Thunder of Wade

I was paying bills recently and realized I only had three payments left for my student loans. It’s going to feel weird – and good – to not be writing that check every month. Next up, working down that credit card.

Although it was nice long weekend – I spent most of the time with a low grade headache. Must be the weather changing.

I also worked on some origami people – you know, for my army of minions. Soon, very soon, we will be ready to conqure. If you’ve like to begin groveling now, I’ll see to it that your death is quick and painless.

I got stuck in a video game last night – the Lava Caves. Low on magic, low on health, lost and alone – it was tramatic, especially since the only door out was freaking locked. I mean, really, if you’re going to put a door inside a cave filled with Lava, do you really need to lock it? Apparently, yes, you do. So, I looked online today and discovered that the key is behind the statue of the giant bunny. Of course it is. Bastards.

Anyway, its Tuesday and it’s time to get back to work…

I visited my family over the weekend for my Dad’s birthday. He wanted things pretty low key, so we watched movies, ate some birthday pie, and spent some quality time in the hot tub. I also brought all the origami for my sister’s wedding to my parent’s place for storage. I think they were impressed – and while it was good that I could do this, I’m also a little glad that my living room isn’t covered with purple and purple paper anymore. 🙂

I also finished up my web comic today. Had some fun with that and it was a good run. You can take a look at it here:

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/

Well, that’s it for now. Back to work…

Right after work yesterday I went to give blood, since if I didn’t there’s a chance they would have come to my apartment and demanded 2 pints. The lady at the front desk wasn’t, as Scotty would say, “firing on all thrusters” but was nice enough. There was no line so I read the paperwork and headed to the history station. That’s mostly on computer now, which is much faster. Back to the dazed lady to get a bag, then over to the donation site. The guy doing the collection did the best job I’ve had done so far with the needle and I told him so – it almost didn’t hurt at all. The actual donation went quick and I was having cookies and juice in no time.

Which was good since I was going to meet some friends that evening for dinner and a trip to a bar for open mic night. Dinner was pretty good – once we finally got the table for 11 issue sorted out. The bar was right next door and several people I knew got up an performed. Mostly music for the evening – but one guy we didn’t know got up and receited 3 really long and complicated poems. Almost a dramatic reading of sorts – he really got into it and was impressive.

Not one to grab the mic, I instead sat back and impressed the local crowd with some origami. I made a couple of module based rings that everyone wanted to hold – and most ended up breaking. Easily reassembled though. One girl came up to our table and wanted to borrow one of the rings to hang on the mic for good luck – so, it was almost like I participated or something. 🙂 I also made a small army of origami people and a small table for them to stand next to. It was suggested that I make little chairs, plates, and utensils – but I really needed to get home and to bed since it was a school night.

So, a busy, but good evening. Tonight I’m headed to the comic book store with the hopes that the new Flash comic is in. Be prepared for anguish tomorrow if it’s not in yet or sold out.

Back to work…

I had a dream last night that I was at a rest stop in out west with my family. We had just pulled in when a park ranger explained about the curse on the place that would be starting again in a few minutes. Intrigured, we hung around until, in the middle of a hot summer day, it suddenly snowed several inches in a matter of seconds. The rest stop was across a bridge on an isolated mountain area and the bridge was retracted until the curse went away. Apparently, a long time ago a man stopped at this rest stop with his family, went crazy, and killed his wife and two daughters before coming out of it. It had been in the winter time and now everyday between 2 and 2:15 pm – it snows to recreate that day. We then saw an old guy come down on a snowboard and managed to jump the gap before he even realised it was there. Very odd.

In other news, I got a call at work from the red cross about a blood donation. He asked me about giving blood on tuesday and wanted to confirm if I would be there. I said I was planning on it – then he asked if could further confirm that I would be there barring a dictionary defined “emergency”.

I think this is about tailoring the staffing to see that they’ve got just enough people to cover the donors coming in – but it doesn’t solve the problem of people seeing the sign out front and just stopping in – thus overwhelming the staff at randomly peak times.

I said I would be – but was a little puzzled that he didn’t set me up for an appointment. I’ll be there because it’s the right thing to do – but it was a little odd.

Today has been going pretty crappy, but I’m not going to dwell on it. I just need to get through it and get out of here for a much deserved weekend.

back to work…

I finally got around to updating my web comic a bit – had some fun with some minor graphics. You can check it out here…

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/comic.html

I nearly laughed out loud at my own cleverness. Hope someone else enjoys it too. Oh, and I put in some navigation so you can jump to whatever page you want.

In other comics news…I went to my local comic book store yesterday to pick up the Flash #3 that the DC Comic’s website promised me would be shipped and arriving in stores yesterday. Oh, sorry… it’s been delayed till next week.

CURSES!

In unrelated news… I was driving to work this morning across a one way bridge when the car in front of me pulls into the other lane and I see headlights in front of me.

Now, let’s stop and ponder this for a moment. You’re on a one-way street. The only thing you should see in front of you is tail-lights. So, if you see headlights, something it very wrong.

Turns out a van had pulled down the wrong way on the bridge and had just decided to stop until enough traffic had pulled around him to make room so he could turn around.

There were no accidents and no big issues, but it was damn odd.

That’s it for now – I’ve got a surprise meeting to attend so I’d best get moving.

It’s been a while since I blogged, got a little catching up to do. First, the division-wide picnic last week went well – though it was a lot of work to set-up. The rented grill was the worst – lots of waiting around for it to be delivered and then picked up. But, everyone seemed to have a good time and the food was pretty good. We even tried making smores with various degrees of success.

Work has been extra busy, lots of stuff coming at me every day. We’re supposed to be getting some help – but it’s not going to get here before the start of school. So, we stay busy.

Couple days ago I went to the grocery store to get some. It was late afternoon and only two regular lanes were open – one of which closed as I approached it. So, instead of the long line, I went to the self checkout. If I’ve only got a few items, it’s not too bad, but I would really rather not deal with the potential hassle of a defective bar code. Anyway, I’m doing the self check out and use my debit card. A quick pin number and a receipt and I’m on my way. I no sooner get out the door when the clerk runs out after me. “Hey,” he says, “you gotta sign this,” as he waves a charge slip. I start to follow him back in and tell him – “I used my debit card,” We get to his counter and he says, “But you were right over there,” “No,” I tell him with a tired shake of my head, “I was over there,”
I pointed to the correct location and he said, “oh,”

I turned around and left while he tried to chase someone else down. I mean, really, he’s got 4 stations to watch and I could accuratly describe the 2 other groups that were there – and it’s not even my job. Thus, I was annoyed.

The comic strip has slowed to a stop, but I’m going to try and make some updates at lunch time today.

Finally, a made a big folding push last night and made 75 origami boxes in one sitting. I should have the rest of this project down in a couple of days. At least the folding part, I’ll still have to put things together – but that’s a whole ‘nuther project.

That’s it for now – gotta get back to work…

I had a dream the other night that I was in a park and got attacked by a grizzley bear. There were a few other people around, but the bear headed straight for me. I braced myself and when it charged me, I knocked it over and proceed to beat the crap out of it. Finally, I had the bear pinned down with my knee on it’s neck – and no one would come over and help me restrain it. I was very pissed off when I woke up. I’m guessing this a work stress dream.

Over the past two weeks with my car I’ve:

1. Had the muffler replaced.
2. Replaced 2 burned out tail lights.
3. And replaced the left front tire.

Still got one more light to replace and the check engine light to investigate.

I don’t think I like cars anymore.

Finally, I took a little time to work out the final digit of Pi. It’s a three, in case you were wondering.

back to work…

I dreamed last night that my former co-worker and his wife move into my apartment. We all seemed to be getting along okay and had pretty much the same reaction when my next door neighbors came in the back door to use our shower, namely, “what the hell are you doing?”

My co-worker had a birthday at that time and got a new drivers liscence. Somehow, though, it messed up my entry in the system. So, the next time I use my debit card to make a purchase they ask for my driver’s liscence. I don’t have it with me, so they conveniently print it out for me – but it’s got the co-worker and wife in the picture – not me. Which is dang odd and to the clerk, more than a little suspecious. I pay cash.

I decide to skip work the next day since I’m sure the computer system won’t let me in – but a frantic call from another co-worker (who’s also left the university) brings me in to open the door for him and help get the phones set up for the helpdesk – where I used to work but don’t currently. I was untangeling phone cords when I woke up.

Not sure what that means – other than a random collection of synapes firing.

Maybe it’s about trying to bring back the past and keeping a sense of who I am. I’ve been kinda down that we’ve lost three co-workers in the past year (out of a team of five, yes, we’re down to two) – and my workload and stress have greatly increased.

Well, I’ve now got a 2 hour training session to attend – not really looking forward to that, but I’ve got to learn the stuff. Pressure…

Back to work…

Picked up a couple of used games recently…

Star Ocean – I pretty cool Role-playing game with some nice elements and story-line. On the downside, assigning stats is a bit of a pain and a little confusing.

And then there’s the puzzle with the turtle. You’ve got to steer a giant turtle through an abandoned mine shaft. I’ve tried it dozens of times and I either end up back at the start – or I die. Somehow, not so much fun…

The other game is TombRaider:Legend. I’d been burned on the last few in this series, but I’m happy to say that Laura Croft is back and better than ever. Easy to use controls, target lock, and amazing graphics. I’m ready to take on a super-complicated puzzle and I can’t wait.

In less fun news… I got a letter from the city about unpaid taxes for 2004. Which is insane since I’ve already taken care of this twice. So, I’m headed over there after work – wish me luck.

Over the weekend I had one of the worst zombie dreams of my life. Armies of alien zombies that moved fast and were able to learn. I lead a small band of survivors and held off them off for what felt like weeks from the night of the invasion. It was terrible. And I kept slipping back into the same dream when I managed to wake up. Feel like I should just start carrying around a sword all the time now – seems like the armies of the undead should be showing up any day now.

Hmmm…that might make the taxes thing go a little easier as well.

Anyway, back to work…

So, I had a support bracket on my muffler break. It was hanging down and though the muffler was still in place, it was only a matter of time. So I head to my local Midas shop to get the bracket replaced. Only the bracket, mind you. This will be an important factoid later.

I sit in the waiting room after handing over my keys and after taking their own sweet time, they raise the car and take a look. I’ve read both the newsweeks and the TV is set to sesame street. This does not bode well

The tech comes to the door and invites me into the work area – which seems odd with safetly concerns and all, but what the hell. He explains the bracket is broken – which I knew – and also pointed out that I’ve got the makings of a hole in the muffler. It’s not there yet – but only a matter of time.

We go back to the waiting room and he sits down to tell me what all he’s got – along with an estimate. I’m due for an oil change and the right rear and center lights are out. Replacing the muffler is the big one – over $250. I point to the number and tell him that I wasn’t prepared to spend that much money today – can they just fix the bracket now and I can come back later for the muffler?

No, they can’t. See, the manufacturer puts on a “special magic super nifty” NON-STANDARD muffler. So, no one else carries those and no one carries the brackets. Except the dealerships.

But I didn’t request a special muffler – I just wanted the most ordinary one they can put on a car. Sorry, package deal.

So, to replace the bracket and keep the muffler from falling off, they need to replace the bracket, the muffler and an extra pipe that connects it to the rest of the exaust system.

The tech at least “pretended” to sympathize at my indignation – but there was nothing to be done but sign the form and hand him my debit card. I was also a little cranky at the labor costs per hour. I wish I could change people that much. Maybe there should be some kind of sliding scale. If you change $70 an hour to fix to my car – I’ll charge you $70 to fix your computer. Instead of just getting cookies or something.

So, I go for a walk while they do the work and have a disappointing experience at Kaybee toys.

Finally on my way and I get home – and the phone rings. It’s the red cross, telling me about a blood drive. I listen as the women, in the occasionally halted tones of someone nervous, tells me about the location and times – as well as a drawing for a new car. I make the standard vaguely interested noises and at the end – she tells me to press one to repeat the message.

It was a f*@%}^& recording! I was so pissed. 9 times out of 10 I can tell, but this time I couldn’t and actually tried to have a conversation with a recording.

I got a surge of white-hot fury that even this last bastion of human contact had been stolen from me – angry enough that blanked on all the information as I hung up the phone. So, I checked the website today and it doesn’t list any blood drives in my area for tomorrow – which is when I thought it was supposed to be. I think I remember the location, so I’ll drive past to see if they have a sign out.

All I’m saying is that there had better be a Flash comic #2 waiting for me at the comic book store today or there’s going to be hell to pay. They were sold out last week and I was promised that this weeks shipment would have one.

back to work…