Walk without rhythm and you won't attract the worm

I finally got rid of my Ford Ranger(s). I am now driving a very plain-white Ford Taurus. It’s not too bad, and it is brand new. What can you do? The price was so right.

Nicole and I are going to Caseville for part of the weekend and we plan on coming home Saturday night for the shindig at Eric’s. I really miss being at the cottage in Caseville. It takes about 3 hours to get up there since there are no freeways that come close to it. So it’s 40-50mph all the way there. Ugh. If it didn’t take so long I would be up there more. Plus, I can’t take Jessie since there are no fences, and M-25 is just too close to be safe. Maybe when Brynn gets a little older we will go more often.

I am doing a side-project next weekend and I am looking for one able-body volunteer. I need to keep it off the Strut Tech books since it is a non-union job. I will pay very well for some one who can help me a bit on Saturday at my shop (maybe) and Sunday at the jobsite (for sure). I have to build a free-standing support mezzanine inside a warehouse in Livonia. There will be some heavy lifting and you will need to be capable of using power tools without the loss of fingers or limbs. I figure about 8 hours of work on Sunday. This project is a sure thing. Did I mention I will pay well? Interested persons should be at least 6 feet tall, have black hair and drive a silver pickup truck.

Well it was down to the Verizon LG Voyager and the LG EnV2 but I've made my decision. Thank you Andrew

http://www.heavy.com/video/47645#/channel/1161

The Red Bull Air Race is coming to Detroit on May 31st. If it is successful they are going to make Detroit a permanent stop on the Red Bull circuit. It is a two day event. Saturday is qualifying and Sunday is the race. Tickets for both days are $30.

I got my income tax return last week. Having a baby added a huge refund so I am finally finishing off my upstairs. We are scheduling the drywall and carpet tonight when I get home from work. Other fun things we get to buy: New couch (finally), kitchen countertop/sink/faucet, and kitchen/foyer tile. I really want a motorcycle. Maybe next year. Un-fun things: paying off huge medical bills :( Whatever is left gets saved for summer vacations.

New Music:
I started listening to “The Great Lakes Myth Society.” They are kind folky but that’s cool for now.
I also like the “Flight of the Conchords” album, but no surprise, I liked the HBO show a lot too. Most of their music falls into the “comedy” category. Lyrics like: “You’re so beautiful / you could be a tree / or a high class prostitute / or a part time model.”
I’ve been listening to a little of a band called “Against Me!” It is wailing punk along the same lines of Social Distortion.

I’ve been trying to grow a goatee for three weeks. lol

Nicole and I can’t find our cameras anywhere. Both our video camera and our digital camera live in the same small bag and it is nowhere to be found. We think it must have been stolen since it goes everywhere with us when we go out. But the last time either of us saw it, it was sitting on our dining room table. hmm

New phone
It is time for a new phone. I have had my Verizon Treo 650 since 2005 and it has served me well. I can’t recall how many times it has been dropped but I remember a few bad cases like when it fell off my hip-holster while I was on the top of a ten-foot ladder. It hit several steps on the ladder before hitting the bare concrete floor, which probably saved it. It also fell down a flight of metal stairs at St. John Hospital’s parking garage. So it has some beauty marks but almost everything works the way it is supposed to.

The real reason I want to replace it is that using the internet costs WAY too much money. I am stuck with Verizon. Really stuck. Like I can’t even get into that issue here with out making it another post entirely. And Verizon’s internet costs $50 for unlimited use. That is $50 ON TOP of what my Digital plan with TXT already costs. If I don’t go with the “Unlimited Package” I get charged a penny and a half for every KB sent OR received. Consider that the front page of my online bank is 300KB, the log-in screen is somewhere around 200KB, and my statement page is around 200KB it costs me $10.50 just to check my balance.

So I would be happy to use the V-Cast version of the internet because it is much cheaper but my “smart phone” isn’t smart enough to use it. Can some one tell me what my options are?

This is what I want:
-high resolution screen
-qwerty keyboard
-expandable memory
-the god damn internet. (V-Cast… is there something better?)
-decent third-party software support
-smaller size than the Treo
-long battery life (this is a must!)

Is there anything going on this weekend? I figure I should ask since the Big Men are having birfdays this week.

Nicole and I already have a baby sitter on Saturday night. Just putting that out there.

Things:

My Rhapsody account is being a bitch. I don’t know happened. Just suddenly my work computer won’t run the Rhapsody client and my home computer won’t play any of my old MP3s. What gives? The portable player still works just fine, but I have a short expiration date on most playlists before I get totally sick of them.

Brynn is super cute.

I’m back in the gym to get in shape for spring/summer activities. I managed to keep my weight down, but I stopped going to the gym after the beginning of the new year. I’ve gone a handful of times but not enough to really benefit me. Hopefully the “New Year’s Resolution” people have completely given up and gone back to their fat lives so I don’t have to stand in line to use the nautilus equipment. My goals are to get back under 160 and get my cardio way up. Building muscle is a secondary goal which will probably come with the weight loss and cardio gain. I need to be lean and strong.

I bought a life insurance policy and I need to create a Will since I will be skydiving this spring. I never thought of these things before I got married and had Brynn.

I started a Game Fly account in order play all of the games I keep drooling over without having to steal them. It works just like Netflix. And if anyone is interested in this service, please let me know so I can tell them I referred you and bring me a step closer to a free Nintendo DS.

Work has been not-fun. There is too much of it. Our profit margins keep coming down as the costs of business rise. Our competitor is getting squeezed (out of business?). We need to hire more people to do more work but we can’t afford to. My dad and I don’t talk to each other any more without talking work.

The Army is shafting Grant. He is no longer on a tank (because of availability). They were going to have him work in the ammo department but that is apparently full as well. So he will be out in the field working in re-fuelling on a not-so armored tanker truck full of explosive liquid. None of us are really happy about it, but he is furious. Welcome to the Army.

Can someone tell me what carpel tunnel is like? Do I have it? There is a sharp shooting pain at the beginning of my right wrist. My whole forearm aches and so does my thumb. I first felt it two weeks ago and I just brushed it off. Now I can't put weight on it, pick up heavy things or make a tight fist. It also hurts to the touch and I'm having a hard time bending it. And before the jokes start flying, I am left handed :p

If I do have it, should I even bother going to the doctor? I mean, I know a guy who has it and he wears a magnetic bracelet. C'mon... Magnets? I would rather put a post-it note on my forehead that says, “I'm dumb.”

Most. Stressful. Day. Ever.

/headdesk

Fuckin cars. I hate having to deal with them. Every car I have owned has been involved one way or another in a collision.

My new minivan was hit this morning by someone dropping their kids off at the middle school at the end of my block. Hit and run. From the front bumper to the rear wheel well. I can’t open any of the doors on the driver’s side of the car and it looks like the sliding door is popped off its track. My insurance is going to pay for everything and my premium isn’t going to go up, but fuckin A... another hit-and-run in less than 6 months.

I found pieces of the car that hit me and the officer that came out took the time to drive around our neighborhood and found the Lincoln that did it. The police officer wrote him a big fat ticket, got his info, so all I have to do is wait for the police report and claim it on my insurance.

The officer that helped us out went out of his way to check up and down the streets surrounding the middle school. Luckily the pieces that came off the other guy’s car were big enough and intact so it was easy for the officer to confirm who did it.

Of course, the douche bag is claiming that he hasn’t driven his car since 2PM yesterday, but the evidence is compelling. The officer said that the pieces we found fit perfectly on this guy's “mysteriously” busted up car.

I have to file a mini tort claim (I am a fucking pro with the small claims court) but I'm not sure how I’m going to pay for the repairs at the moment. Jessie’s surgery set me back a bit and I’m not in a position to pony up the $500 deductible until next month. (FYI: there are 5 Fridays next month. WOO HOO!) But it’s not like we don’t have a dozen cars in our fleet here at work, so I’ll be driving a big gas guzzling truck for the next few weeks.

I’m just stopping by to do a quick update.
Brynn is doing great. She loves books and when you read to her, she knows it is her job to turn the page when you are done reading. The geek in me is doing back flips because her favorite book so far is “Galileo Sees the Stars.” I just spent the last three whole days with her since Nicole has been sick. Our bonding time has been fantastic. This morning Nicole got her out of the crib and Brynn flipped out with giggles when she saw me. I almost called in sick to stay at home with her again.

Jessie had her surgery last week to remove the lump on her side. I got the call yesterday that the vet’s biopsy is finished and they confirmed that it is a malignant cancer. He told me not to get too worked up since the surgery excised all of the cancerous growth, but there is still a 50% chance that it could come back. We will not know for a few months if the surgery was a complete success. In the meantime, Jessie has been living the easy life, resting, playing fetch and dreaming about… whatever the hell dogs dream of. She is a big dog and hasn’t been phased even a little bit by the 4” incision on her side. Hopefully, her hair will grown back nice and even so it won’t be noticeable.

Grant reported for duty yesterday in Schweinfurt, Germany. He will be there for 6 weeks then he ships off to Kuwait for an undisclosed amount of time before getting his final posting somewhere in Iraq. He is a little disappointed that he doesn’t get dropped right into the cockpit of a M1A1 main battle tank. Hopefully, he will get his internet set up soon so he doesn’t have to keep buying international phone cards.

UPDATE:

( My dog is cute )

21st birthday party
This Saturday is Grant’s 21st birthday. So a few of us will be heading out to the Whiskey in Dearborn Heights for cheap drinks and from there... we don’t know yet. We were thinking of some Rockband at my house unless someone else wants to host it.

Sunday I am having a small XBOX LAN party at my house if anyone is interested...
So far it is just me, Shaun and Tom.

After this weekend, Grant is shipping off to Germany for mission training, so if you want to wish him luck and remind him to keep his head down, this weekend is it.

I got 2 wrong

Learn about Ultrasound technicians

Whooped. Stressed. Lonely. But I’m kicking ass and it’s easier to just do my shit without worrying what time I am going to make it home to take care of the baby and grocery shopping and all that.

I know today is Monday because my phone told me. I’m sure by the middle of the week I’ll be lost in days. Without the weekend it’s hard to remember what day I did things. I had to figure out billing hours for our carpenters and I just guessed which days they worked. Seems silly, but that’s the way it is.

I miss my baby girl like crazy. When I talk to Nicole on the phone I can hear her making cooing sounds and it just crushes me.

This fall/winter has been great for business, but I need a vacation. I need to find a CAD person to work part time. Preferably a student who lives close to the office. If yall know one, hook me up. I don’t see a vacation coming in a long, long time if I can’t find someone to fill these CAD shoes. AutoCAD. Line drawings. Architectural design student. Construction experience preferred. No 9 to 5ers. No donut munchers.

I didn’t mean to come back to the office and update my LJ. I really have to get back on the road and keep things moving.

3 dollar Long Islands at the mall
I met Nicole and my in laws at Max and Erma’s in Twelve Oaks after work. Roy and I pulled up a seat at the bar and pounded down two (very clear looking) Long Islands before meeting up with Nicole and her mom at JC Penny. They handed us an armful of shopping bags to run out to the car and on the way back we slammed down another round before catching up with them outside of Sears. Nothing says Merry Christmas like… hammered!

We merrily swerved our way through the holiday crowd for a few hours till I started feeling bleh from an empty stomach full of cheap booze. Some hot wings and a burger provided the absorbency to keep us in the Christmas spirit.

For those that would like to “enhance” their holiday spirit (or if you just want to get pissed on cheap drinks) Max and Erma’s at Twelve Oaks is still offering their Monday night Long Island drink special!

Rockband kicks my ass. I thought drumming would be easy, but I was not prepared.

I did not climb up onto my roof yesterday to clean out my gutters because I was still a little drunk. Ladders and drunken hangover don’t mix.

Rockband has promised to release new songs every week and to make good on their promise, here is an updated list of the new songs up to the new year.

( Pictures from this weekend )

It’s Friday and I’m driven to distraction. So I present you with a list of band name origins. Start procrastinating… now.

The entire Led Zeppelin catalogue has landed on iTunes and Rhapsody. I’ve already sync’d up my Sansa and my computer is busily humming sweet metal nothings to my eager little player. An hour long drive home isn't long enough today...

Weekend Update
I am working this Sunday now. We are getting a baby sitter for tomorrow night, then we are going to Livonia Stevenson’s football game and I am gonna get wasted at the Whiskey Bar in Dearborn Heights.

Work mandated social hibernation…

I’m not working this weekend. I can’t wait to get hammered, watch some football and play with my dog. Poor Jessie has been moping around the house for the last four weeks. She’ll try to get me to play with her by dropping a slobbery toy in my lap while I’m working, and that will work in a pinch, but what she really needs is a run through the woods and a swim.

I still have a mountain of work, but I can see the horizon and I don’t have any drawings due on Monday morning. The move into our new shop/office is almost done. We hired a consultant to help us organize and I think she got more than she bargained for. She has been helping us move all of the office furniture and yesterday she helped me load the truck for today’s install. I could totally sense her reluctance.

Bah! No more worky talky. I’ve been trying to set up dinner plans all week. I wanted to make an elaborate, multi-course dinner for everyone in my friends category of my cell phone, but things just aren’t panning out. So fuck it. Tonight we are going to Famous Dave’s in Novi with William. I want a pile of ribs and hot wings served on a garbage can lid! I should change the way I’m eating very soon, but not tonight.

Swim season has officially started for all the high school kids and it’s fucking up my work out routine. I had to share a swim lane with three other people last night. Ugh. Over the summer, there were times when I was the only one in the lap pool. Now there are a bunch of kids fuckin it up for me. They also make me look bad. Seriously, some of these kids are crazy fast swimmers with endless stamina. I’m sure my frequent trips to Famous Dave’s aren’t helping my lap times.

( Halloween drama )

I have been trying to stay current with my drawing list but every week I fall farther behind. I haven’t had to pull any “all nighters” but I have been working every weekend. On week nights I’m drawing till 10pm, or until the drawing is done or until I pass out.

It’s not all bad. I’m not working my fingers to bloody stumps or anything. But it is starting to get repetitious and I’m not feeling as excited about our upcoming office relocation. I looks like we will be moving our office all day Saturday and Sunday next weekend. A lot has to happen this week for us to be able to move in, but I can see it happening and that would really suck.

The Halloween party is also next weekend and I don’t have a costume. Or money to buy a costume. Or time to make a costume. Nicole and I are in the same situation. She is working all week and helping me move this weekend. I thought I would have time this weekend to get something put together for all three of us, but I ended up working. So I will take any costume suggestions, but keep in mind, I also need one for Nicole and Brynn. Nicole and I were going to dress as Mario and Luigi and Brynn was going to be a mushroom, but when we added everything up it was very expensive.

I was working on a drawing yesterday and Brynn kept trying to get her hands on my head phones…

( This is what happened when she did... )