Behind The Wheel! (Or "On The Road Again!")

This last weekend I helped direct people into their positions in our city's annual parade; much like I've done for the last 10+ years... My father & one of his best friends have been doing the setup for the parade as long as I can remember; and I started helping myself once I was old enough to. This year was the first year I convinced Smurfette to give it a shot; and I'm happy that she gave it a go! It was a breeze, although there were a few little SNAFU's; but nothing major! The only issue I had (as usual) was the FUCKING SUNBURN!!!!! OH WHY?!??!?!? WHY CAN'T I EVER REMEMBER TO BRING/APPLY SUNSCREEN BEFORE STANDING OUT UNDER THE SCORCHING SUN FOR 5-6 HOURS?!?!!? WHY!?!!?!? -If you can't tell, I've got a fairly pale complexion (no, it's not because I'm an indoor recluse who shuns the sun to spend time with his computer; it's because my father's pretty much a god-damned ALBINO, and I managed to get those "burn to a crisp anytime he's in sunlight"-genes... I can't tan, I just burn... *sigh*

So, on another note: Today was my first official day of behind-the-wheel training. Apparently, that training was *supposed* to be 15 hours, but because I've driven before, I get to cut that in half!

Today we reviewed the Pre-Trip, where you check just about *everything* on the bus to make sure it's functional and working properly. Going out for a drive proved uneventful, but in this case; that's a *good* thing! When we arrived back at the Bus Garage/Terminal, I practiced my backing. This consisted of a 90* left turn into a 'street' made up of cones, and I'm supposed to stop with my rear bumper in an area no larger than two feet deep... Pretty hard to do when you're rusty (or a newbie), but I managed to pull it off w/o much of an issue. -I still needed the practice though, since the second time I tried it I wasn't lining up right, and my second try I'd come to a stop WAY too early...

Now, believe it or not, this is part of the road test; but I don't think I'd *EVER* done anything along those lines out on the road... The most I'd ever done was having to back up enough to get clear of an unexpected obstacle, and the other time I had to back up about 3 blocks' distance because I'd come to a dead end on a road out in a new development...

But, if it's on the test... *sigh* I should do well enough, but I've still got another day or so to practice anything I've got concerns about before I take the test itself... Fun Fun Fun!

Outside of that, my sales thread on TFW2005 is going strong, and has expanded onto another board I visit, this one a Midwest Transformers fan group... Pretty small, but I've already had two people show an interest in a figure or three... And that package I mentioned last week containing 2 Rhino DVD sets and a WHOLE bunch of toys? The buyer sent me $65 via Paypal and I just got confirmation that he has shipped out the MISB Masterpiece Starscream & some G1 Jetfire Armor & Gun Clips! The money was nice, as it was spent on a little more food, gas for the car, and whatnot... I don't know if I'm more excited about Starscream or the bits to bring my Jetfire to near-completeness!

The only sale that's been giving me trouble is the one destined for Ireland. The buyer didn't want to spend more than $30-35 total (including shipping), and wanted 3-4 figures (The main one was a junker for parts, and the other were for 'filler' to make the shipping costs worthwhile). No matter what I did at first, I just could *NOT* get the shipping under $21, while he was looking for a magical number of $13. After the second try at it, I repackaged all but one figure he wasn't sure about into a smaller, lighter box, wrapping each one in a sheet of newspaper, and put just a few other pages around the figures to keep them from shifting during shipping (and I hope still provide enough padding/protection). Bringing it *back* in to the Post Office, I was given a price of $15.92, so we'll see if that will work for the buyer...

Now, if I could only find a couple Bumblebees for Smurfette... She'd complained about me getting Transformers and she being unable to get anything for herself, but she's recently upgraded her cell phone (even though it was supposed to me *my* upgrade!)... So I think we're even... :D However, when I *do* manage to put some money in the bank, I am planning on surprising her with a 'new' Bumblebee figure... I just don't know which one yet...

Anyways, I'm going to hop off of here now, I'll be sure to update again either when I get my Starscream, or when I pass the Driving Test!
-Wish me luck on both!

Feeling better... Think we're starting to tread water again?

So, after stressing myself out over what appears to be nothing to the point of nausea/illness; it looks as if Smurfette & I are doing well enough at the moment... I must say, every time I even thought about what little I'd be able to put towards bills and have leftover to buy food; I'd start to feel a huge knot start in my stomach, followed by nausea... I freely admit that I'll get worked up over perceived problems, but this has been the worst to date!

After getting 'paid' the partial unemployment on Wednesday, and my meager (but larger than expected) paycheck from the "Big Blue Box" on Friday; I actually had enough money to cover what absolutely had to be paid off NOW... AND enough to go buy some groceries, misc cleaning items at Target, and even put some gas in the car!

So, I'm feeling much better about our current situation now. Although, I'm well aware that could change at the whim of the Gods...

On the work-related side of things, the "Big Blue Box" is still jerking me around. Next week I work 1 day, for a measly 4 hours... Again... For the WHOLE WEEK....
-The week after? Fifteen hours... Not great, but a hell of a lot better than FOUR!

However, I've not only put in the application at the School Bus company, interviewed, went to a day of 'training', but I've passed my school bus endorsement permit test on the first try (only 1 question wrong out of 50!), passed my D.O.T. physical, but should start my 15 hours of behind-the-wheel refresher training next week! The ONLY thing that's making me nervous is a possible lack of available routes for the upcoming school year... Especially considering the current economic situation, I don't there'll be very many drivers who decide to not come back this year... I mean, I'm hoping that that's the case, but it's just that noone knows yet! -They haven't sent out the recall letters yet, checking to see just how many of the old drivers are actually planning on coming back this upcoming school year...

Anyways, I'm pretty optimistic about the job; and knowing me, that's actually *saying* something... -Or else I'm just setting myself up for some serious disapointment come the end of August! -But for $15 an hour, I'll show some optimism... -And it helps that I enjoyed the job when I used to drive before I went to work for the "Big Blue Box"...

Anyways, I'm heading off to bed now, as it's actually pretty late; and I've got some things I've gotta take care of when I get up in teh morning/afternoon... :D
Wish me luck!
-Methusalen

Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up.

Just soooo much stuff....

So, I'm not sure what to say, or where to begin; plus it *is* pretty late at the moment... But let's just go with the flow and see where it leads us...

-First off, Stephen King's "Duma Key" novel.... I'm loving it, and I haven't read a King novel since "Wizards & Glass"...

-The "Big Blue Box" is still mucking about with me, rattling the cage to see what happens... I came down with some kind of stomach bug last Monday, had to call into work on Tuesday 'cuz it was still giving me trouble. The manager I talked to wasn't happy with me, saying something along the lines of "AGAIN? On a TRUCK NIGHT?"... I wanted to fire back with, "If all you schedule me for are trucks, and I get sick, what the HELL DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN?". Next week I've been scheduled for a whopping 4 hours FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK! -I don't know about you, but I can't do that anymore... Which leads me to...

-I've put in an application, done the interview, and have been told to report for training down at the bus garage on Tuesday morning to get a little refresher course for my School Bus endorsement to my driver's license. I used to drive school bus before moving on to the "Big Blue Box" almost 5 years ago. But, I'm not about to argue with bills piling up, credit card companies wanting to schedule payments for their money, and having no money to buy food/gasoline/etc... The job is pretty much guaranteed, will be about 20 hours minimum, and pay $15 an hour. That's much better than the $10 & 4-12 hour weeks I've been getting from my current 'job'. Too bad it doesn't really START until the end of August...

-Bills... Fuck. -And those credit card companies are not any fun to deal with either... I'll be glad once this is over and I can get the balances back down...

-Smurfette... She's been pissing me off pretty easily lately. It's nothing that I'm happy about, but she can really rub me the wrong way sometimes. Between her wanting me to quit (hell no, not until I've got something else, if I get FIRED I can still collect unemployment), and with the lack of hours at work, she has the nerve to complain that we don't spend any time together... And she wanted me to cancel painting at my uncle's to hang out with her brother at her dad's... OK, it was his birthday, he'd recently gotten married, and we haven't seen them in a little while anywas... I'll give her that one, but I was still pretty pissed. Monday she had two doctor appointments out in the Cities that we went to. Everything went well, but afterwards she wanted to stop at Burger King and get something to eat!!! I had to beg money off Papa Smurf to put gas in the car, and didn't have two pennies to rub together, and she wants to stop at BK? Huh? -Apparently, she had a buck in her purse, and I had a winning scratch off from the current TF's promo for a free Jr. WHopper... Of course, she won and ate lunch from BK (for the record, I didn't eat lunch today, but don't think she noticed at all). And to top it off today, we decided to cook the little country-style pork ribs for dinner, but didn't have any potatoes in teh apartment... She asked me to ask one of our neighbors to see if they had any, which they didn't, but had some boxed instant mashed potatoes. I called her up to see if this was acceptable, to which she said yes, but when I came back upstairs she was complaining about it already!!!! Pissed off, I grabbed what little money we had left in the laundry funds to run to Kwik Trip to get a couple lbs of taters to appease the gods... Grrrrrrrrrrr...................................

-I've added more figures to my Sale thread over at TFW2005, and have actually lined up quite a sale if I can swing it. One person who wanted to purchase two of my RHino sets wanted to trade me a MISB Walmart Masterpiece Starscream for them, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to pay for shipping ($10), but told him I'd think about it, and would be adding more figures to my list that night anyways, and see if he'd be interested in anyone else... Boy, was he ever! There's about 4-6 figures on there that he PM'd me back about as soon as I'd messaged him about them... Shipping charges shouldn't be a concern of mine much longer. In fact, I should be getting a decent chunk of change from this person soon enough... and that should help things out here at home (plus, that Masterpiece Starscream would be nice)...

-Speaking of my sale thread, I received my TRU reissue of Powermaster Optimus Prime w/ Apex Armor; MIB, stickers unapplied! -Well, until I got the box back inside, transformed both Prime, Godbomber, Powermaster Prime, & Apex Armor Powermaster Prime. Then, I took about an hour or so and carefully applied the TWO PAGES of stickers to the figure... Let me tell you, there *IS* no better feeling than applying the stickers to a new toy, especially if the toy in question is about 8 years old and as minty as this one was... My favorite so far has to be the Gobot Staks figure I got recently. He came in his original box, and as soon as I had him out, I applied the 25 year old stickers to him... God, that makes me a happy collector!

-That's about all I can come up with at the moment, I need to get some sleep to I can be bright-eyed and bushy tailed for tomorrow's training, and *THEN* I get to work at the "Big Blue Box" a few hours afterwards (for 4 hours before I then go to sleep for the day)...

Painting, Babysitting, Bonfire, Ants?

I finally managed to take a day and start painting the outside of my uncle's, but only managed to apply a coat of paint to the sophets (is that how you spell it? I'll have to run the spell checker later.) on the back side of the house, which ranges from 2-3 stories off the ground (it slopes downward on the South side of the house).
So here I am on a metal extension ladder, going up and down the ladder carrying a paint can & brush... I paint as far as my arms can reach, go back down, move the ladder, lather, rinse, repeat...

That had to have been the most time consuming part, going up and down that damned ladder... Mind you, I was originally going to paint both the sides & bottom of the sophets, but couldn't get a good angle under the sophet w/ how I had the ladder positioned, which means I'll have to go back, lean the ladder up against the wall (not the roof), and paint underneath them, before I can start on the walls proper.

After getting up on the roof and lopping off a few branches that were rubbing against the house/roof, Smurfette & I were served a lovely supper of grilled steak & potatoes. Yum.

We left there approximately 6pm and headed home long enough to get a load of laundry & the Beagle's kennel, and headed over to Papa Smurf's house to 'help babysit' his grandkids (Smurfette's older brother Smurfdog). It also turns out, Papa Smurf had plans to: clean up a stack of wood by his barn/shop in the back yard, take a few low-hanging branches off of two trees in the front yard, and burn the lot in the fire pit I completed this last week... At least it got some use...

Anyways, the Beagle's kennel was in the front yard, near the tree that he was going to be tied up to, but we ended up putting him in the back yard, where we ended up doing most of our work. Around 10 o'clock we all went inside (we moved his kennel into the garage, but left him in it to get some sleep). Smurfdog showed up at 10:30, and he & his wife, Papa Smurf, & Smurfette sat around chatting until 12:30am. Not a big deal, but I have to work at 6am...

So, we finally leave, we get the completed laundry back in my (old military issue) laundry bag, put the Beagle's kennel in the car, load Smurfette & the dog up, and head home. We get home, put the god to bed, and start getting ready for bed when he starts to whimper & whine... It's now 1:30, and I check to see what's wrong...

And see a bunch of ants are on the blankets inside his kennel... He was getting nibbled on by ants!!! I immediately let him out, pull the blankets into teh bathroom, and grab the dustbuster to make sure the kennel's clear, and then go after the blankets themselves... I swear I sucked up a good number of them... 70-100 or so! I left like a schmuck, but Smurfette's the one who claimed to have pulled the blankets out to straighten them up before sticking the god in for the night... How she missed a bunch of little, moving, black spots on the baby blue blanket is beyond me. Anyways, we checked the Beagle out to make sure there weren't any more on him, I brought the blankets down to the laundry room where they're doing a cycle on high to kill anyone I might have missed w/ the dustbuster, and put a new blanket in the kennel, where the dog's quietly sleeping now (with a tummy full of "OMG, I'm so stupid, here you go, who's a good boy?!" treats)...

I'd have gone back to bed, but need to grab the dog blankets out when the dryer's done... In ten minutes or so... And mind you, it's now 2:13am, and I have the alarm set for 5:20am (I'll be resetting it for 5:30 to get a few more precious minutes though)... Tomorrow will definitely be a 'high caffination' day at work... Think a few bottles of Vault should do it, or should I pop a couple Rock Star Energy Drinks as well?

It's been a good day so far...

I woke up in a relatively cheery mood, got motivated to get up and check my bank account to see if I received the Paypal transfer. I had, as well as getting paid today (I'd completely forgotten!)... I paid off a few bills, made arrangements for my Beagle to stay at Smurfette's uncle's for abit this afternoon while the two of us FINALY go see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen!!!!

Later all!

The Video To Optimus' Top Ten List.

Optimus Prime was just on Letterman doing the Top 10 list.

This just made my day, which hasn't been all that bad today...
I spent the better part of my afternoon digging a hole in Papa Smurf's back yard, specifically underneath his fire pit that I 'finished' last week or so... Apparently he now wanted it to be recessed into the ground and only appear to be a foot & a half tall. No problem, right? He wanted me to come over, take 4 rows of the flagstone off from around the pit, and dig out INSIDE the pit. This part worked out well enough (if not for taking 3 hours to do, and that it was a bit of a hassle to do inside a large metal ring that comes up to your hip), but when it came time to 'push' the ring DOWN INTO THE GROUND, I ran into a problem.

You see, the ring was already buried about 8 inches underground, which meant that there was a bit of pressure pressing against the outside of the ring, keeping it in place. I had to dig OUT from under the ring and hope enough of that dirt would fall down into the hole I'd dug so that I could wiggle the thing down into place. I fgured this would happen, so I went into his garage and pulled out the big old sledge hammer to pound on the inner sides of the ring to help loosen the dirt up... It worked like a charm!

I managed to loosen the ring up enough that I could push it down level with the flagstone rings, and proceeded to put a bit of the dirt back into the hole to keep it level. Now I hope noone goes running through and thinks that it's a 'normal' firepit, since it's about between 2 to 2 1/2 feet deep, and might break an ankle (or cause some head trauma if they smack their head on the other side of the ring... But hey, that's what he's got Home Owner's Insurance for, right?

Anyways, about 5 minutes before the Late Show With David Letterman came on, I noticed a thread on TFW2005 which made a reference to Optimus Prime being on the show... I'd guessed it was for the Top Ten List, but wasn't sure until I spied the opening credits... Boy am I happy I did!
David Letterman had Optimus Prime on his show doing the Top Ten List. A CGI render of Prime came out on the stage and proceeded to read off the Top 10... You'll forgive me that I missed most of them, I was laughing too hard... I'll try to fill them in (or link to the inevitable Youtube posting) once they become available...
[Edited! Thanks to a "SuzyPrime" on the TFW2005 boards who'd DVR'd the list!]

10 Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By A Giant Robot:
10. Jergens Lotion leaves my hands silky smooth
9. Do you have these khakis in size 114?
8. My perfect night involves a pint of Haagen-Dazs and season three of "Sex in the City"
7. Man, do I love me some 'taters.
6. It was so hot in Central Park today, I saw a squirrel rubbing sunblock on his nuts.
5. You seemed a little pitchy, Dawg
4. Brody Jenner has added you as a friend on Facebook.
3. Live from New York, it's Saturday night!
2. My parents wanted me to be a rabbi.
1. All the slammin' shorties in the house say 'Yeah'!

Anyways, I'm going to figure out if I'm going to sell a one of my Rhino G1 DVD sets for cash, or if I'm intersted in doing a trade for the TRU Reissue Powermaster Optimus Prime W/ Apex Armor. I'm leaning towards the figure (since I don't have a PM Prime, and always have wanted one), but it's ultimately up to the person who's doing the buying...

Blargh, This Is A Holiday?

Well, I'll start with the high point from yesterday. I called Comcast to pay my (large, overdue, final notice-type) bill, with the intention to cancel my internet service to save some money. Of course, I can't drop the cable TV service down a level, because of Smurfette's precious Animal Planet... So, I thought about temporarily terminating my internet service through them until I can get back up on my feet. Speaking to the person in Retention, "Theo" was very cool, and helped me work a deal that actually saves us a few bucks more than just cancelling the internet service; but lets me keep everything... Actually, we even managed to get an extra set of channels back (G4!), along with a free promotional run of HBO, for a YEAR! Again, all for less than we were paying before!

If it weren't for the Customer Service people like "Theo", I don't know what I'd have done... He even gave us his personal extension in case we have any issues pop up, or have questions about anything. This is the first Customer Service person who's done that, and it's definitely an inventive for me to stay with Comcast.

Anyways, TODAY hasn't felt like much of a holiday yet. I didn't sleep well last night, my stomach was bugging me at 4 in the morning, I was awake at 6 (although Smurfette woke me up at 10:30 like she always does), and told me that she'd called the Nurse's Care Line because her stomach's been bugging her (again), and they wanted her to come into the Urgent Care Clinic and get checked out. So, at noon we headed out to Woodbury and sat in the waiting room for a little over an hour, she chatted with the doctor about all the meds she's been put on over the last week. Now wonder her damned tummy's bugging her!

We went, she sat, she had some blood drawn for tests, and were sent on our merry way. Got home about 2:30, (it's now 2:50) and got a call from a friend of ours we were thinking of hanging out with for the fireworks... We're more than welcome, as long as we bring up our own food... I'm fine with that, but I don't know if I'm going to get everything done at Papa Smurf's...

Hang on a second, all I'm hearing from Smurfette in the shower is "DO THE DISHES!!!!!!!" and "If you don't do the dishes, I'm not going anywhere; we'll just sit at home and argue all night". I don't care *if* she's got her damned 'friend' right now, or not feeling great at the moment. WTFOMFGBBQ! I guess I'll be right back, I'm going to do the damned dishes.
-Which consisted of 4 glasses, 1 small plate, 4 pieces of silverware, and a measuring cup. Jeebus Christ!

Anyways, where was I? Ah yes... Papa Smurf's fire pit. Remember the one I put in last week? Well, apparently he's not happy with how it currently stands. It sits at about hip level, 3-4 feet wide, surrounded by flagstone block stacked 6 rows high. I think it looks pretty nice, and fits with the profile of how often he burns wood in the pit. The last pile he burned was larger than my P.O.S. '97 Hyundai, if that gives you any indication.

I'd figured (hell, so had *he* since I was following HIS instructions when I was working on it), that he'd use it to burn bigger piles of wood, as opposed to smaller ones that he'd be able to do in a shallower pit. However, now it sounds like what he wants to do is dig the whole deeper, and have an recessed (or UNDERGROUND) fire pit. So, all that work I did was for naught! I haven't had much of a chance to work on it over the last few days, and it actually looks like it's raining right now (and I'm pretty sure that's thunder I heard in the distance and not fireworks), so there's not a great chance that I'm going to get around to it today either...

Blah, some holiday, eh?

The only *decent* news I've heard was when speaking to "Blu", a friend of mine I've known since '97 or so; who said that the company he's been recently hired onto is still looking for more people. It's a security outfit, who apparently likes to hire current & former military (good for me), who has or *had* an opening at a power plant about 5 minutes away from me... I'm going to get the information from him today and start calling my references & getting my past employment history together. I really enjoyed working Loss Prevention at the Big Blue Box, as well as previous employment at the Harbor Attendant Company, where I worked overnight 'security' for a decently-sized marina for a year or so... So, wish me luck!

Looks Like I'm Not Treading Water Anymore...

This is going to be a short one, but just when I thought we were getting on top of things again, *BOOM!* we aren't...

Looks like while I was panicking about the bank, I should have been worrying about the credit cards, I'm late on 3 out of 5 cards.

Shit.