ease. It only took a matter of about 45 mins, but when I was finished. The backyard really just needs a good day of TLC and it could really look much better. But, if we are only going to be in this house for a year, I'm just not finding the urge to get out there and give it that TLC. I literally looked as dark as the neighbors do with all the dirt I stirred up. I then sat on the porch for like 3 hrs just relaxing and listening to music and playing some online pool. I hooked up with Trace and Dave along with the younger daughter and we went out to MOE'S. I just love MOE'S, their serving portions are gigantic. I always get the homewrecker burrito. It's so big, I would say its about 9-10 inches long and about as thick as a big grapefruit. They have this queso sauce that I could eat for every minute of the rest of my life. We then went to the movies. We saw Meet the Robinsons in 3D. It was a cute movie. The 3D was actually pretty cool. I have always liked stuff like that. I've been called a hippie, I take that as a compliment. Trace and I came back to the house and we sat out on the backporch and talked for like 2 hours about this and that. I finally crashed and burned this morning around 430 and slept til about 1045. Other than that, I have been BS'ing around the house. I don't have any big plans today except to watch BROTHERS & SISTERS tonite on ABC. If any of you out there have High Definition TV and like nature documentary type shows, I highly recommend you watch Planet Earth on the Discovery HD channel on Sunday nights too. Watching it own the projector is almost like being there in person except for the smells. LOL. Well, I'm out of here, oh yeah, April Fool's, I have all my chest hair. Peace out!

Thankfully its the weekend...

2007-03-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

How goes it Peep's?? Let me just say THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY. It has been a long rough week at work. They have pretty much made our job universal across the board. While in training, we weren't allowed to make changes to accounts. Which was actually great. But, this week they changed the procedure for the whole call center when it comes to processing changes. Technically now we aren't putting them into the system we use, but putting logging them into the website, so another department can put them in. It looks like they are really trying to privatize the call center. Go figure, that would be my luck, I finally land a decent job with awesome benefits and they would outsource to the private sector. That's Uncle Sam for ya. The clients bitch and moan and act like we should give them the world on a platinum platter. It seems they live better lives than most hardworking people. Monday night, I almost burned the house down. I was cooking some dinner and I had just started boiling the water for the pasta. I literally had just told Rachael the burners on the stove always seem to "burn off" something. She went in the living room and I turned around to look at the directions on the box and turned back around to see the flames shooting well above the pot. Let's just say (PUN INTENDED) I blew it right out in a couple of blows. Sorta a scary few seconds though. Rachael has decided to quit smoking this week. And I know how bitchy it can be with no nicotene, so she got snappy and I instantly became the bedroom recluse for the day yesterday. I was bitchy because my meds had run out. I got a refill today so I am happy as can be again. Well, thats been this week in a nutshell. I'm outta here. Peace out as always!

Allergies...

2007-03-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Achoo. Hey people. Be it known, I haven't gotten sick in over a year. Now that I move over here. I seem to think that my allergies have flared up. Living in Daytona right by the beach, I really didn't have to worry about that much pollen. But over here, the climate is little bit different. I must say I miss my ocean breezes, LOL. Since the last time I blogged I got knocked on my ass by allergies and a sinus infection. I woke up Weds. with a headache and my eyes we tearing up. Then came the sniffles. It was rather crappy. I didn't go in to work on Thursday in fear of getting everyone sick. I never got out of bed. I went in on Friday and only worked a half a day. Went to Walgreen's and got some medicines. With the combination of them all, it made me feel much better rather quickly. Then on Saturday, I turned the A/C on and my sinuses went through the room. They clogged and stayed clogged for the rest of the day. But the headache had gone away. Went out to Peabody's with Trace and her hubby Dave. We played darts probably for a couple of hours before finally getting a pool table. Dave knows the game of darts. But for my second time, I played much better than last week. I BEAT Trace more than she beat me. Woo Hoo. We had a great time out there. I woke up this morning and my sinuses were still clogged. I hit the Vicks Nasal Spray and they cleared up a little. I didn't do much at all except lounge in the bed all day. I have to admit, I am hooked on a new show that's on TV. It' on ABC Sunday Nights called Brothers and Sisters. It's got Sally Field, Ally McBeal, to name a couple I know offhand. But, the morals in the show are like living in my life. With me being the outcast of the family because of my sexuality, the show hits on it a good bit. They make it a point to give all sides of the story and I think its the way families should be in today's times. That's just my opinion. I also like to watch October Road on Thursday nights. Its another show about a different aspect of my life. LOL. How we live through TV shows is hilarious. But, I'm going to bed now. It's gonna be a long day as it seems Mondays are bitch days. Good night Peace out!

Quickly

2007-03-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Yo yo yo People. I am going to keep this short I think. Its going to be an early night for me. I'm hitting the sack earlier than normal. I'm planning on cooking some chicken tomorrow evening before LOST. On Sunday, I never left the comfort of my bed. It seems to be my favorite hangout when I'm not out and about. LOL. On Monday, Trace and I went to a pool hall and played some pool and darts. She admitted up front that she wasn't good at pool but she would kick my ass in darts. She totally kept her word. Her sense of aim at darts is rather stunning. There Trace, told ya I could admit defeat. Hehehe. Monday nights at the pool hall are free for the guys from 7p -9p. I think it might be a nice little hangout for an early evening out. The eye candy wasn't bad either!! :-þ If I could have a pool table and jacuzzi on the backporch, I would never leave the house. LOL. I would have the ultimate lounge pad. I'm hoping this week is the week for me to become a full time state employee. I've kept my fingers crossed. The benefits aren't bad. The pay is more than half of what I was making in Daytona. The bills pretty much about the same as I was paying in Daytona, so I am slowly getting out of the moving in mold and now the enjoy life mode. I'm not missing Daytona as much now. I guess if I get over there every couple of months to see the Cranberry Sisters I will stay happy. After reading my sisters blog a week or so ago I found out Mom is trying to sell the house I grew up in. I guess it's somewhat sad to not be able to go back home. Out of all the homes I ever lived in while growing up as a kid, whether it was a foster home, or the short term adoption, or even the group home where I was when my family adopted me. Mom and Dad's home was the one that I grew up with and was rescued and molded into the man I am today. I have had a lot of flashbacks run through my head since reading it. It looks like it's not going to sit on the market for long. If I won the lottery I would buy it for sure. But I probably won't get to go back and walk through it one more time. It's sorta sad for me. But, I guess we all go through it at some point. But this is my first time leaving a home with so many memories with my family. I guess I am going to jet off here and get some sleep. Peace out and hugs to all!

Fun Fun Fun...

2007-03-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

Wassup People?? Hope you all had a great St. Patty's day. We sure did. Well here it is Sunday afternoon and I just had to catch you up on the great weekend. I went out with a bud of mine and we played some pool Friday night. I think I played rather well. I actually remembered to take my stick this time. Then on Saturday I piddled around the house and did the laundry. I woke up with all kinds of energy though. It was great. But, since the Daytona crew couldn't make it over for the housewarming party, we decided to postpone it. We figured instead we would go down to Ybor City and party. It's been a while since Rachael, Lisa and I have been out together. There must have been a parade yesterday for St. Patty's day since the streets were closed off and there were beads everywhere. We started off at Wranglers and had a pretty good time in there. Then we went to Coyote Ugly and as always had a blast in there. I was pretty much buzzed and feeling great. We then strolled down to G-Bar. It was so packed in there. We grabbed a bite of pizza (strangest tasting pizza crust) that tasted like pancake batter. We went back up and finished the night at Coyote Ugly. We met some hotties in there. Hell there are always hotties everywhere you look in Ybor. We also stopped by the Green Iguana. As you can tell we had a great night out on the town. Guess it's back to work tomorrow. Well, enjoy the rest of the weekend and as always, PEACE OUT!

Getting there...

2007-03-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

Aloha People. Well, it's 1225am Thursday morning and I figured I would blog real quick. LOST I must say is becoming more and more like it used to be. I'm more and more pleased with this season. Well, work is coming along pretty good. I'm picking up rather quickly ever since they moved us outside the nest. I'm taking above 60+ calls a day. My AVG call time is right about 5 mins. Thats not bad at all. Well, the new bar is finally taking off. The curtains are hung along with the blinds. We got the place cleand back up and its looking nice and clean. I hung a few of my signs and pictures up. I hung my deer that no one likes. I don't care what anyone thinks of my deer. It was my Dad's. It's actually the only I have of his at this time. I have always liked it ever since Mom and Dad brought me home when they adopted me. I thought it was a cool thing to have. I didn't get to hang too much because I only have a total of 24ft of wall to hang pictures and stuff on. We hung the shelf up in the corner for the TV. So, it's been a rather busy week for me. I am looking forward to the housewarming party on Saturday. It's going to be a good time for sure. Well, I must get to bed. Tweedle da dee, Peace out!

Finally I can finish unpacking...

2007-03-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Wassup People. Here it is already almost the middle of March. You know, I didn't get my happy butt out of bed yesterday at all. I played on the computer and napped on and off. Seems Mondays at work are going to be hellish. I guess it gives the folks a couple of days to get their excuses together. I got home today and Rachael and I got the "valance" hung on the back porch. My buddy, Michael, stopped by and he lent a hand as well. I am getting excited again because I finally get to unpack all my bar stuff. With the blinds hung along with the valance I can quickly work on getting the "bar" finally decorated. I think it looks pretty good. It's only going to look much better. I have 5 days before the party on Saturday. It sorta sucks because I don't feel comfortable enough to leave all the stuff I normally do out, but I'm already scheming on a way to devise a portable cart to transport stuff back in the house. I'm hoping Missy gets to make it. I don't wanna have the party without him here. Brian if you are reading this, bring Missy with you. You know he's the life of the party. Well, it's almost midnight. I am off to bed. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, Peace out!!

A night of FUN...

2007-03-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yeehaw People. It's high noon and I'm in bed. Trace, her sister, and I went out last night to this bar called the Dallas Bull. It's a huge I mean HUGE country bar. We sat upstairs overlooking the downstairs. We were right above the mechanical bull. All I'm gonna say is "I would save the horse and ride them cowboys. We didnt even play pool. We had a blast though. There we at least a thousand people at the bar its just that big. The eye candy was nice to look at as well. Well, this blog is gonna be short and sweet. I'm gonna take a nap. Peace out!

Just Not Enough...

2007-03-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Happy Weekend People. Here it is 836pm and I am going to lose an hour of sleep tonite. Damn early daylight savings time. I'm going out with Trace tonite and we are going to play some pool and have a few drinks. We are going to celebrate our full first week of being on the phones. The next class is coming into the nest on Monday so they shifted us out of the next to some offices next door outside of the nest, but not out on the call center floor. They have literally crammed 5 cubicles into an office that would normally hold 1 desk and a couple of chairs. It's been a crazy week at work this week. It was like Thursday was the day that everyone had sob stories. Some of them were for real, but most of them were pitiful excuses for a waste of taxpayer money. I have done well with not "chewing" anyone out on the phone. The people really try to piss you off but I just ignore them completely. Thanks to Lisa I got the back porch covered up. Its a huge 16' x 18' screened in porch. Rachael and I went to this awesome fabric store. I was gonna make some curtains for us. But either they didn't have enough of the one we wanted or it wasn't the right width. We probably spent like 45 mins in this store comparing fabrics. So we decided it wasn't ideal to spend the entire budget on fabric. We thought we would go look for some actual curtains. But you gotta understand, we have exactly 44ft wide of screen to cover. So that would have been a lot of curtains with an expensive price tag. So we went to Homo Depot and we looked at their roll-up blinds. I had drawn up the dimensions on a pad and was prepared. They were the only place we went that exactly had what we needed and just enough. I ended up buying 2 - 6ft, 2 - 3ft, 2 - 5ft, and 4 - 4ft roll up blinds. I think we got a helluva deal on them. All of that with couple of extra necessities was $120. I think it was well worth the money. We got home about one and I worked on hanging them for about 2 1/2 hours. It was getting to where I was hanging them in 8 mins. Not bad, but I would hope after hanging so many I would get the hang of it. Then we decided we need some kind of a valance to cover the top of the blinds. So we went the K-Mart here by the house and they didn't have enough of the same style to do the entire 44ft. So we then looked at 216in long curtains. They didn't have the color we liked. So then we got the bright idea of turning cloth place mats into a nice valance. Well of course they didn't have enough of the same type so we ended up buying all they had of the two we liked and Rachael found these napkins that matched the place mats. Then we decided instead of me ironing the stitch witchery to make them into valances we would just punch a holes through the place mats and hang them up with a string. That of course saved me hours of ironing, but I would have if I had to. We went looking for a single hole punch. Would you believe everyone and their brother must have been wanting a hole punch too. They were out of that as well. I ended up buying a heavy duty 3 hole punch. With all intentions of returning the $12 3 hole punch I had to make sure I kept the receipt. Go figure, with me using that logic, my damn receipt jammed up in the printer. LMAO. So we waited 20 mins for them to re-print it. We got home and I punched 3 holes at the top off all 19 place mats and 4 napkins, that's when we realized we didn't have enough place mats. We assumed the place mats were 2ft wide, we even mentioned finding a measuring tape to make sure. We even walked by the measuring tapes a couple of times and didn't think about it. So we are hoping that another K-Mart has the same ones we bought today. So it only cost us about $200 to put the blinds up and get the valances. Not bad for such a huge amount of space to cover. Well, guess I need to hop my happy ass in the shower and get my booty cleaned up. I'm all filthy and sweaty from actually doing some work today. LMAO. Til the next blog arrives, Peace Out!

The Beat Goes On...

2007-03-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey, People. Here it is late Thursday night and it's been an interesting week for sure. With all the plumbing issues the past 4 days, hopefully they are fixed. The hot water heater had to be replaced. Hell, it lived a great life I think for 18 yrs. But, can you believe they only had a 40 gallon water heater in here before. This big house with such a small water heater, whoever thunk that up should be shot. Luckily, by renting, this whole week didn't cost us a red cent, other than a hot water blues headache for a few days. Today was one of those days on the phone that I guess I might as well get accustomed to. Everyone and their brother griped or complained. Yesterday I was #1 in number of calls with 73 and #1 in avg call time with 5:44 mins. But, that really all goes as to what kind of call you get. If you are lucky you can get a 2 min call, but if you aren't so lucky you can get a 30-45 min call. You hear some sad stories of people out there slipping through the cracks. Then you get the ones you can tell are just feeding off the system unnecessarily. It's not my job to be the welfare police, LOL. I'm glad it's almost the weekend. It's been a hectic week thus far. Rachael may go over to Daytona for a funeral I may ride over for a visit. But I really think I'm gonna enjoy the house to myself. That's when I usually do all my cleaning and decorating. We are throwing our housewarming party on 3-17, which is next Saturday. I've always been known to throw several parties in one. That's just how cheap I am. LOL. If and/or when the state picks me up I will be thrilled to be settled in and moving on along. This house may be cursed with all the headaches but if I have to move I'm tremendously downsizing before packing up a truck. I'm gonna leave with a fat wallet instead of a backache. The beat goes on, no matter what. I noticed I have hit a milestone. I hit my 1000th visitor today. I've only been blogging since the first week of November. I've blogged a lot about things and a lot about nothing. LOL. Thanks for visiting and always come back for a good laugh. As simple as I try to make my life, it seems to be full of some kind of drama. Oh, while I'm thinking about it. Yesterday, I was talking to Rachael and I came up with a new analogy. "Men are like crumbs, you get a good taste and then they go away." There's nothing wrong with the single life. I'm stable happy free and have no headaches that comes along with relationships. I'm tired. Off to la la land. Peace out!

If it's not one thing, it's another...

2007-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Hiya People. Hope your weeek is going better than mine. We got the water bill before heading over to Daytona last week. I $hit brown bricks when I opened it. The water bill was $150. They said we used 13520 gallons in a month. Uh, hello???it's only Rachael and me here and we damn well haven't used that much water. We checked the meter and they read it wrong. After they came back and re-read it the billed dropped to $59 for the almost 2 months we have been here. Much better, I know. Well, then, thinking it couldn't get any worse, I hopped in the shower on Monday morning and realized that when I was standing in a couple of inches of water I noticed the drain wasnt working. I don't have a tub, but the nice little 4 inch lip that keep the water in. I hopped out of the shower and wrapped up in a towel and went searching for the plunger. When I went in Rachael's bathroom I noticed that her tub had actually backed up and it wasn't a pretty sight. So then I called out of work and waited for the handy man to get here and fix it. He came and snaked it ad cleared the line out. So I get up this morning all happy to go to work. Work was great. I took 61 calls today. That's not bad for the 2nd day on the phone. Time really flies when on the phone thats for sure. So I got off work at 5 and I was as chippery as can be, I got home and in my home attire and grabbed me a beer. I had to go out in the garage for something. It's a good thing I did. The damn hot water heater had sprung a hefty leak and it had soaked half the garage already. So, I'm starting to figure this house is cursed or we are cursed. Guess the best part is we rent and don't have to worry about paying for these crazy repairs. Well, I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams. Peace out!!

Rainy Relaxing Day

2007-03-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, good evening Everyone. I'm just settling in, getting comfortable in bed to take a little snooze. But, I had to blog about the last 24+ hours. Yesterday at work was a great day. We finally got on the phones and realized I learned alot in class. The calls were interesting. But, the best part is TIME FLIES. Rachael and I went over to Daytona last night for the night. Last week I made the reservations to go to the Spa. So Missy and I went down to the Streamline and had a few drinks. It's Bike Week in Daytona, and I miss the views of A1A that you can get from up there. KP got off work at midnite so we went and hung out with him for a couple of hours. Missy was in rare form. I havent laughed so hard for so long that I almost pissed my pants a couple of times. I miss him alot. I finally crashed about 3am. I woke up about 715am this morning and got ready for my visit to the spa. If you are ever in Daytona, I highly recommend stopping by Ocean Waters Spa at the Plaza Resort & Spa. My first thing was doing a half hour session of Hydrotherapy. I relaxed rather quickly and closed my eyes and immediately let my mind go. Then I had a massage. She did a swedish massage with heavy attention to my upper back and shoulders. I could feel I have several knots in my shoulders. She worked deep on them and I could literally feel them working themselves out. The massage was very enjoyable. My legswere weak when I stood up. I then went for a pedicure. The pedicure I got with Lisa here in Tampa back in Nov was a better one. She did a great job none the less. I stopped by my old job and made an appearance. Then headed back up to Missy's. Tommy and I met Missy down at the pool bar at Bermuda House for a couple of drinks before Rachael and I headed back home. I guess we left around 145pm or so. It was raining pretty much most of the way home. We passed at least 4 different wrecks on I-4 during the 150 mile journey home. We got home right at 5pm. So that is a recap of the last day. Im about to doze on off for a rainy evening nap.Peace out!

Ughh what a day

2007-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

Evening People. I tell ya, here it is the beginning of March. And, it was one of those "blah" and "yucky" days. Here, I was all excited to go to work today and actually enjoy it. But, it was exactly the opposite. I went in and my cubicle is actually in the best part of the nest in my opinion. It's in the back of the room on a wall and I only have one immediate neighbor to my right. The only window in the room is just to the right of him. I got logged into the computer and all the programs that we use only to find out that our email program wasn't installed on my nor a lot of my other co-workers computers. So we literally sat there for 2 hours doing nothing literally. We had orientation from 10-12 and it was even more boring. They make us take an hour lunch, which aggravates me even more because I would rather go home earlier at days end. LOL. So, we go back in after lunch and literally didn't do a single thing. I was going crazy. We still didn't have our computers programmed properly. HELLO, they knew we were coming today a few weeks ago, get a grip. LOL. So at 230 I take break and went out and smoked a cigarette and chatted with Rachael since it was her break time as well. I went back in and sat down and they decided they were going to do "passouts",which is where we verify benefits for customers that applying for low income housing and such. I had those finished withing 10 mins. Then it was back to nothing. I didn't do a single thing for the rest of the afternoon. That just drives me bonkers. So, for the last 45 mins I sat there playing one of the games on my cellphone. Time flew by rather quickly. I'm becoming more and more irritable since I havent had my daily meds since Monday. I came home and pretty much just secluded myself in my room. Grant came by to do laundry and work on Rachael's car for her. So, I just stayed out of the way. I did hook the laptop up to the projector for a while and played some pool. But, I was just getting more and more irritated so I gave up and came back in the bedroom. It's been a long time since I have gone this long without my meds and when this happens, I become worse than a woman on her period. Talking about whiny and bitchy, thats me up and down right now. Whenever I get this way, it's best I avoid everyone as much as possible. Guess it doesn't help me that I also decided back when I started this job that when I got through with class, that I would start dieting. I havent had a single soda today. I'm gonna try and get myself on a meal routine that is healthy. I'm wanting to drop 25-30 pounds by my birthday. I'm declaring war on body fat. It's gotta go. Before, I always claimed I worked odd hours, now I can't use that as an excuse. I'm tired of rambling on about nothing. PEACE OUT!

End of the 1st two Months

2007-02-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yoo hoo People. It's late and way past my bedtime, but I really have to blog about this quickly. Today was the last day of class at work. I tell ya, it just bores me to death sitting in classroom for 8 hours a day. It reminds me of my days in school. But, it's over with thankfully. Now, I can go into the "nest" for the next part of training which is actually being on the phones. Our instructor, today, made us all feel special. It was about 3pm and she let us go on our last break for the day. When we got back, she said that she had to give us a speech. She gave her speech and then she hit the play button on her boom box she had brought in. The music started playing and she kept telling us to wait, it was coming. Finally, the "graduation" song started playing and she passed out our certificates for passing the class. She had already given us a diploma on Monday for dealing with the past 6 weeks of "stress". I just thought it was a cool thing for her to do. Just a quick note, on tonight's LOST. OH MY GOD, I THINK I'M GONNA EXPLODE. It was a great episode and touching in a way. Hurley always is the one to keep the ice broken. And tonite, he continued on. I think I have always been the kind of guy to make people laugh and smile even when they are down. It seems most of the time, LOST always brings a tear to my eyes every week. Rousseau is back, she is one of my favorite characters, and now that she knows her daughter is alive and with "the Others" I hope they keep her more in the spotlight. I got a bad feeling someone or some people are gonna die next week. So it should be interesting. Anyways, I'm off to bed, I got 1 more long day ahead of me. Orientation for work I'm sure will be boring as all most orientations are. Peace OUT to all and to all PEACE out! LOL.

March Madness

2007-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

Greetings, People. I hope you all had a great weekend. I know mine went very well. I went with a new friend out on the town Saturday night. We rode over to St. Petersburg and he showed me around some. We had a great time. I slept in today and we went for dinner. I watched Amazing Race. I have always thought that was a great reality show. I would love to be in that. Since that went off, I have been watching the Oscars. There have been a lot of "automatic give me's" but there have been some surprises as well. I got the bedroom cleaned up and did the laundry. It's nice having a washer and dryer at home. I always hated doing laundry before having to go the laundrymat, but now it's simple. Throw it in and walk away. To whoever invented the washer and dryer, We all thank you, LOL. Well, its past my bedtime, guess I will record the rest of the Oscars. Oh yeah, be sure to watch Oprah's special tomorrow night on ABC. I think she should be President. Hehe. As always, Peace out!

These Boots Are Made For Walking...

2007-02-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon, People. Here it is 230pm on Saturday and I'm still laid up in the bed. We got home from work yesterday afternoon. I had a few drinks. Rachael and I went out last night. I was itching to get out of the house an celebrate my passing the class at work. So we ended up deciding on going down to Ybor City. Remember those $6.99 cowboy boots I blogged about several months back? Well, I finally put them to use. I put on my tight black jeans and those boots and I must say, I looked pretty good in them. I haven't walked in boots in many years. Forgot what it was like walking in them. LOL. Rachael laughed her ass off for a while. When we got to Ybor, we started bar hopping. We went to Coyote Ugly first. If you have ever seen the movie Coyote Ugly, this bar is just like in that movie. They always play great variety of music and have a decent crowd. Then we stopped while I grabbed a slice of pizza. Then we went on down to Wranglers. Its the gay country bar. We had a blast in there. I dont think I have drooled as much in a long time. I'm determined to remember how to dance again. When I lived in Atlanta back in the day, I loved going to Hoedowns. Country bars are the best because everyone is friendly to everyone. We had several rounds at Wranglers and went back to Coyote. We had another round and decided we were having more fun oogling at Wranglers and went back there. LOL. She went and got us a shot. When I asked her what it was, it was TEKILLIA. I'm not a huge fan of it. It always gives me a headache the next day. Plus when I lived in Atlanta, I had a bad run in with Jose Cuervo. LOL. We put the top down on the car and rode home. I dont know what time it was exactly when we got home, but I know as soon as I hit the pillows I was out like a light. If I had my digital camera, I would have taken some pictures. Damn burgulars. LOL. So of course, I woke up with a splitting headache today and hungover, which is something I rarely ever feel. But, we had such a good time. Well, speaking of good times, I think I am off for a nap. Til I blog again, Peace out!

Testy Thursday

2007-02-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hello People. Well, here it is Thursday. It has been a rather good week. It seems to have flown by. LOST seems to be getting on track again. They are finally answering questions but adding more food for thought as well. I called the sheriff's office today and checked on our case. The detective told me that the prints that came back, didn't have any luck. The kid next door is still a suspect, but he hasn't confessed to anything. They searched the house and found that he had a unlicensed gun under his bed. So they are investigating that in itself on a different case. I took the final test today at work. It was the hardest test yet. With all the 30 different types of medicaid and regulations that go along with them, I felt like my head was about to explode. But, I passed it with a 79. So my average after 3 tests was 80 and I am rather happy with that. Considering that I had no clue as to what all was involved with working for the Dept of Children and Families. We found out today that they arent wasting no time at all to hire everyone in our class. They are planning on hiring us March 9 or March 23. Our last day of class is next Wednesday. Then we go into the call center in the "nesting" area. I'm looking forward to it. I can't believe I am as homesick as I am. I have moved many times through my adulthood and this is the only time that I have been this way. I miss being in Daytona, because of my friends and good times that we had. I could have been having a grand time here if it wasn't for the burglary. But, we have to move on best we can. What was supposed to be almost instantaneous settling when I moved here, has turned out to be somewhat just like a typical day in my life. LOL. The weather last week was frigidly cold. But, this week it has been in the upper 70's during the day and in the low 60's at night. I love sitting out on the back porch or out in the back yard in the evening before the sun sets. It's a great way to wind down for the evening. Speaking of winding down, I'm gonna hop off of here and chow down on some leftovers. Have a good one, PEACE OUT!!

"Moanday"

2007-02-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

Good night, People. If you didn't watch the Daytona 500, yesterday, you missed out on a spectacular finish. I'll be damned if Mark Martin didn't have that race at the end. I don't ever recall an ending like yesterday. With the race red flagged, I was practically doing all I good to get Mark across that finish line first. Rachael apparently doesnt like the races. I thougt yesterdays race shows that its a sport that you never know what's gonna happen. Kevin Harvick came from 7th to beside Mark in a matter of the last two laps. With wrecks behind them happening, those two literally raced to the finish line. Kevin beat Mark by, get this, 0.02 seconds. One of the driver's actually slid across the finish line on the roof of the car before it somehow rolled back over on all four wheels. I was yelling at the tv wall like I was right at the track. In all the years, I lived in Daytona, I always wanted to go to the rack track but never did. I would like to go one day. So, I guess I woke up a little pissy this morning. Then when getting to work, the instructor, decided to not even explain anything all day, and just slammed us with some cases that we were completely clueless about. So, it was just a "Bah Monday". After work, Rachael I went over to her brother's, Grant, house. He's downsizing a lot before moving into an apartment in the next month. We went and picked up the grill, and this great outdoor patio set. We actually fit thisbig grill along with the 6ft table with 6 chairs and this 8ft umbrella. So, we got it back here to the house and got it unloaded. Rachael took the truck back to his house and got her car. While she was gone, I got everything set up on the back porch. I put the the table and 4 chair in the screened in porch and took the other 2 chairs outside in the back yard and set up that big umbrella over them. She got back in perfect timing. Even with this big table and grill on the back porch, I still have room for extra chairs and my triangle table. I can't wait until I an get the fabric for the curtains back there. Hopefully I can budget it by mid-March after getting the bills paid. LOL. But, the house is coming along slowly enough. If it weren't for the break in, I think we would be done by now. We are throwing our housewarming party March 18th. It will be a blast. Well, it's 1150pm and I should have been asleep an hour ago. Enough with blogging tonite. Peace out!

1st Race of the Season

2007-02-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Vroom vroom people. It's the Great American Race. I'm sitting here in my recliner watching the open ceremonies to the Daytona 500. Big and Rich sang the national anthem and it brought tears to my eyes. I think NASCAR is the most dangerous sport there is out there. I think its amazing for them to fly around the track 200+ mph and when they crash or wreck they can practically walk away from it. The skill it takes to race around a track non-stop for 3+ hours. I remember when I met Richard Petty and Kyle back in '00. They used to stay at LaPlaya Resort when I worked there. Richard was such a nice guy. I do miss Daytona in a way for the special events. I have rooted for Mark Martin for several years. And he is semi-retired and he lives in Daytona. It all boils down to who crosses that finish line first. I woke up this morning and pretty much rolled right out of bed and started on some cleaning up around the house. I got the bedroom cleaned up, hung the shower curtain, swept all the floors, did the laundry, and emptied the dishwasher. Cooked a nice dinner yesterday. Grilled some chops, made some pasta salad and black eye peas, and baked some banana nut muffins. Not sure why, they seem to come out dry. I follow the instructions and they come out warm tasting great, but then dry up. Anyone know what to do to fix it, let me know. Well, the race is about to start, wish them luck and safe race. Peace out!

It's the weekend...

2007-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hello People. Here it is 1245p, Saturday afternoon and I am still laying in bed. It's cold outside. It got down to about 30 last night and they are calling for the same again tonite. I must comment on the episode of Grey's Anatomy that I saw last night. It was 2 hours long and I was glued to it the entire time. I am going to have to watch the conclusion next week when it comes on. I finally decided to leave the "nest" (home) last night and met up with a couple of new friends. They took me out to a nice bar, here in town. We played pool for a few hours and had some drinks. It was actually a great evening out. I only won 1 game of pool and that was by scratch. LOL. Next time we go, I'm taking my stick maybe I will play better. I would love to have my own pool table. This week has been an interesting one at work. I have never in my life, seen so many different types of medicaid. They all do the same thing, but all are coded differently. The instructor started going over them all in one day, and I thought my mind was gonna explode there on the spot. I still haven't been able to get them all down. We only have one more test, and then it's just patience til 2-27. After the 27th we should go into the call center for good. I will be in what they call the "nest", which is the training part of the call center. We will actually be taking real calls and working with real cases, so I'm looking forward to that. I feel the actual classroom setting learning all the policies that comes along with the job, is about to make my head just turn to mush. Getting out in the call center will be so much better training for me. Hands on is the best way I learn and much faster as well. Still no news on the break-in. Hopefully patience pays off. Well, I think I am ready for a nap, yes a nap. LOL. Talk to you next time. Peace out!

Terrific Tuesday

2007-02-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone, it was not that bad of a day here. I went to work/class and we went over the practice test we took yesterday. I did terribly on it. I missed 8 out of 19. That's not good. This test seemed to be harder than the last test we took. So our instructor let us have a quick break before taking the actual test. I, of course, went out and smoked a cigarette. The entire time, telling myself, that I was determined to make an 85 on it. We took the test and I actually felt pretty confident on it. But, me being the bad-test taker I am, found out, after we got another break while the instructor finished grading them, that I had missed 3 questions on the test already. I was dreading going back in there. We couldn't actually go over the test since a fellow classmate called out today. So we were handed our test score on a piece of paper. I took the paper and closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew I hadn't made better than a 90 because there wasn't a sticker on it. Yeah, here I am 31 years old and would have really gotten excited to see a "terrific" sticker. I made an 83.5 on the test. I was very surprised. So, my mentality immediately switched into the next gear. Forget the test and prepare for the next one. The instructor passed out the next "module" that we will go over the week or so. Me being the comedian in the class, of course, made some remark about the 200 pages she handed us. So, I recommended to one of the classmates, that I hang with, that we go to celebrate lunch. We went to this awesome restaurant, a couple of blocks down the street from work called The Cuban Sandwich Shop. It's about the size of a Wendy's. There literally wasn't a seat left in the place when we sat down. I ordered a large Cuban sandwich. It was off the chain. After that, we got back to work just in the nick of time. We got out of the car, and a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere. It scared the $hit out of me. I finally got a hold of Missy today. We chatted for a little bit when I got home. Rachael and I watched one of my favorite movies, Sordid Lives. It's one of those movies, that I laugh my ass off every time. Sometimes, I think it's my life in a nutshell. I feel like a couple of the characters in it. Still, nothing new on the robbery. I was hoping to hear something. But, I am not gonna harass the deputies. I'm sure, that if they find something, they will call us. Growing up, when we got robbed several times while going through high school, it was detrimental then. But, now, I guess, we are just another victim of another statistic. I'm not gonna even try and replace the majority of what was stolen. But, I do wanna, try and replace my LOST season 1 and 2 DVDs and I wanna replace as much of the home automation stuff that I had. I am looking into a wireless camera system. I found a nice 4 camera set that I can hook up to a VCR and it can record all the time, or when someone triggers it. I've always been one to enjoy having gadgets. Before the robbery, I was gonna use the majority of the home automation stuff for my bar. But, its ashame, now I have to instead replace them and use them for security reasons. I will make the best of it. Well, I guess I have rambled enough, I am hitting the sack. Peace out and Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Day 44

2007-02-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

Hola People. Hope all is going well with you all. Not too much exciting going on. Work is going along. We have a test tomorrow on "Expenses and Income". I've never been one good with numbers. So I hope it goes well. I'm shooting for an 85 but would like a 100.It's 20 questions, open book (100 pages, we have gone over in the last week).There's a few problem solving questions. Then whats countable income or expenses or not. That's whats tricking me. I'm just ready to get through class and get out in the call center. But, I am slowly getting used to working bankers hours and having weekends off. I thought about it the other day, and it feels like a nice change from the 14 years in the hotel business. I've been somewhat homesick lately. Getting Missy to answer his phone is like plugging an elephant with diarrhea. He's never been one up on the technology. Hell, he just got his first cell phone ever last year. He still doesnt know how to do anything with it. He did send me a card today. I couldnt figure out who it was from by glancing at it. Being Missy, the return addy was : B. Deveroux 5161 Richmond St Miami, Fl 32176. Well me, being the dork I am, can't think of anyone I know that lives in Miami. Well, I get in the house and finally open the card, and I read the front, and opened it, and laughed my ass off for a couple of minutes. He enclosed a B&W picture of this old lady with one hand on her hip and the other up to her head. That helped the homesickness a little bit. However, this weekend, Rachael and I finally "christened" the house. We mixed some drinks and Lisa stopped by. We had a grand ol' time. We did my version of "skareoke". For those of you who have brighthouse cable, and have digital cable check out the Oxygen On Demand. They have a lot of songs on there you can sing. You all know I'm not a singer. We had a blast singing away. I slept in until about 3pm on Sunday. It was great. I'm slowly adjusting to waking up at 630. Last night, we watched the movie The Guardian. Way cool movie. I shaved my head last night. I went back to the smooth look. I got rid of the mustache and kept my little chin goatee. I've always liked that look on me. I just need to get some sun. Last time I did it was back in August. Well, I'm off to bed. Hope you all the best. PEACE OUT!!!

A special anniversary...

2007-02-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hello people. Hope everyone is doing well. Here it is Tuesday night and I'm getting very anxious. Tomorrow is the beginning of 16 non-stop weeks of LOST. I don't know what it is about this show. But, I follow it online and know a lot about it. We are going to be getting some answers before the season finale. Unfortunately, out of all the DVD's I lost, (no pun intended), my favorite ones were both seasons of LOST. Each year it has come out, I buy it that day. I am going to have to replace them before season 4 starts in Sept-Oct. Speaking of "that", I got a call from the deputy today and he was just making sure that Lisa's car was okay to be in our driveway. The deputies came back out today and talked again to the neighbors. He told me that one of them is a "suspect/person of interest" in our break-in. So we are keeping our fingers crossed. I haven't slept right ever since it happened. I am at the midpoint of class for work. I tell ya, it's pretty mind boggling with all the policies that come with job. I have seen more abbreviations than I ever wanna see. But, I have faith that it is going to be easy out in the call center. We spent a day in the call center last Friday and I thought it was interesting. You get to hear a lot of different stories and pleas from people out there on medicaid, food stamps, and cash assistance. So I am having a positive outlook on this, where as in the hotel business in the call center, it was a different atmosphere by far. In this position now, this is the opportunity to reach out and help people in need. It's almost like I'm returning the special favors that have been given to me. Tomorrow, February 7, is a special day in my life. Every year it is a day that I reminisce about that day back in 1986 when my family drove 4-5 hours away to pick me up from the group home in the mountains of NC, where I had been for over a year. I was 10 yrs old, and who knows where I really was in life. My family adopted me and brought me into their lives and here it is 21 years later, and I feel I am such a better person. I have always said that I feel like a teenager. I never got to experience life as a normal kid. I will never forget the endless nights we would play the Atari 2600 (river raid, pitfall, frogger, freeway and plenty more, oh yeah dig dug). I know that there have been many a tough times over he years, but I guess that comes with all families. But, in the end, we are still connected, even if its 500 miles away. My family and closest friends are the reason why I went from a troubled child at 10 years to the man I am now. Thank you all for your support, advice, and guidance over the years. Happy Anniversay to my Family. To all of you, I love you all!!! Peace out!

Some Welcoming Committee...

2007-02-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo, it's the weekend. But, it's been a helluva week. It all started with work. I had my first test. It was open book. I felt pretty good about it, but I made some stupid mistakes and missed some that I knew I had trouble with. I did pass the test, but by the hair on my nose. Rachael and I got more of the house setup. It's looking pretty good. But, we had a major setback on Thursday. While we were at work, our house was burglarized. They rummaged through every cabinet and drawer throughout the house. They swiped all of our dvd's, both of our laptops, her jewelry, my home automation collection, and my laptop bag that had all my accessories along with my digital camera. I've been pretty sad the last couple of days because my laptop had my life on it and it's gone as fast a blink of the eye. Luckily they overlooked the box that had my projector in it. They opened it up and took the packing paper out and walked away from it. They didn't take my 1 day old surround sound system I bought. We called the police and did the usual routine. The cops took pictures and lifted a few fingerprints. Maybe if we are lucky, we might get our things back. But, in today's times, it's probably very unlikely. I had awesome plans to spend my income taxes wisely and get the house looking even better. But I had to replace my computer. We get robbed on Thursday, and I get my taxes deposited on Fri. I guess it worked out at the right time, We were able to replace the laptops without going in the hole unexpectedly. I was very depressed handing the clerk at Best Buy my debit card to buy my new laptop. But, all we can do is move on and learn. I pretty much spent a good part of the day today installing locks on the sliding glass doors and and on the other entry doors of the house. We got the alarm that came with the house up and working too. If there is a next time, I hope they are prepared to meet the new guard dog and/or a gun. I'm seriously considering taking a gun safety course and having a gun with me. I'm going to have a safe installed into my closet and keep my valuables in there along with some excellent hiding spaces in the house. I got the projector shelf installed and surround sound set up today. I think the setup will be perfect in the living room. We got curtains hung in the living room and kitchen. Black in the living room with red sheers and red curtains in the kitchen with black sheers. It's all coming together. I'm determined to keep my chin up and move forward as best we can. As my motto says "Living the simple life, making it the best that I can". Oh, Daytona has been hit again by a very nasty round of Tornadoes. This time it was much worse than the storms that hit on Christmas day. At least 20 people across the state lost their lives to the tornadoes that hit in the wee hours of the morning. There was devasting damage across the Daytona area. If you are interested...check out www.newsjournalonlne.com and read the local paper there to find out more. This time they had a tornado hit Thursday night and then again on Friday night. It's frightening to see Mother Nature is blind andjust ravages anyone in her path. Well, I've had about 8 hours of sleep since Weds. night. My body is craving sleep, so I am gonna hit the sack. Peace out!

The Past Week...

2007-01-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

Greetings People. Well I feel I have neglected on my blog this year. I guess with the move and all I just really haven't had the time to sit down and blog my thoughts and happenings as often. I'm gonna blog whatever pops in my head during this blog. So maybe I can get caught up a little. This past week was overall a good week. The job seems to be getting easier. Who would have thought that a program designed back in '90 would still be in operation. Its not Windows based at all. I haven't had to memorize and get familiar with so many abbreviations or acronyms in my life. But its not too bad. I've readjusted a little and I'm catching on rather well considering I have 5 more weeks of training to go. The house is coming along rather quickly. All that's left is setting up the living room. But, I'm not gonna do that until I get a surround sound system and then spend a day cussing while I hook everything up at once. I think it will look like showroom quality when we are through. I filed my taxes and the return is gonna look mighty nice in my bank account along with a full check from Manpower at the same time. Woo Hoo. Steve dropped my bike off on Saturday. Now, its time for me to put my a$$ in gear and starting riding it. I'm determined to drop 30 lbs by May. I've already lost 6lbs since I arrived in Tampa on 1-7. My bedroom looks great. I hung my artwork and I was very impressed. I threw the headboard to my bed away. It was nice but it didn't go with the look that I am going for in this room. Without the headboard my bed has become a nice platform bed. With 12 drawers underneath for storage, I have plenty of room. My purple bedroom in Daytona was a great room. And the green bedroom is gonna be awesome now. I haven't unpacked the bar yet. I'm not gonna do any of that until I get the blinds to go out on the backporch. The cable guy came yesterday and installed cable out on the back porch. I am already getting visions of the bar that I am gonna build back there. I tell ya, the landlord is gonna love us when we leave. He agreed to split the cost with me on getting the blinds installed. It's something I would leave behind. The garage is almost empty. Still have a few things in there, but in time it will be cleared out. Speaking of cleared out, he had the backyard cleaned up some since it was overgrown, and it looks a lot better. He says he's gonna plant flowers and all, if he doesn't, I know I will. I already have a spot picked out for when I get my hammock. I have some projects I wanna complete around here and getting this place looking great in time for summer. I'm somewhat homesick from Daytona though. I guess it's because my friends were such a part of my daily life and now that I am in a big city and hardly know anyone here, it's a big change. I'm sure in time, I will begin meeting people. What can I say? I'm 31 years old enjoying life, living it up as best I can, have very little bills, grabbing life by the horns and enjoying the ride. I wouldn't be in the position I'm in if it weren't for all my family and friends. I guess everyone is in the same boat in the sense. Okay enough blubbering. LOL. I grilled some chicken yesterday for the first time on that big George Foreman grill I got back in Nov'. Damn, that was some of the juiciest chicken. Mmm mmm. I made pasta salad, corn, and cornbread. It was a mighty delicious meal. I'm gonna buy me an outdoor grill one day. I love cooking on the George Foreman. You can't go wrong with it. Unless you walk away from it and forget LOL. It looks like I am a cook after all. I enjoy it for the most part, and now that I have a dishwasher and don't have to solicit Missy to clean up the dishes, I plan on doing more cooking (and I hope to keep the weight off). LOL. Well, I guess I'm gonna get out of bed now and start working on finishing up the trim painting that needs to be done. It's on my list of things to finish this weekend. I will take some pictures of the place in the next couple of weeks as it comes together and post them. Some of you will be in shock to see the transformation from the Daytona exhibit to the Tampa showplace. Hope you all have a good week and as always, PEACE OUT ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

The Next 15 Days

2007-01-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Long time no see People. Most of you know that I have been in the process of moving from Daytona to Tampa. Well, good news is, it's finally happened and its over with. I give many thanks to Rachael, Lisa, Dan, Steve, Mike, Brian, and everyone who helped make it happen. We found a house. It's a cute 3 br 2 ba 1150+ sq ft home in the Temple Terrace area. Its conveniently located within 10 mins of Busch Gardens, Hard Rock Casino, the Ford Amphitheatre, amongst other places. We painted the whole house inside (minus the bathrooms) on Weds and Thurs. Then on Friday, Rachael, Lisa and I headed over to Daytona to move out over there. It was great getting to see Missy again. Boy, I miss my friends over in Daytona. Other than the fender bender right in the driveway to load up the truck the actual move went over not bad at all. I tell ya though, my body is exhausted and aching all over. I took today off from the house and didn't do anything except file my taxes (nice refund coming my way). I promise to take some pictures of the house once we get it unpacked and arranged. The best part of the house is the huge screened in back porch. The bar will be hooked up in a matter of time. Well, I'm off to bed now. Peace out!

The first 6 days....

2007-01-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

How's it going People? Well, let me say that my first days in Tampa have been quite interesting. Within my first 12 hours in town, we were greeted by the Tampa Police Dept. Rachael, Grant (Rachael's brother), and I met up with Brian and Rachelle (Bday girl) at Howl at the Moon (Dueling Piano Bar) down by the entertainment district known as Channelside. Rachael and I had a blast. You will see in the pictures below that we were drinking from the "bucket". A bucket is 86 ounces of your choice between a Hurricane, Sex on the Beach, Margarita, and a couple of other drinks. Brian and crew had a bucket and we went and got a bucket for us. We had the hurricane first and it was actually very tasty. We had a shot of Rumpleminz as well along with a beer chaser. That first bucket went down rather quickly with the 3 of us nursing it together. We decided we would go ahead and get another bucket. This time it was a sex on the beach bucket. It was even tastier than the first bucket. Rachael and I would go out every so often to smoke. We were pretty much toasted by around 1230a. We hung around til around 1am. The piano bar was awesome. So we finally talked Grant into going back to the house. Well, around 2am, with Grant driving, we got pulled over by an undercover cop. To make that story in itself short, the outcome was, he refused to blow, he failed the sobriety test, and he was hauled off to jail and his car was impounded. But, the cops were nice enough to bring Rachael and me back home. Rachael didn't have her house keys, so we had to "break in" through one of the windows. So all in all, it was a great night with an unexpected ending. Rachael and Lisa went and got Grant out of jail Sunday morning. Sunday was pretty much an uneventful day. Rachael and I went grocery shopping. I stayed the night over at Lisa's so I could house sit to wait on the repairman to fix her AC's, while she went to the lawyers office with Grant. Monday was just a quiet day. Lisa's hubby had two tickets to the Tampa Bay Lightning vs Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game on Tuesday. Since the Florida Gators won the BCS bowl game on Monday night, and he had partied too hard celebrating their victory he told Lisa that we could go to the Hockey game. With me being a virgin to so much culture, Lisa figured she would break me in. We had a blast at the game. I actually enjoyed the game more than I thought I would. The Lightning won the game 3-2. There are some pics of that below as well. I definitely wanna go see more hockey. Yesterday, I helped Lisa finish patching her upstairs kitchen ceiling and I painted it for her. She cooked a marvelous dinner. She made veal Parmesan, corn, and Texas toast. It was very delicious. We have checked out a few more houses. But I guess we have come to the conclusion that we are going to move into an apartment. As much as I want a house, it just doesn't seem there are a lot of them for rent within our budget. I start work next Weds (1-17) and I am so ready to get to work. This little unexpected extra vacation has been fun, but its time to get back in the groove that way I can move into a house and get settled in Tampa and enjoy what this big city has to offer me. I have heard of a couple of bars that I wanna check out that seem to be right up my alley. But there are so many different things to do here other than bars that makes it a nice city to live in. Well, I promise to blog again soon, as my Internet access is limited. As always, Peace OUT!!

Here we are drinking from that bucket

Rachael, Me, and Grant

Mighty tasty I tell ya

Here I am with the Bday girl herself, Rachelle

Cheers to Rachael and I having a grand ol' time

Here we are again, this time with 2 more buckets. 1 straw was not enough!

This is outside the St. Pete Times Forum before the Hockey game

Here Lisa and I are at the bar at the Forum having the first drink of the evening before the hockey game

Me with rink behind me before the game

Penguins practicing before gametime

Tampa Bay Lightning scoring a goal

And the Journey Begins...

2007-01-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Weekend People. It's officially the last night in Daytona. The house is packed and I'm waiting to head over to Tampa. Got some bad news though. Rachael and I didn't get that house that we were wanting. The guy seemed to have led us on. But, that's water under the bridge. I'm not gonna get pissed off. Then I called Manpower up in reference for the DCF job and they told me that the training class had been moved to 1-17-07. That hit hard because I had planned everything since the class was supposed to start this coming Monday. Yesterday was my last day at work here in Daytona. So now I have an unexpected 2 week vacation. So, this is mind boggling. I'm getting very nervous because of all this. But, I'm trying to grab this by the horns and make it happen. I'm excited to get to Tampa and finally have my cell phone working again. I guarantee you, I will be making a few phone calls as soon as I get into my coverage area. Til I'm in Tampa, Peace Out!

New Beginnings, New Year...

2007-01-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year People. I swear I haven' t forgotten you. It's just been a very hectic few days for me. I wanna thank all of you that stopped by the 2nd Annual Rob's New Years Extravaganza. Everyone I anticipated to show up, showed up. I had 21 people stop by this year and party. The saddest part about the party was Missy had to work and he didnt get here until 130am. We all drank many shots in his name wishing he were here. Everyone missed his wit and humor that he always has to offer. A big thanks goes out to Dan, Rachael, Missy, Rachelle, Brian, and Tommy for all their help in making everythng go smoothly. It was strange, on New Years Eve I slowly prepared all the food throughout the afternoon and everything was ready by 5p. I had plenty of time during the day, that I thought I was forgetting to do something. Where, last year when I had it in the Penthouse Suite at Coral Beach, I was non-stop the whole time setting the place up and getting all the food prepared and all. Lesson learned is have the party at home. The food was a total success. The 8 layer dip that I made was awesome. The spinach dip was very tasty. I also had meatballs, lil' smokies, famous NC BBQ (Smithfields), and pasta salad. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We watched the New Years slide show, which was pretty cool. I made a gallon and a half of Washington Apple shots. The drinking game for the evening was everytime someone arrived we had to drink a shot. Well, we ran out of those by midnight. But I made some Jello Shots that tasted exactly like a Fuzzy Navel. By night's end, it was suggested that Dan and I had drank 20 shots each. Somehow though, I never got drunk. I think its because I'm a busy-body host that roams around too much to let the liquor get a hold of me and I always nibbled on the food as I walked past it. Kelly brought some party favors that everyone got a kick out of. At 1155pm we switched to the Dick Clark New Years production and I prepared everyone a shot of Champagne along with a chaser shot of Washington Apple. We all did the wishing everyone a Happy New Year and I decided I would slip outside and take in a fresh breath of air. Well, it just so happened that the fireworks being shot off of a barge down by the pier were going off. I saw them and yelled at everyone. Most everyone came outside and somehow we started hooting and hollering at cars as they were driving. Funny thing is most of the drivers blew their horns back at us. LOL. After that it seemed we all congregated in my bedroom and we all got toasted as we toasted in the New Year for the first time. LOL. By around 1a people started slowly heading home. Missy got here and I had a good hour of partying left in me. We drank some more shots and had a few drinks. We then looked at the pictures I had taken and watched the video footage that had been taken. Missy, Rachael, and Jeff crashed overnight. I crashed in the recliner and slept like a baby. I actually didnt do much New Years day except relax. On Tuesday, I came home and Missy and Jeff stopped by and we pulled everything off the walls in the living room and the hallway. Its very sad to see this place looking very barren. I had a lot of nail holes to plug with caulk. Tonite, I packed a few more totes and boxes with living room, bar, and miscellaneous things. Dan and I went through the kitchen and I got most of my kitchen materials packed up. I hope to be done with everything tomorrow evening. Mary D. is stopping by with the boys tomorrow evening and I plan on watching my new favorite movie. I'm not gonna tell you on here, Im gonna burn a copy of it and send it to you and just make sure you watch it. I havent laughed so hard in a long time. Well, I'm gonna post some pictures that were taken either by me or Rachelle. I hope everyone has the happiest of years to come and stay in good health. I am very happy, healthy, and seem to be doing well in life. I'm looking forward to see what the year has to offer me. I'm in a new job, new city, new home all at the beginning of a new year. It's an interesting feeling to have. Well, as Rachael says, I'm out like trout. Peace out!!

Here are the 3 original patrons of the first home bar I ever had (Fishnet Lounge),

Me, Gwen (Silky Chocolate), and John

Here is a shot of some of the party goers. From left to right.

Cassie, Kelly, Shaughn, Lori, Rachelle, Brian, and Shannon

Just a cute picture of Rachelle, Brian, and Shannon

Here is a shot of Me, Dan, and Kelly.

Aww, it's Rob and Rachael (all tore up) LOL

I'm getting EXCITED...

2006-12-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Boo, People. Well here it is Thursday morning. This week seems to have flown by so fast. The damage from the tornado we had on Christmas day is pretty bad. The Embry Riddle Aeronautical University took a very bad blow from it. It totalled 4 college buildings and damaged 6 others. They had over 50 planes destroyed. The Sutton Place apartments lost 3 buildings completely and had damage to 5 others. At this time, the damage in Daytona alone (2 other tornadoes hit in the area) is at $33 million now, I'm sure that number will go up. I wouldn't be surprised if it hits $50 million.For some reason, this is really weighing on my mind. It's just sad that these people literally have no where to go and have nothing left to carry on with. It's just a sad sight. I hope FEMA does declare it available for funds. That's why we pay taxes. On the home front, I have got some more packing done. I've got some cleaning up to do in order to get ready for the New Years party I'm having. Its gonna be a very small crowd compared to last years. I had 40 guests last year stop by. This year's party will be low key. I'm having it here at the condo. I'm gonna invite about 15 people. I'm gonna make my spinach dip that all of you love, gonna make my 7 layer dip, and the INFAMOUS BEERPUNCH that you all can't get enough of. After the party is over, I am gonna go ahead and finish packing up the kitchen and living room. I should have everything but the Projector taken down. Rachael and I are still awaiting word about the house we are hoping to get. My friend Danny (longest friend I have had in Daytona... he picked me up and rented me a room in his house) when I moved to Fla. back in 2-98. He visited for a while and he gave me a Xmas gift. I confirmed with Manpower that I guaranteed to start in the training class on 1-8. He sounded at first that it wasn't because they are requesting more bi-lingual agents. After I told him that I had already gave my notice to my job and done everything to get relocated to the area, he then told me that I was for sure to be in that class. I'm nervous as hell, because if something major (job falls through or the house doesn't come through) happens, I don't know what I am gonna do. I've worked hard on this move and I have really tried to cover all the bases as best I can. But, until I get started at the job and I get a lease signed on the house and the keys to it, will my nerves calm any. I've been very anal about this move, because most of you know my past track record moving has never been pretty. I use to just move at the spur of the moment literally. It got me into some very very bad predicaments. This time I'm doing it the best I can on a single man's budget. I'm just very nervous. But anyways, I'm off today and I am about to hit the sack, its almost 320am here. I will definitely post some pictures from the New Years Party. That's the one day I think friends should get together and reminisce over the past and look forward to the future. Good night and peace out!

Eerie Christmas Day

2006-12-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Hi People. What a strange Christmas day. I woke up around 730am and checked the weather out to see if I should expect rain on my way to work. My job is about 2 miles south of the house and the buses don't run on Christmas day. So I had to walk. I actually made it in excellent time. But I was the only one in the office today and it was very busy handling the office. I went out for a smoke around 12 noon and I was looking up at the sky and I told the security guard for the office that I bet we were gonna get hit with a tornado. The clouds were very low, but they were hauling a$$ North and it was just weird feeling. So I went back in to work and around 130ish we started getting some thunder and lightning and the power kept flickering on and off. I was chatting with Dan (my roomie) online and I told him I had a hunch that it was going to be remembered as the Tornadoes of Christmas Day 06. I was watching the live feed of the Doppler radar online. I'm in a building with no windows except the front door and I'm terrified of lightning. I went up front and looked out and it didn't look too bad and I went back to work. I went out for another smoke around 230p and the security guard told me that a tornado had hit. But he was wrong in where he told me it hit. I finished that cigarette and got back to my desk to see a message from Dan that one had hit the police department and an apartment complex there. There were houses that were completely destroyed. The airport sustained a lot of damage as well. More than 60 planes were damaged. I feel so bad for the people that lost everything they ever had on Christmas day. The news didn't get much footage before the sun went down, but I'm sure there is a lot more damage than they realize. They said it was an F2 tornado that hit us. That's up to 150mph winds. Can you imagine sitting at home having dinner and out of nowhere one hits you. It's just sad and scary to think about. Well, I was supposed to get off work at 5pm but I didn't get finished with the reports til 540p. I walked back home. The Cranberry Sisters (John, Tommy, and I) and Dan were supposed to go to see the premiere of Dreamgirls. We got all the way to the movie theater and the line was 20 mins long just to get tickets, so we decided to go have a couple of drinks. We stopped at Rumors first and it was rather boring. Then we headed on over to the Streamline and we were practically the only ones in the bar. LOL. So, we called it an early night. I guess after the long day of answering 70+ phone calls and inputting 30 internet reservations and the tornado affair, its just been an exhausting day. It wasn't a good Christmas at all. Since, my cell phone doesnt work in Daytona, I couldn't call everyone like I wanted to. So, I guess I'm just a little lonely. But my friends helped me through. So I'm feeling better. I ask that everyone keep the residents of Daytona that were affected by the tornado in their thoughts as the next few days go by. I'm sure it changed some of their lives forever just in a flash. Luckily no one died and there were only a few injured. But Central Florida as a whole got smacked with a few tornadoes. Deland got smacked by a smaller one. There were a few more elsewhere. I'm off today (Tues) and Im going to work on some more packing. I only have 2 weeks left to go and I should be finished by the time I leave for Tampa. Well, I'm going to bed. Gnite and peace out!

Just Wanted to Say...

2006-12-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

Hello to all you People out there. I want to wish you all Happy Holidays. It's been a rough few days. Work has been pure hell. Total chaos with very little relief in sight. But, I put my notice in this week. My last official day will be 1-4-07. Believe me, I have been to the point several times in the last couple of days, saying *&cK it and walking away from it and enjoying some time off. But, I remember how badly I need the money and how greedy I am to get it while I can since they are waving the incentive program in front of our faces. And, I really wouldn't be a better person to just walk away from it all. So, I will ride it out, luckily the schedule works in my favor, because I only have to work a couple of days at a time til my last day. Woo Hoo. I'm gonna head over to Tampa on Greyhound and meet up with Rachael, to start work on 1-8-07. I'm looking forward to the change. Looks like she and I might get this cute house that we have looked at. She went and checked it out and someone from craigslist.com replied to an ad I had on there. So the future looks to be getting brighter day by day. I've had faith that the bumps that have been in my plan, would smooth out with some vigilance, determination, and will power. Well, I am off to bed, I volunteered to work Xmas day so everyone could be with their families. I'm still elated I go to spend the beginning of the month with mine. It was like getting my Christmas present early. I'm thankful to know the people who have crossed paths with me and guided me along the way. I hope you all have a Happy Holidays. Peace Out!

Its beginning to...

2006-12-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hello People. Its 80+ degrees down here in Florida. The weather has been nice and toasty. I'm wearing my shorts as always here in the middle of December. There I hope you are jealous. Because its the one thing I always like about living here in December. Let me see, during the past couple of days, not much has happened. Yesterday, Missy and I, went down to pick up my daily bonus and he decided he would go ahead and spend his Ocean Waters Spa gift certificate ($100) on shampoo and conditioner to give to people on his Christmas list. We found it humorous that our company is too cheap to actually give us CASH but instead give us gift certificates to the Spa instead. So that way they dont lose any money. But anyways, after that adventure to the spa, we went down to the boardwalk. We figured we may as well visit it one more time and reminisce about the times that we had at the old "broadwalk" (as it used to be called in the old days). I worked down there for a good year as the night manager for the biggest arcade. We ordered a big ol' 32oz draft beer for each of us and I ordered me a big chargrilled cheeseburger and fries. We went out and sat in the fenced off area and smoked a cigarette while we were waiting on my food. There was hardly any people down there. So my food order was ready and I went to get it. I got back and sat the plate down on the table and then tried sitting in my plastic white chair. Don't ask me how, but I didn't even get all the way down in the chair when it fell backwards out from underneath me. You should have seen it, I was flailing my arms and legs in the air and it was like the chair was just teetering below me. So eventually I fell back on my back. I have a nice big bruise on the top of my butt now. It hurt like hell, but it was so comical. Then after I got through eating we went in Mardi Gras and played my favorite arcade game "SKEEBALL". I got a $10 roll of quarters and Missy and I played all of it on skeeball. In the end I only beat him by 5 tickets. I am better at getting the 100pts hole whereas Missy is better at getting the 10-50pts holes. We had a grand time. We redeemed our tickets and got us a $0.50 shot glass. LMAO. But it was a good time. We then walked on over to the Streamline and finished up happy hour with one of favorite bartenders Curly. We got home at a rather decent hour and I pretty much crashed. I woke up this morning and started working on my packing goals for the week. I actually got more packed than I thought I would. The credenza is packed. Everything I had on the computer desk is packed. The bathroom is packed. I got all the plates that Missy had given me (Marilyn Monroe and other various plates). I got a lot of stuff packed into two more totes. I'm glad I have been planning out this move and accomplishing things as time goes by instead of the last minute packing that I've been known to do. I have about 2 weeks left before I start my job in Tampa. I'm so looking forward to it. If all goes as planned Rachael and I may have found this cute house to rent. It's a cute 2 br 2 ba house completely renovated with all new stainless steel appliances, new hardwood bamboo floors, new washer and dryer. The house is literally as wide as the lot that it sits on. There is no grass in the front or back yard. But its in a nice neighborhood only 2.5miles away from the job. Which that is a great benefit for me. But, as I have said, I'm not getting my hopes up, if we get this house, so be it, but if not, oh well, next house please. LOL. I'm hoping to be like the Virgin Mary and win the lottery without having to buy a ticket. I would be happy with $10,000 for the time being. Hell, give me a $1 and I would be happy. Okay, thats the past couple of days in a nutshell minus a few things here and there that I didn't include here. Hope you have a happy holidays! Peace Out!!

Its been a few...

2006-12-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays People. Sorry I haven't been doing my best at the blogging lately. There has been a lot going on down here. Other than working hard to meet my daily goal at work to get that extra "moolah", which believe me I need all I can get right about now, with having to move 3 weeks earlier than planned over to Tampa. We had our company Christmas party last night at the Plaza Resort and Spa. They were kind enough to give us 2 drink coupons and 2 for our guest. Well, since I went alone, that gave me 4 drink coupons. Well, with a company with over 1200 employees you would have thought they would have set up more than just one bar and set the food up better. Missy, Tommy, Brandon, and I got there just at the perfect time. We got the best table in the house. We could watch everyone as they walked in the door and then stand in line for at least 30-45 mins just either waiting to get a drink or a plate of food. THe table was at the back of the ballroom right by an exit, so we made use of that for our smoke breaks. LOL. What little food they had was very tasty, but they really didnt give us much of a selection to choose from. They had some excellent desserts as well. Well once they gave out the awards for the year, we immediately dashed out the exit door with Dan in tow and headed for the Streamline. Once there, we never even made it up to the Penthouse Lounge, because Mike was working and he's a sorry bartender. So we stayed downstairs at the NASCAR Lounge and had a few more drinks and shots. We were home by 1015pm. Overall, it was nice to actually have all my friends around together and socialize and have a good time. There were a few missing but I'm sure I will see them for my New Years gathering here at the house. So, anyways, I got the cutest Xmas card from Kim, Hugh, and their newborn daughter. It was so adorable. I got a Xmas card from Michelle and her family too. Its amazing how fast her son has just grown up. I guess when you dont have anyone with kids in their immediate surroundings you forget what its like having the little munchkins around. Well, I'm off Weds. and Thurs., so I'm gonna get my bathroom completely packed up and odds and ends in the kitchen packed up. Gonna empty out the bar and the credenza and get it all packed. So if I can achieve these goals in the next 3 days, I should be a happy fella. Well I am going to hop off of here for now, and get my happy butt in the shower and go to work. Til I blog again, PEACE OUT and Happy Holidays!!!

Why I live here....

2006-12-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Howdy People. Well I was scheduled off today. So I actually slept in until about 1115a when my alarm clock arrived (Missy). We watched some TV and chatted about the usual blah blah blah. Then I decided I would clean up and we walked up to his house. I figured it had been a while since we had gone out to the "Den of Inequity" (Streamline Bar). I would treat to a couple of rounds. We got up there and with the weather in the low 80's, it made me recall why I live here. The weather in Florida can be odd at times. Today was one of those days. It was cloudy, gloomy, breezy, then calm, sunny all in one. As we were walking up to Missy's house we walked through the back streets. There are so many cool houses that I know I have walked past but dont remember. The walk was good and soothing for the mind. Well, we were gonna catch the bus down to the bar. We literally missed the bus as it passed right in front of us. So we sat there at the bus stopped and soaked up some of that passing sun. Then Dan was kind enough and picked us up and dropped us off at the bar. The best thing about the Streamline is the view. It's literally a 360 degree panoramic view of the city. The weather was perfect. We could see the waves breaking up and down the beach. I told John I would miss all the good times that I have had here over the last 9 yrs. I've met some of the best quality people while living here. I've planted some deep roots here. There's just something about the area that lurks me here. But, I'm gonna transplant those roots in Tampa and move on to better things. I've acquired that philosophy that "life is what you make it". I used to be cocky and bitter, but now I'm more mellow and laidback. Now, its not important who gets the last word. Change doesnt happen over night, thats for sure. But, I look back over this year and I have to say I have grown up a good bit. I guess I'm like a bottle of wine, the older I get the better I get. LOL. Simplicity at it's best is my way of life these days. I haven't been happier in life and things couldn't be going much better. I've accomplished alot of my long term goals this year and accomplished alot I never expected. From thinking at the beginning of the year that I wouldnt be leaving Daytona for another 3 years to now moving to Tampa next month. Never thought I would be able to go to NC to visit all of my family at once this year. Let's just say I'm pleased with this year as a whole. It's one of my better ones for the books. Thanks to all out there that have contributed. Well, I'm done babbling for the night. As always, PeAcE oUt!!!

Getting back in the Groove of things..

2006-12-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hello People. I hope you all realize Xmas is only 13 days away. Unfortunately with the move, I am not celebrating due to finances. But, I've had a wrench thrown in my master plan. It's great that I start work 1-8 in Tampa. But I hadn't planned on having to move until the end of January. That would have been when all the funds would have been in place (income taxes, deposit from this place, and paychecks accrued through January). The last months rent here is already paid so that is a huge help. But still, I'm sorta scrambling to figure out what I am going to do. I have worked hard on this plan for 4 months now. I have faith that I will pull something out of my ass (not literally). At least I have some time to scramble and figure out what is going on. But anyways, news from this end. Got back to Daytona and the mayor had died. They started a new incentive program for our office at work. Lots of extra money to be paid. So I'm gonna be as greedy as can be and take it all while they are offering it. I've made an extra $30 each day that I have been back. So, I'm hoping to reap the benefits from this. Went to the shuttle launch on Saturday night. Brian and I were about 8 miles from the launch pad. I forgot the tripod so forgive the wobbliness. If anyone wants to check out the video I took I uploaded it to Google here is the link

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-442098650605582887&hl=en .

Just so you know, its 6 mins long. The actual launch occurs at 2min and 40secs. You can here the commentary in the background. You can hear it loud and clear as well. It was a spectacular launch. I hope you enjoy it. I am adding a couple of the pics that I took that were actually somewhat decent with my camera. Believe me the cameras have nothing on what its like to see it with the human eye. It's something everyone should experience just one time in their life. Well, I'm off to get ready for work. Til the next blog appears, PEACE OUT!!

My Trip to NC in a Nutshell

2006-12-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hello People. Here's my blog for my trip to NC. My Mom and her BF picked me up at the airport in Fayetteville, NC. They took me to the K&W cafeteria there in Fayetteville for some supper. It was rather good, especially the country fried steak. Then we headed over to my older sister's house for a quick visit before the kids went to bed. It was great seeing the kids. I asked them where the weed killer was since they were growing like weeds since the last time I saw them. My sister and her husband let us try some Gluhwein (hot wine) it was rather good. They have a cute 2 story home there in Hope Mills all decked out with Xmas decorations. Mom had the kids write up a list for some things they wanted for Christmas. It was cute watching them as they were in deep thought for trying to figure out what to ask for. My nephew J. was just a watching the fire in the fireplace and then writing in between thoughts. I tell you what though, for these kids to be so young they are very intelligent. We left and went back to Mom's BF house. I laid down and crashed literally for about 15hrs. Since I didn't get much sleep in Tampa I had to make up for it in NC. When I finally woke up Monday evening at 6pm, Mom's BF had made hoagies for dinner. We then went out to feed all the cats at her house. They are all wild cats that come out of the woodwork to get a meal. LOL. I took some video of her house. I tell ya what though, my little sister has a knack for interior decorating. She did an excellent job on the whole house. I guess I have to say that I like the "Wizard of Oz" room best. We then rode on over to Kim's (my little sister) in Red Springs. She has a huge house. I could see why her and her husband fell in love with it. They have done a lot of work to it as well. I got to see her newborn daughter (my niece). I swear I'm not biased but this little baby was the best baby I have met. She never once cried during my entire trip to NC. All I could keep saying is that "She is so small." She was born 10-30-06 and she only weighs about 9lbs. I was afraid to hold her at first because I figured she would cry. But she didnt. I was impressed. I took her in my arms and she just opened those tiny eyes. She almost made me wanted to want a kid one day. LOL. I told Kim we should get everyone together and have like a dinner together. Who knows when the next time we will be together again. So we decided on trying to get everyone over to her house on Weds and have a family dinner. Then, we went back over to Mom's BF house for the night. Then on Tues, I got my BBQ that I have been patiently waiting for for 2 years. I bought me 5 pints of it and shoved it in the freezer out at Mom's house. I was determined to freeze it and sneak it into my checked luggage on my return flight. Then I went by my high school to pick up a copy of my HS transcripts. Amazing how the school has changed in the last 12 years since I graduated. Back in the day, we could pretty much just swing by an old teachers class and speak to them, not anymore. But, I found out that some of my favorite teachers were still teaching. Then I met by lifelong best friend Kris out at my mom's house. While waiting on Kris, I just walked around Mom's property just thinking about all the memories I have from growing up there. I had a good conversation with Dad (I know he was listening). Boy, I tell ya, coming home makes you miss someone who has already passed away more than you realize. But, all in all, it was a good talk. Then Kris showed up a little bit later. We then went over to our friend Taylor's house. We then scooted over to my favorite restaurant (Zachary's Pizza of St. Pauls, NC). If you are ever in the St. Pauls area (around exit 31 on I-95) definitely stop by. They serve the most awesome Philly Cheesesteak you will ever lay your mouth on. Then we went back to Kris and Carey's. I stayed the night over there. Then Kris dropped me off at Kim's house on Weds. morning. I rode with Kim and Hugh to the Doctor's office since the baby had an appointment. Then they were kind enough to treat me to lunch at a place that had opened up called Grandsons. It just happened to be the grandson of a friend of the family who had a restaurant in Lumber Bridge called Chason's. I tell ya what though, it had the best southern style country ALL you CAN EAT buffet. The food was outstanding. Then we headed back to Kim's house and chilled for the rest of the afternoon. I took some more pictures of the baby. Well about supper time, Mom, her BF, and Robin and her kids arrived. Mom prepared two pot roasts along with all the fixings. We had collard greens, corn, cornbread, biscuits, pinto beans, and 2 juicy tender pot roasts complete with potatoes and carrots. Then, while waiting to make some room for dessert, I got some video of everyone. It was rather nice to have everyone together. Dad was the only one missing, but I know he was there in spirit. It was nice listening to Robin's kids sing some Christmas songs that they were going to be performing at their middle school. Mom threw some apple pie and sweet potato pies in the oven and we had dessert. The ice cream and apple pie were delicious. After Robin and the kids left since they had to be in bed for school the next day, Kim let me go through some of MaMa Kinley's Xmas ornaments that she had left behind when she passed away. She was well known for making from scratch some very cute ornaments. I grabbed a few of the ornaments and packed them in Xmas tins. Then, I rode back with Mom and her BF and I started going through Mom's picture tote. I sat there and had some great flashbacks of growing up. Mom and her BF were looking through some of his photos while I was going through all of the old photos Mom has. I sat there for a good hour and a half looking at all kinds of great pictures. Mom told me I couldnt have any without her checking to make sure she didnt want to keep a copy for herself. So I hope she checks them and hurries and send them to me. I have this huge bulletin board that I would love to put some of my own pictures from my growing up on there. I have tons of pictures of everyone else but very little of my own pictures. So I finaly went to bed around 1am and then woke up and joined Kris and her Mom for lunch at Sammios. Kris dropped me off at the house and I packed up all my stuff to get ready to fly back home to Daytona. Mom and her BF dropped me off at the airport and I had a rather bumpy flight back to Sanford. My roomie Dan picked me up and we headed straight to Titusville to try and catch the shuttle launch. But my luck having it, was that as soon as we parked the car and I videoed the shuttle launch pad they scrubbed the shuttle launch. So we headed back to Daytona. We got home at around 11pm and we sat there and watched some of the TV shows that I had not watched. I finally crashed around 3am and didnt wake up until the doorbell went to ringing around 11am. It was the mailman delivering a package to Dan. Missy came by and we had a few beers. Then I defrosted a pint of that infamous Smithfields BBQ and we literally devoured the thing by ourselves. He had to agree that is the best BBQ around. He left around 4pm and I immediately crawled in the bed and the next thing I know was that I was waking back up at 1030pm. LOL. I stayed up a couple of hours and I was back asleep by 2am. I reported to work this morning at 845am and it has been a rather slow day. We have new incentive programs in place since I have been gone for 11 days. I did make the level 2 goal for the day, so that means I get $30 for meeting my daily goal. Woo Hoo. Well, I guess it's time to bring this to a close and get my happy ass in gear and start finishing packing up my house and get ready for my relocation over to Tampa at the beginning of the year. Hope you like the pictures here in this Post. Talk to you later on, PEACE OUT!! Here is an awesome shot of the Shuttle Discovery Launch!!

Vacation ending...

2006-12-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Long time, no see People. Hows it going? Well, I am back in Daytona. My trip to NC was fantastic. But here is what I am going to do. Since it was such a great trip, I'm going to post 1 big post for the entire trip and add some pictures. With having no internet access up, I have a brain that is overflowing with stuff to blog. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend I will be caught up and have blogged everything. I took some amazing pictures while I was up there. But I need to get permission from the Mom's up there, before I post them on here. So, stay tuned throughout the weekend for more blogs while I get myself back on track to go to work and get packed for the move to Tampa. Peace out!

Soon to Take Flight

2006-12-03T08:26:00.001-08:00

How's it going People? Well, it's 1130am and I am finishing the final touches on packing for the trip to NC. I have my ziploc bag of toiletries ready and I have what very few "warm clothes" I own packed. I checked the weather forecast and it is going to 27 degrees on Monday night up there. That's too cold for my thin blood. I'm so excited to make this trip. But I haven't flown in over 10 yrs so its definitely going to be interesting. I'm so leary of airplanes. LOL. But, I'm sure there will be no issues. My vacation is over half finished already. Time has flown by so fast. This has been a great week. I want to again thank the Tampa crew for their hospitality while I was over there. Many thanks go to Lisa and Rachael for all their assistance and guidance while I was over there. Now, I'm ready to continue my adventurous vacation to NC to visit with my family and friends. I will blog more on the trip very soon. Okay, I'm outta here! Peace out!!

One Day Home

2006-12-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

Hello People, I'm making this short and quick. I'm home in Daytona and I'm glad to be home for a short brief period. I've had a marvelous week and now I'm home enjoying it with my closest friends. I've had one of the better weeks this year and things seem to be coming together. Slowly but surely, I expect a few bumps ahead in the future due to the circumstances but I have no doubt that I will pull through with very little drama. I will report back later on with more information as I get it. Til then, PeAcE oUt!

Good News from Afar

2006-11-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

How's it going People??? Well, today was a very successful day. Officially Day #2 of my vacation and I am spending it in Tampa to start. After going out yesterday looking around and doing my thing in Tampa, today seemed to be paydirt. I seemed to have landed a job with DCF (Fl. Dept of Children and Families) working in the call center for the welfare office. Its through the staffing company Manpower. I officially start training (6 weeks in a classroom setting) on January 8th. The pay is very nice considering that I only make $9 an hour in Daytona, I will be making $12.51 an hour. And after 3-4 months the odds are very good that I can be hired on permanently with the state. So, it works out great, that the Princess and I will be working the same shift and the same place. We checked out this nice 2br 1.5ba apartment that is literally about 3/4 mile away from where we work. The apartment was very nice and it has the most important appliance that I care about, and that would be the DISHWASHER. So pretty much you can say im ecstatic that I have pretty much accomplished my goals while here in Tampa in 2 days. The Princess and I will just have to secure an apartment within the next month or so. That shouldnt be very hard at all. I talked to my Mom tonite and I'm still very excited about flying home on Sunday. I already know my vacation is going to fly by faster than I can blink my eyes, but it will be great, there's no doubt. Mom said that the weather had been nice up in NC this week. But, go figure, I'm coming home for a visit and there's a storm a brewing and it will probably be very cold up there. Where as I am used to the nice warm weather year round down here in FL, I'm gonna go up there and freeze my bootie off. If it gets in the 40's thats too cold for me. Time will tell. I'm not sure what is on my agenda for tomorrow, other than I may be getting a pedicure (yes, me). LOL. Lisa tells me they are great, but with as ticklish as I am, I'm sure it might be humorous. Well, its going on 1240am and I am going to stretch out on the couch and chill for a while. Til the next time the blog gets an update, PEACE OUT!!

It's another day in Paradise

2006-11-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

Good Morning People. It's Thursday morning and I am just rolling off the couch. I think i have caught on six months of lost sleep it seems like. Yesterday Lisa and I went up by Rachael's job and rode around the neighborhoods looking for houses for rent and such. I was actually shocked that the housing market over here is totally the opposite of Daytona. I was expecting to find more than just the few places we did find. Daytona it seems like a lot of houses are on the market to be sold. But here in Tampa, there's barely anything. So, the princess and I have decided for short term to just move into an apartment for 6 months, that way I can get more familiar with the Tampa area while I'm living here and we can take our time to find a house for us. I'm going to drop some more resume's off today during our search for apartments. Tampa is so spread out that its way cool. Two more days here in Tampa and I am going to go back to Daytona and get my bags packed for my long awaited trip to NC. I'm so excited. I can barely hold it all in. Well, Lisa will be here shortly, so I am going to go and get ready. Til the next time, PEACE OUT!

I have Arrived

2006-11-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Good Day People, I have arrived in Tampa and things are going great. The trip was faster this time than it was last time that I came over back in October. The bus driver's right foot was very heavy. I snoozed a good bit of the way over. Of course, the Princess, got lost trying to find the bus terminal. But, she found me in one piece. I'm officially on vacation and its great. The Princess officially starts with DCF on Friday. I'm happy for her. She has to work on Saturday til 5pm and that means we won't be getting back into Daytona until much later than I had planned. I'm sure Missy will be passed out by the time we get in. LOL. Well, I'm gonna keep this blog short, and I'm gonna chill some more. Til later, PEACE OUT!!

6hrs to??

2006-11-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday People. Its Monday night now, and I am packed and ready for my trip to Tampa. I have my resumes in a folder ready to go. I have only 6 hrs to go and my 11 day vacation begins. I have to say, this is the first time in life I have been able to enjoy a vacation and actually get to leave town. I wanna thank my dearest friends in Tampa for their hospitality and helping me throughout the transition to my relocating to Tampa. Then I get to go back home to NC and visit my family and close friends. I wanna thank my Mom for buying the ticket to fly home. I'm so looking forward to getting to see my family. It has been at least 4.5yrs since we have all been together. I think its awesome that we all can be together during the holidays since in the past years my older sister and her family have been half way around the world in Germany and I have lived down here in Florida for the most part of almost 9yrs now. Funny how I look back in life back when I moved to Florida in 2-98 and all the challenges I have faced and overcome to get where I am in life. I'm 31yrs old and I'm finally making the right decisions in life. I guess those challenges in life are part of the maturing and becoming an adult. LOL. Maybe it has taken me a lot longer than most to get to this point. But that's probably due to the delayed childhood for the first 10 years of my life. I'm grateful to those selected few (you all know who you are) who have accepted me as part of their families and as a friend. Who would have ever thought with my history, that I could be somewhat of a normal human. I am thankful for being in good health and having my sanity. Okay, guess my sentimental moment is coming to an end as my eyelids start shuttering. Woo Hoo....I'm on vacation, I'm so excited. I will do my best to keep blogging throughout the vacation and add some pics as well. Til we will blog again, PEACE OUT !!!

Turkey Rod Run '06

2006-11-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hola People. I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am for sure. This weekend is one of my favorites "special events" for the Daytona Beach area. It's called Turkey Rod Run. It has been going on for over 30 years. I'm sure some of you are scratching your head and saying, what the hell is Turkey Rod Run. It's a gathering of car collectors. They bring with them their antique cars, muscle cars, hot rods, and most any kind of car that you wouldn't normally see on the street. I walked through Bellair Plaza yesterday evening and it was just a spectacular sight seeing all of the cars. I took a lot of pics of all the different cars. Its rather awesome to see such an eclectic mix of old and new. Its the first time that the sidewalks in town were packed with spectators. There weren't as many people during the other events like spring break, bike week, and BCR. After going to Bellair to look at the Rods, I went up to Missy's house and did my laundry. Figured I may as well do what little bit I have so I dont have to worry about it before my trips to Tampa and NC. Speaking of which, I am so excited. I only have two more days of work of course, after I get off today. Rachael brought me an apartment guide, to check out and get more familiar with the area. I am not wanting to live in an apartment. I would rather find a nice 2br 2 ba home with a fenced in yard. I am wanting a dog. I think the dog is the answer to my companionship issues. At least the dog would love me no matter what and be excited to see me when I walk in the door. LOL. Its been a while since I have had a dog in my life. LOL. Well, its 10am and I guess im done posting for now. I will do my best to post as often as I can this week during my trip to Tampa and definitely try and post somethings while up in NC visiting my family. As always, PEACE OUT!

I spared the turkey...

2006-11-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hello People, I hope you all had the best of Thanksgivings. Mine was pretty good except for the fact that I TOTALLY overslept by 3 hours. I was supposed to get up at 7am and get ready for work and walk to work by 9am since the bus doesnt run on holidays. Well, I rolled over at 10am and looked at the clock and jumped out of bed. After the 2 min shower and getting dressed I sped walked the 2 miles to my job and got there by 1045am. I was the only one working since I felt others should have the holiday with their families. I am a nice guy when I wanna be. LOL. While at work I burned Missy 22 cd's of his music. Well I got off work at 5pm and Dan and I went up to LaPlaya and had dinner up there. I didnt eat any turkey, but the ham was off the chain. The only thing missing was some of Mom's potato salad. LaPlaya was packed with all the turkey rod runners. I am getting pictures of the cars tomorrow I promise. Well after sparing the turkey (I'm more of a ham man), I walked back home and called up Rachael and she was in town spending time with her family. She swung by the house and we watched some tv and relaxed. Then James showed up to spend some time with her. Then Missy and Tommy stopped by after working their asses off for that buffet at LaPlaya. So we had a couple of celebratory shots and decided we may as well go to the streamline and have a couple of rounds. Well Dan walked in and we actually talked him into going with us...surprise surprise surprise. We stayed down there for a couple of hours. I called up Mom and wished her a Happy turkey day as well. She was over at my sister's house and they had a big dinner they had all cooked. I wish I could have been there. But my time to be with them is soon enough. I feel like a little kid waiting for the first day of school. I know my 4 days up in NC are going to go by faster than I can blink. But I will thoroughly enjoy them as best I can. When I get up there, I wanna go by the cemetery and visit Daddy, visit with both of sisters and the kids, Mom and her boyfriend, and I wanna see Kris, Carey, Kristie, Deborah, Mrs. Jackie and Mr. Glenn. Thats pretty much all of my familiy in a nutshell except for Michelle but she lives near Greensboro. But I have promised all my friends here in Florida that I am bringing back some of the best BBQ in the world. I am going to bring back 5lbs of NC style BBQ. I cant wait to have some BBQ. So anyways, Im so excited about my trips to Tampa next week and then to NC on 12-3. Well, its time to wind this up for now, and I hope everyone has a safe holidays and remember togetherness is what the holidays true meaning is all about. To have my closest friends all together on Thanksgiving was a blessing. Til my next blog, PEACE OUT to ALL!!!

Tuesday Snoozeday....NOT

2006-11-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

How goes it People? *** PICTURES TAKEN OVER THE WEEKEND ARE IN THIS MESSAGE***Well it was my day off and it was a fun one. I fell asleep this morning around 630am. When I woke up to knocking at the door and the doorbell being beat on. It was 1150am. So of course I rolled out of bed and answered the door and it was my good friend Charlie, his "friend" Mikalla (or however she spells it), and Dana. I havent seen Charlie hardly at all this year. So he wanted me to burn him a copy of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Led Zepplin CD (which is one of the best CD's I have ever heard). Then Missy showed up. Well then Tommy came on over. So I had a house full of people by 1230pm. We sat around watching some VH1 classic on the TV wall and chit chatting about life's happenings. Everyone left except Missy and Tommy. Then Missy and I sorted through my music on the computer and I separated all the music he wants me to burn for him on CD. Then we loaded up the truck with all the things that I was gonna give to the thrift store and things that I was giving to Missy. We dumped all the things off at the right places and we headed over to RedTails Bar. First time I had been there, rather nice bar if I say so myself. Then it was off to the Streamline. We actually didnt stay out but a couple of hours and then I was home and back in bed by 6pm. I woke up at 9pm and tweaked my resume some more. Then I heard Dan come home and he was watching the news. I went out there and he just had to show me something. I HOPE YOU ARE SITTING DOWN WHEN I SAY THIS. He rewound the DVR and there was SNOW down at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. There were snowflakes flying around in the air. All I could do was laugh my ass off. The last thing I wanna see is snow. Its rather chilly down here for November. So anyways, other than that not much going on. Later today I am going to walk up to Bellair Plaza and take some pics of the Turkey Rod Run. You will see there are some beautiful hot rod cars in town. Its one of my favorite special events that Daytona has. Til later, PeAcE oUt!

Chilly Tuesday

2006-11-21T02:39:00.000-08:00

Brrrr People, its 35 degrees right now here....it hasnt been this cold since back in February. This sorta just snuck up on us. At least I am off today and tomorrow. But I will be walking into work on Thurs. since I am the only one working. I'm not sure what I will have planned for the day. I know my project for the week will be packing up the credenza and the bar. Most of the credenza is just miscellaneous BS. By this time next week, I will be in Tampa interviewing for a few jobs. I can't wait. I miss the Tampa crew alot. I'm ready to leave Daytona. I'm gonna miss my closest friends here but I gotta enjoy more out of life. Daytona seems to be lacking that culture injection that I need. Tampa has what I need to be able to enjoy those things. Well, I am rambling here, I am tired and its already 550am and I am gonna sleep in. I will post again whenever. Psst...dont forget...Peace out!

The Weekend is Over

2006-11-19T04:52:00.000-08:00

Good Morning People...It's sad, but the weekend is over. My Tampa crew came over (minus Someone special, but I'm not going to go there since they havent had the decency to even call), but I digress. I got the girls a room at the Plaza (top floor with awesome views of the beach as well as the river) and I was stuck with the honeymoon suite at the boardwalk all by my lonesome. By the time they got here that evening I had checked them into their room. We decided to go to the Oyster Pub and have a few drinks there. Then we decided to go over to the Ocean Deck. Well on the way, the princess took a nasty spill. She fell and hurt herself and sprained her ankle pretty good. We got to the Ocean Deck and had a blast there. Then we decided to pretty much call it a night. Well on Saturday, the princess awoke to not feeling well and feeling the pain from her fall the night before. So she was unable to make it to the Spa for her birthday gift from me for a day at the Spa. But her best friend was still able to go. She said she had a remarkable day at the Spa. I worked on Sat from 4p-9p (since I had planned the day to be with that certain someone). I had made arrangements for us to go the comedy club (Bonkerz) at LaPlaya. The comedians were actually pretty fun because I pretty much laughed my ass off alot. Then we came back to my place and James met us here. We ordered pizza and we decided about 115a that it was time to hit the sack. So the girls went back to their room at the Plaza and I crawled into my bed. Well they called me at 7a and I treated them to breakfast at LaPlaya. They are on their way back to Tampa now and I already miss them alot. I thoroughly enjoyed their visit and we had such a good time. I had planned an awesome weekend for that special someone but they decided to be inconsiderate so they really missed out. I will try and post some of the pics that were taken in the next couple of days as soon as I receive them. Well I am totally looking forward to my visit to Tampa in just over a week. I am lining up the interviews already. Then I cant wait to go to NC and visit my family. I am going to have 11 days off and I am not going to know how to react. Its been a long time since I have had a real vacation. This will be the first one I will have had where I have travelled the whole way. I dont get out that much as you can tell! LMAO. Well, I had such a blast this weekend. I'm glad the girls were there to make it such an enjoyable experience since I was down and out. But we had the most splendid time and it will be great once I move to Tampa and we can have plenty more of those times. Well, its almost 815a and I have to be at work in 30 mins. So, I am gonna log off for now, but I will blog again very soon. Til next time, P E A C E O U T ! ! ! !

Another Day Another TOTE...

2006-11-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hello People...Well, it's Thursday and this weeks moving project is complete. I got both closets (bedroom & hallway) completely cleaned out and rearranged. I thought there was more stuff in them but it wasnt all that bad. I got another TOTE filled up and organized. I guess next week's project is to clean out the credenza and the bar. Get them emptied out and packed up. Then I guess I will be taking the next 2 weeks after that off to make my journey to Tampa and then to NC. Guess when I get back from NC I will start planning the New Years Party. Think I'm not going to go as all out as I did last year since I am moving, but I guarantee you it will be the best party I throw. The Tampa crew will be arriving tomorrow evening. I cant wait to see Rachael and Lisa. I really wish I could join them for their trip to the spa. I know it will definitely be a relaxing day. As for that "special someone", I think it will be the last time I will deal with him. His actions show pretty much how "uninterested" he really is. But, what can you say other than its to be expected? Well I'm off to bed. Peace out to all!

I should have known...

2006-11-16T00:04:00.000-08:00

People, how's it going? Wouldn't you know it that we went to JC Penny today to get that George Foreman and they were completely out of them (actually they said they didn't receive their truck yet). So then I decided I wanted to get me some cologne (JC Penny had the worst selection of cologne). Wal Mart even has a better selection. So then I stopped into Dillards, and they told me the Clinique Happy for men was on the other end of the mall in the men's department. So we walked all the way down there and come to find out, it was actually at the one we had just left, so I gave up on buying anything today! Guess, it wasnt meant to happen for me to get me some cologne or a George Foreman Grill. LMAO. Other than that, we went to Mr. Dunderbak's in the mall. Missy treated John and I to lunch. We came back her eand chilled for a while and Missy went on home. I have done nothing this evening except play Yahoo Pool. I dont have any plans for tomorrow except get the closets cleaned out and ready for more TOTES. Well its 315am and I might as well get my butt in bed. PEACE out!

The Countdown has begun

2006-11-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

Hows it going people?? Well its Wednesday and I am off work the next two days. Can you believe its already almost Thanksgiving. Where has this year gone? I know I dont have the busiest of a life, but jeez, this year has flown by so fast, I think my head is still spinning and I'm seeing stars. Well it seems that the next the next two weeks are going to drag by. I'm so looking forward to my trip to Tampa for some job interviews. But I cant wait to go home. It has been a good while since our family has been all together. Its gonna be great to see all the kids and how much they have grown like weeds. Ive seen a couple of pictures of them and they arent as small as they were when I saw them last. Well theres not much on the agenda today, except Dan, Missy, and I are going to JC Penney's so I can get the HUGE George Foreman grill. It can cook up to 10 burgers at once. And its on sale for 50% off for $50. Thats a great deal. And for those few friends of mine that know I cook, they know I cant live with out George. I never cooked before, but now I enjoy cooking. I make killer chicken and steak. And after that adventure to the mall, I plan on cleaning out the two closets and get them packed up in TOTES. And Im looking forward to this weekend visit from the Tampa crew. I'm sure the girls will enjoy their stay at the Plaza and definitely enjoy their trip to the Spa. But with the rest of the crew that is coming, there's no telling what will be the end result. This should be interesting. So anyways, Im gonna get off of here and get a shower. Hope you all have a great Hump Day! PEACE OUT!!

SuRpRiSe...

2006-11-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Howdy People...Well let's just say the last thing I would have thought of this morning when I got up was by the end of the day that I would be taking my vacation (which I wasnt going to take and just let it be on the final paycheck when I leave) after my trip at the end of the month to Tampa(11-28 -- 12-2) for job interviews, that I would be coming back to Daytona and leaving the next day(12-3 -- 12-7) on a plane to NC to visit my family(I know very bad runon sentence, but hell it works). By 5pm that thought was brought to reality. I'm so excited. It has been several years since we have all been together. Thanks to Mom she bought my ticket to fly up and visit. I havent flown on a plane in over 10 years. So this should be interesting. But to be able to see my Mom, Sisters and their husbands, and my nieces and nephews will be the greatest thing to happen in a while. I've said over the last year or so to my friends that my life was the best. I haven't ever been as happy as I am now. It seems to only keep getting better! I couldn't ask for anything better. To whoever out there that is looking over me, thank you! I guess my believing in the philosophy that "life is what you make it" has made me see a clearer picture. Well, its almost 215am and I have to get up at 7am to go to work. Oh yeah, LOST seminar tomorrow evening. Still debating if I am gonna go or go hang out with the girls at the den of inequity. Guess however my day goes will point to that outcome. As always, PEACE OUT!!

Its MONDAY

2006-11-13T07:43:00.000-08:00

Hello People
I guess I skipped out yesterday on the blog. I worked until 4p. Then I came home and "kicked" the roomie out of the house so I could get the bedroom out of the living room finally. Then my friend Jonathan came by for a visit. I got one full TOTE packed with bedroom stuff. I even inventoried it all as I put it in. That way I can lift the lid off the TOTE and look at the list on the lid to see what is in the TOTE. (DAMN, am I anal or what? LOL). Dan (the roomie) said it was rather early to start packing everything up. I told him my logic was since I know when I'm moving and I still have 2 months. I may as well go ahead and pack everything that I dont need up and get it done and over with. That way my final weeks here are spent enjoying it with my friends here. All thats left in the bedroom is the clothes in the closet and the miscellaneous BS thats is on the shelf in the closet in there. So it is virtually all packed up already. WOO HOO! I just found out that the Airport in Sanford has an airline that flies to Fayetteville NC. And amazingly enough the tickets are only $39 each way. I wish I had enough funds to make a surprise visit up there. That would be way cool to get to see my family and my nieces and nephew as well. I guess time will tell if that will happen. With the move and all taking place, I dont wanna throw a wrench in my plans and mess everything up (like I've been known to do). I honestly think I have this plan sealed tight as long as my friends in Tampa are able to find a bigger house quick enough! It all lies on them LOL. No pressure no pressure. Oh yeah, for any of you "LOSTie's" out there. Im going to a seminar tomorrow night here in town on LOST. I cant wait. Well, I'm going to go ahead and get off of here and get ready for work. It's only 4 more days and the Tampa crew will be over for a visit. Im soo ready to see them all. Until the next time, PEACE OUT people!

It Had to Be Me...

2006-11-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hello People...

Well today was a great day. I woke up feeling better than I did on Friday. Work wasnt bad at all. I got home and Brian came on over and he dropped me off at the Volusia County Fair down in Deland. Really the only reason I wanted to go was to see Josh Turner. But of course, it had to be me, I get to the gate and they announce over the loudspeaker that it was already sold out. So I made the best of it. I have to say I did have a good time even if I didnt have any of my friends (they were either working or live in Tampa) to hang out with me. I only rode 2 rides, and one of them was a blast. I got off walking crooked. I definitely felt zero gravity. It was way cool. Its been a while since I've been to a fair (10 yrs) and it seemed totally different than the fairs back home in NC. But overall I had a good time. So tomorrow I GOTTA put my bedroom back together as it will be the first chance I will have to. I already have set the MOVING goal for this week and that is to clean out the closets. This moving process is moving right along at a nice pace. Dan (my roomie) said as soon as he saw my room painted back to white that he realized that this move is actually for real. Yep its for real alright. Im looking forward for my out of town friends to come over next weekend. It will be so cool to have all the gang together one more time. And I get to spend sometime with "someone of special interest" too. So I'm looking forward to it. well its 140am now and I have to get to bed and get up and go to work tomorrow. As always, PEACE OUT!

Go Figure

2006-11-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hello People
This is going to be short and sweet. I knew the company was gonna screw me after all my hardwork and dedication on this floorplan idea I put forth. I did something they would have paid several thousand dollars for someone to come in and do and I am literally having to pull teeth to get a room out of them for my friends coming over from Tampa next weekend. After 2 weeks of doing floorplan after floorplan and putting forth about 60 hours of my own personal time, they pretty much bent me over and screwed me royally. Go figure. Only 2 more months left, and I will be happily in Tampa and away from the sorriest company in Daytona (Ocean Waters). Hope everyone has a great weekend and of course, PEACE OUT!

FINISHED AT LAST...

2006-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Hi People, the bedroom painting extravaganza is complete. I finished it right on schedule yesterday, at 5pm. Missy came by and helped me put the furniture back in it. You cant even tell the room was purple (never slept in this room painted white, sorta freaky after 2 yrs). So after breaking our backs trying to lift the 32in TV back on top of the armoire, it took me about 10 mins to get the bed put back together. So of course, being the "alchies" we are (seriously we're not, he is LMAO) we went to the bar to have a couple of celebratory drinks on completing this weeks moving project. We got down there by 7pm and were home by 9pm. I went to subway and bought dinner and I'm not kidding as soon as I finished the last bite, I was snockered out. Who knew painting would be so exhausting, LMAO. All thats left with the bedroom is packing everything up in totes and cleaning the closet out and getting rid of those clothes that I havent worn in many years. The less I have to take to Tampa, the better. Think when I get over there, I will treat my self to a new wardrobe change. Rachael, Lisa, and someone special are coming over from Tampa next weekend for a visit. I'm treating that special someone and Rachael to a day at the Spa ( www.oceanwatersspa.com ) and Rachael is treating Lisa a day there as well. So Im really looking forward to that ALOT. I havent got to see them in about a month. Well its 1130am and I need to get my happy behind in the shower and get ready for work. Have a great day! PEACE OUT!!

ALMOST Done

2006-11-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Howdy

Well its now 3pm on Thursday. The bedroom is almost finished (thanks to Steve and Missy). We ended up having to roll it yesterday. Well, we primed the walls and then decided "hell lets go to the bar". So off we went. Then I tagged along with Steve to go to a Halloween Horror Nights cast party at Club Fusion in Orlando. We got home about 130am. Then me and Dan watched the last episode of LOST until the next one comes on...(16 long weeks before the next new episode comes on). Thats going to be a long time. Then I pretty much crashed in the recliner since my bedroom is in pieces here in the living room. I slept rather well considering I was in the recliner. I woke up about 1045 this morning and started actually painting the bedroom. I painted it rather quickly. I had the first coat on (which actually was enough) in an hours time. Then I went and touched up all the trim and corners. So, now I'm waiting for the corners to dry so I can put the finishing touches on them and wait for Missy to get here and help me put the bedroom back together. I've decided Im just gonna pack everything up as it goes back in so thats one less room I will have to pack later on. I go back to work tomorrow (thrill thrill). Anyways, just a quick update for now. Peace out!!

Its the start of...

2006-11-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

As our good friend, Brini Maxwell, would say.....Hello People....Its 9am on Weds. morning. I have gone to Walmart and got the primer and the paint to paint my bedroom back to the hideous white. By doing this, it's the start of my moving process. I hope to have everything accomplished and packed before Xmas. Missy (best friend John) will be coming over today and we will take my bedroom apart and clear it out so I can tape everything up and start the painting process. If all goes well, it should only take a short day to achieve this. Well, the elections are over finally. Now is the start of Xmas. Bah humbug! Seems the last few years I havent been in the Xmas spirit. But it's like I told John. Everyday to me is like Xmas. Being with friends and family everyday and in good health is a gift, which I am gracious for. So I guess I'm not in the bah humbug spirit afterall. I finally finished the floorplan project I was doing for work, thank goodness. And since I am off until Friday, I will be glad to be able to relax and not have to worry about that anymore! Life is back to the simplicity that I enjoy all too well.

OFFICIALY MY FIRST BLOG

2006-11-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first BBLOG (Boring BLOG for those who dont know). Hmm, here it is 3am this morning. Its my Friday. Woo Hoo. Have plans of painting the bedroom back to white (from the plum purple) later tonite. Hopefully that will go as planned. Im determined to make this move to Tampa a smooth, well planned out, adventure in life. It should be rather easy. But, I have been working on the floorplans for my job now for 2 LONG weeks. I have realized Im a raging B*TCH not having the patience to continue designing these things from scratch on a trial program the company is too cheap to buy. But anyways, this one will be short and sweet as I really need to get my happy butt in bed. Peace out!