Work, Work, Work

Hello Boys, I missed you!

Not much to report lately. Just work then straight home. Lather, rinse, repeat. But, I did manage to get a peek at next week's schedule and my boss did me a solid. Normally, I lose my regular 2 days off when I take vacation just because of scheduling requirements. My "weekend" is Monday and Tuesday and we only have X number of supervisors to cover X number of shifts. It happens and is no big deal to me. But this time he tacked my normal days off on the front and the next week's on the end, extending my vacation by 4 days.

Sweet!

I know I'll wind up paying for this in the future when they really need someone, but I do that anyway. I've been covering 2 locations for the last couple of months while we were short handed. Maybe this is a compensation. Who cares? I'm taking it!

I can use the extra time to make final preparations for the trip to TMS. Don't tell anybody but there have been reports of strange lights and odd noises coming from the South40 Skunkworks late at night. There are rumors of a secret weapon being developed incorporating lasers, strobes and high frequency sound waves, but I've said too much.

Boardwalk Empire Resets The Bar

In one single episode Boardwalk Empire has put it's self on level ground with The Sopranos with sex, violence and edge of your seat suspense. Up until now it has been impressive, but not particularly stunning. Things are MUCH different now.

Nucky has turned the Temperance Queen Margaret into his concubine (and she liked it), the boys in Chicago worked out a territorial dispute amongst themselves (and Johnny Torrio liked it), Al Capone was put in his place in front of a crowd (and he didn't like it) and Agent Van Alden reveals a painful private moment (and he REALLY liked that).

I smell Emmys for this episode. If you're not watching Boardwalk Empire, you're missing out on some seriously good stuff.

Quick Sherman, Into The Wayback Machine!

OK, who's in charge of continuity around here?

Excuse Me While I Whip This Out

It's Here Somewhere

Somewhere in my hoarder's nightmare is my old faithful official Texas Rangers hat. But I can't find it.  I still have my "players only" Polo shirt that I got from a Rangers employee when I ran Big Daddy's on Eastchase Parkway. (I used to be Steve Buchelle's personal Wine Consultant). But, I can't find my freaking official team hat!!

I know I put it in with the important stuff when I moved from Hurst back to The South40 way back when, but all the boxes I've searched that haven't already been unpacked long ago are sans Rangers hat.

I'm not a nubie Rangers fan. Just one that has been beaten down over time. I feel a bit like Randy Quaid. Not the "I'm seeking asylum in Canada on the run from Dog The Bounty Hunter" Randy, the "guy in the outfield bleachers in Major League 2" Randy.

Claws and antlers, Baby!

Crossroads

Ran into someone the other day. Actually I've seen them quite often for years but they didn't realize who I was, at least that's what they said. I told them I always knew who they were. What's funny is they acted like everything was cool with us when in fact it hasn't been cool for about, oh let me see... ever.

Thing is, we are related and the family tree ain't got too many leaves left. I know for a fact I'm living on borrowed time. My only reprieve is Heaven won't admit me and Hell is afraid I'll take over.

The Dude abides...

This thing has been really bugging me. Should I let bygones be bygones, bury the hatchet and start fresh or should I remind them why I haven't spoken to them for years? I mean that should have been a clue. I have been trying to take a live and let live approach to this and it's worked swell up until now. Nobody has wound up on Jerry Springer and that's a good thing. Trust me they would book us in a heartbeat. Ratings gold.

I'm suspicious of motive to suddenly reconnect. Maybe I'm all wrong about it. Blood is supposed to be thicker than water. But oil and water don't mix, either. I'm really conflicted.

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. Sometimes the bear mauls you and leaves you to die alone in the wilderness.

I feel like a member of Stillwater flying in a small plane high above Tupelo, Mississippi.

DIY Spaceflight

Weather balloon + iPhone = Awesome

How To Win Friends And Influence People

I had to run some errands yesterday and decided to make the dreaded Walmart stop while I was out. I wanted to grab some stuff for the new RV, mainly an HDTV and a DVD player. I didn't have a lot of time to waste because I had people coming to look at my old RV.

I surveyed the surprisingly good selection and found a 32inch Phillips that was a perfect fit in the space I had planned. I also grabbed a Sony Blu-Ray player. Of course I had to find someone with keys to get the TV for me. I went to the cashier and asked her. She called the Department head honcho over. He unlocked the cage and loaded the TV in my cart. When we got to the department check-out he made the cashier move and took over the register. He rang everything up, made the obligatory service contract sales pitches (which I declined) and the total came to almost $500 tax and all. Ouch.

I still had to get some gas because The Goat was almost empty and asked if he could load my gas card there or if I needed to go to a front register. He assured me he could do it right there. In a movie this scene is the one they would freeze frame and subtitle "This is where it all went incredibly wrong".

He couldn't figure out how to do it. Push this, swipe that, key some numbers in, scan the card. Nothing. He tried again and got a similar result. The whole time the cashier is wanting to tell him what he's doing wrong. He even gave up and asked her at one point but then cut her answer off with "Oh, I've got it."

Push this, swipe that, key some numbers in, scan the card... fail. The cashier tried to reach up and hit the right keys and he told her "Don't show me, I want to figure this out."

That's when I spoke up with some classic passive aggressive. "That's cool. It's not like I'm in a hurry or anything. Take your time and let her train you."

Boy, THAT pissed him off royally.

His face turned beet red and he said "Oh, no... no problem" and stomped away without another word across the salesfloor. The young cashier had a stunned look on her face at his reaction. She asked him to come back and he said "Nooo, no. You go right ahead." and kept walking.

She looked at me.

I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders.

She put $50 on my gas card.

They Are Serving Snowcones In Hell

The Texas Rangers have won a post season series!

I have been a naysayer for years because, well, they're the Texas Rangers and they always find a way to screw it up. I remember watching them at Arlington Stadium when I was a kid. I saw David Clyde pitch. I also saw 3 Rangers collide going for a fly ball more than once.

But this is Nolan Ryan's Rangers now and maybe some of his good karma is rubbing off. Cliff Lee is in full blown legitimate greatness mode right now. The team is focused and more importantly they are having fun. They are playing baseball.

I feel like Randy Quaid in Major League 2 and Wild Thing has just walked on the field.

BTW, if you are thinking about getting tickets to the ALCS prices range from $60 to $175. World Series Game 4 tickets in Arlington (possible Cinderella story event) start at $430. There were 2 Third Base tickets left for $9,000 each when I last checked.

Claws and antlers, Baby!

What The Hell Is Happening To My Body? or I Really Need A Joint!

I woke up yesterday and thought I had just finished a scrimmage with Ladanian Tomlinson. My legs were killing me! If I didn't know better I'd think Josh Hamilton took batting practice on my kneecaps. (Have I worked in enough local sports references yet?).

All kidding aside my legs really fraking hurt, knees especially. I haven't done anything especially stressful or banged them on anything. Just woke up and it was a surprise party of pain. Oh joy!

I thought walking around at work would limber me up, but instead it just got worse. By the end of the night I was a full blown gimp. I'm going to have to get me some Glucoseamine and do it quick. That stuff is like WD-40.

I Hate Chain Letters

But, I'm just superstitious enough to play along...

Well We're Moving On Up!

From this...

to THIS!

I've been toying with the idea of getting a bigger/newer RV to take to the races at Texas Motor Speedway. My current RV is a '78 Holiday Rambler and I love it to death. The old girl has character and fits in like a glove at the campgrounds. But, it has it's drawbacks. The main one being it's 32 years old and has a face only a Mother or Deer Hunter could love.

I thought about buying a FEMA trailer at an auction on the cheap, but I couldn't seem to find one I liked that I could pull with my 1/2 ton pickup. But, I've been wearing out Craigslist (sorry Silicone Alley, no kinky ads) looking at used campers. A little over a week ago I did a search for campers under $4,000. One of the results was a 1990 Itasca Sunflyer in Decatur. I sent them an e-mail and found out it wasn't actually in Decatur, it was about 2 miles from The South 40. Unfortunately, someone had already put down a deposit.

Normally I would have lost my temper and blown it off, but instead I sent a polite reply saying I wished no bad luck, but keep me in mind if it falls thru. Well guess what? I got an email Tuesday morning saying the deal did fall thru and to come by and have a look.

I recruited BIL to tag along and help me give it a good once over. I needed someone there to keep me from buying it without noticing all the things that were wrong with it. Honestly, after we got there I was afraid he might try to outbid me once he saw it! The thing is in immaculate condition. The owners had taken extremely good care of it. The batteries and tires were brand new, the interior was perfect and the only flaw was a cranky refrigerator.

It has an identical interior to a Prevost that belongs to someone I know and they paid over $80,000 when they bought it 10 years ago. It's an exact duplicate! Same layout, same floor plan, same color scheme, same material, same chairs. There were no worn spots on the upholstery or carpet. The only difference is the Prevost had a central vacuum system and an ice maker, this doesn't. Also the Prevost was a CAT diesel pusher and this has a 454 Chevy.

We gave it a quick test drive thru The Limestone Capitol and all went well. I wrote the guy a check and drove away!

It ran great! BIL even bragged that it drove much better than one he had been looking at that cost a WHOLE lot more.

I have a feeling things are going to be much more comfortable at TMS next month! Now I just need to find a Weezy Cute Little Racegirl to go camping with.

Smarter Than The Average Bear

Test your political savvy. No guessing or Googling!