I've decided that Fall is my new favorite season. It's absolutely beautiful here in central North Carolina today! It's only in the mid 70's with NO humidity whatsoever and there's actually just a hint of a breeze blowing. After the summer that we've had here, we DESERVE a good MONTH of days just like today! Of course, we could do with some rain...actually a LOT of rain. The state is almost at the point where Tax hike Mike can start calling the shots on how water is used in every community. Anyone who's not familiar with ol' Mike should count themselves lucky. He's the governor of North Carolina...the same governor who on the same day that he wrote a scathing letter to Comrade Bush about the astronomical gas prices announced that he would NOT repeal North Carolina's gas tax (the highest in the south) even on a temporary basis. He's also the same governor who will use state owned helicopters for personal trips to the beach but won't give our teachers a pay raise. Real nice fellow. Anyway, having him in control of how ANYTHING of great value such as water would NOT be a good thing!

Onto other stuff now:
>>>Yes, I've changed my design once again. These days it seems that I'm changing it as often as I'm changing my underwear, I know. There's a good reason for the switch today though. It seems that while trying to change the background picture to something a little more 'fall like', I screwed up something big time and ended up with a plain white page. No matter what I did, that stupid plain white page just would NOT go away. So I had to start over from scratch. So off to "pimp-my-profile" I went. I'm not real wild about the mice type, and I'm sure that there are others out there who won't be either, so that'll most likely be changed in the next day or so as well. It just takes some time to get into the code and start playing around with it to get it to a legible font size so be patient with me.

>>>Last night I heard something that I found quite preposterous. My roomie Chris was telling me that there are those in our neck of the woods who feel that his brother's wife is 'running around' on his brother. Now, anyone who knows this lady would have to chuckle..she's the person that you'd LEAST expect to be unfaithful to her husband. In fact, 90% of her free time is spent at her church doing, well, church things. Chris says that she's been acting very differently lately though...which apparently has spawned the tongue wagging. I told Chris that maybe these folks should remember that the girl's mother just died recently and she's probably just trying to get adjusted to that. Lord knows when MY mother died, I didn't bounce back to any recognizable form of "normalcy" for almost a YEAR!! He agreed with me, but then earlier this afternoon he called me with some rather disturbing news. It seems that the sister-in-law didn't spend the night at home last night. She came in long enough to leave her husband a note saying she wasn't going to be home, but didn't tell him exactly WHERE she would be. As it turns out, she stayed the night at her friend's house (female friend). That's harmless enough, but it is troubling that she didn't at least tell her husband where she would be. **Update** I just got off the phone with Chris. It seems that his sister-in-law called his brother today and is refusing to come home, but will not say why. In fact, she's not saying much of ANYTHING at all. Chris's brother is at his wit's end, as are all of us who care about them both.
Ordinarily, I'd think of this situation as just another break up. That's just the way that life is. Sometimes things just don't work out. These two people are different though. Chris's brother is a great guy, but has been through the ringer where marriage is concerned. This is his third marriage...his first wife cheated on him after only about a year, so that one ended quickly and somewhat painlessly. The second wife did the same thing, only on top of cheating, she tormented him to the point that he tried to kill himself. So when THIS relationship came along, he was VERY cautious and only proposed marriage when he felt that it wouldn't end in tragedy as his others had. For the last 14 years, they've been through a LOT together, including the loss of their daughter. They'd tried for years to get pregnant and were thrilled when she finally did get pregnant a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, they lost the baby because she needed something called a "stitch" that would have prevented the miscarriage from happening. To make matters worse, she had to actually deliver the baby. She lived for about 15 minutes once she was born. It was heartbreaking to say the least. I felt almost guilty because it was around that same time that my sister was pregnant with my nephew Eli and I was so happy about that. Although she was despondent over the loss of her own child, though, she never let me NOT show my happiness about my nephew when she was around. That in itself says a lot about her character.
There are going to be a lot of very shocked and sad folks around here if this is the end for Chris's brother and his wife. My biggest fear is that other people will try to insinuate themselves into the middle of it and make things much worse than they have to be, rather than letting the two of them deal with things.

That's all for now.

Those of you who like my stories about my adventures at work, home, and the highway are going to LOVE hearing what happened to me this evening down at my local Wal-mart!!

In the past, I've talked on here about one of life's biggest annoyances to me over the last several years: transplanted "Yankees" that have invaded the area that I live in. Keep in mind that I have absolutely nothing against anyone moving down here to escape the astronomical cost of living up north. I can't say that I wouldn't run for my life if put into the same position!

HOWEVER.......
If I did somehow manage to find myself being forced to move up north again, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would NOT go out of my way to constantly berate the area that I had chosen to live in! Note the key word for tonight: CHOSEN. First of all, it's definitely not a good way to make friends. Secondly, it makes you look like an obnoxious jerk. Third, it gives people the impression that everyone from your area is as obnoxious as you...resulting, of course, in stereotyping!

Earlier this evening I realized that I was out of my allergy tablets and cereal, so I headed on down to my local Wal-mart to pick some up, along with a few other necessities. The first event took place over in the grocery section of the store. There was this man who had 4 little boys with him...the oldest of which looked to be all of 9 years old. I ran into them a few times on various aisles and kids being kids, the little boys were running amuck and basically acting like little wild heathens. A few minutes later I stopped in my tracks as I made my way down the cereal aisle hoping to find a box of Boo Berry....from about two aisles over you could hear this man SCREAMING at the kids who were with him! I knew that it was him because he had a very distinctive New York accent and I'd heard him talking to the boys beforehand. Now, screaming at your kids is one thing when they are misbehaving in public...but calling your kid a fucking moron at the top of your lungs in public is a completely DIFFERENT matter. I will admit though that it's not even close to being on the same level as SMACKING your kid in public!! Yeah, that's the next thing that I heard...he had hauled off and slapped the shit out of one of the little boys, who of course started wailing at the top of HIS lungs!! I'd wail too if I got slapped so hard someone a couple asiles over could hear it!! I felt SO sorry for those boys...I know what it's like to have a dick for a father.

As I was heading towards the check outs, I heard music coming from the front of the store..live music even! It turns out that this guy was giving some sort of concert. Yeah..in the middle of Wal-mart. How OVER is your career when you're booked to play at Wal-mart??!! So anyway this guy was singing country music songs, which is something that isn't at all out of the ordinary here. We are after all in North Carolina. As I'm standing in line at the register, this couple gets in line behind me and are chit chatting...I think their accent had to be somewhere up around Michigan or Wisconsin. While we were waiting to check out, I heard the lady behind me make the following comment: "oh look honey...here in Green Acres they hire people to sing in the local Wal-mart!" Now, I let that one go because I did agree with her on the point about it being somewhat ridiculous that there was a concert going on in the store. The NEXT thing she said didn't set too well with me though. She proceeds to say, "you know, this just reinforces the idea that people from here are just a bunch of stupid hillbillies..."

That was all I could take. I turned around and told the bitch, "look..if you don't like the music then go shopping somewhere else. And for your information, I am neither a hillbilly OR stupid. In fact, I'd put MY IQ up against yours any day!" At first she and her husband (or whatever he is) just kind of stood there with their mouths hanging open. Then the guy looks at the girl and says, "you better watch out..looks like you've angered one of the locals!"



Show of hands now...who thinks that I let him get away with that??!!

I looked at him and told him, "actually, I am VERY MUCH a native..a native who can't stand people like you coming down here and nitpicking about every little thing from our government to our schools to our accents. Meanwhile you're enjoying our weather, the cheaper homes, and the beaches that don't have hypodermic needles floating around in the water! So either move back to where you came from or shut the fuck up!" It was at this point that I was convinced that the guy was going to come at me because his face turned beet red and smoke started rolling out of his ears, but he didn't do anything but stand there and scowl at me. As I got up to the cashier and slid my card through the reader thing, she was trying her best not to laugh at what I'd said.

I did feel a bit bad about machine gunning the guy like I did, but damnit he deserved it!! I just get so fed up with hearing this shit all the time from people who like I said before CHOSE to live here!

Ok, I'm off my rant now! Time to hit the bed! G'nite everyone!

Ok, time to dust off your thinking caps. It's time to play TV Trivia!

Yeah, so I'm bored. Sue me.

Question 1:
What was the longest running primetime television series with continuing characters in television history?

Question 2:
Who shot J.R. Ewing on "Dallas"?

Question 3:
During the last season of "Laverne & Shirley", why did Cindy Williams (Shirley) leave the show?

Question 4:
What was the name of the 1960s sitcom that starred Elizabeth Montgomery?

Question 5:
What long running series theme song started with the lyrics, "Love..exciting and new...."?

Question 6:
Another "Dallas" question: Who replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie for one season?

Question 7:
Name the first television series that starred Sally Field. Hint: it wasn't "The Flying Nun"!

Question 8:
What was the name of Arnold's goldfish on "Diff'rent Strokes"?

Question 9:
What was the name of the private school the girls on "The Facts of Life" attended?

Question 10:
From what show was the character "Homey the Clown"?

Bonus Question:
What long running sitcom had two actresses sharing the same role in the same season, and what character did they portray?

Have fun!

Today just hasn't been my day. It didn't start out too awfully bad...I actually woke up on time, got ready for work, and got out the door with a few minutes to spare. Ordinarily, when things are running THAT smoothly THAT early in the day, I know that I'm doomed. Today was no different. As soon as I started my truck the day started on its rapid descent downhill. Ever since I had the a/c compressor changed, it makes this horrible screeching noise...like a loose belt, only I have checked and REchecked all the belts and they're fine. Yet it STILL makes the horrible noise. So I had that to contend with. It finally stopped about a mile away from the house. The one GOOD thing about that screeching is that if >>I<< have to be up at that hour of the morning then damnit so does everyone else....the screeching sees to that!!

Screeching engines aside, the ride to work itself did prove to be quite entertaining. The majority of my trip is on US 1 which is a 4 lane highway that is the major route between Fuquay-Varina and Raleigh. The speed limit is 65 MPH, which of course translates to anywhere between 72 and 80. Now, common sense dictates that when you're on the highway and you start seeing brake lights in front of you, it's a sign that there's something wrong...either an accident, traffic jam, or a cop. Such was the case this morning. There are 3 or 4 cars ahead of me all cruising around 75 or so and then all of a sudden brake lights starting coming on....so I start to slow down as well. Now this wasn't a drastic drop...just down to the posted speed limit. I couldn't really see what was causing the slowdown, but I was still able to maintain around 65 so it wasn't a big deal. WELL...apparently the pinhead behind me was in a hurry because the next thing I see is him zooming past me doing at least 90...and giving me the bird. Actually I don't really know WHO the bird was meant for because he held it up as he whizzed past the cars in front of me as well. One thing I actually DID know about this breathing maxi pad was that he was just another transplant. His tag was from New York. Yeah, imagine that: a New Yorker being obnoxious on the highway. It was all good though because a few miles up I saw my fellow American on the side of the road receiving a nice little piece of pink paper from the NC State Trooper that had been on the side of the highway with his radar gun pointed at traffic!

Once I got a little closer to my turn off, I decided I'd go by Chik-fil-A and get some breakfast. I was PRAYING that the intersection that exploded a couple of days ago was repaired or I'd have to take a very roundabout detour to get to work! Luckily it was fixed! So I get to the restaurant and start inside to order my food. On the way to the front door, I stepped on a wet french fry and almost went head first into the pavement...in front of a line of cars at the drive thru! Looking back, I should have just let myself slip so that I could sue and get $1 trillion from the restaurant!!

So now that I've already been almost shot the bird and slipped on a vegetable, I figured that fate was done with me for the day. I should have known better. No, actually I should have just called in sick today.....I actually manage to make it inside the building and up to the second floor without incident. Once I got to my desk though, I knew that fate had once again bitch slapped me. Someone had plundered through my desk!! Not only that, but they'd moved all of MY stuff around...and worse yet, my chair had been adjusted!!! Does anyone remember a while back when I was complaining about the pain in my neck that would NOT go away?? Well, there were two reasons for that ongoing pain: my monitors on my desk were down too low, and my chair was not adjusted right!! I was FURIOUS!! First of all, NO ONE is supposed to be sitting at MY desk for any reason. It's a perk of having the type of position that I do.

So of course, you can imagine what the rest of the day was like. By the time that lunch rolled around, my neck was already killing me!! It didn't get any better until just about an hour ago. It's a very good thing that I didn't find out who the culprit was...it would NOT have been a pretty picture!!

The rest of the day was pretty normal thank God. No big stuff other than boredom and intense anticipation for the day to finally be over!! I was beginning to think I'd NEVER get the day over and done with!!

Once the workday was over with, fate had one more thing in store for me: the 11 year old cashier at the grocery store!! I went in to pick up two things: Krispy Kreme donuts and some yogurt. I get to the register and put my things on the belt. A guy came up behind me and put his stuff on there as well, and put up that little divider thingie between his stuff and mine. I knew what was going to happen even before it did...the cashier rings up my stuff and then proceeds to ring up the other guy's stuff. Even though she had seen him walk up behind me and put the divider thing up, she STILL tried to ring his stuff up with mine!! She almost fainted when I corrected her and she had to re-ring my stuff...apparently the register was just too complicated for her.

WHAT A DAY!!! SHEESH!!

I was sort of half-heartedly listening to the evening news a little while ago. They were reporting on the story of a kid who was being bullied and teased by the kids at his school. His solution was to simply bring a gun to school and start blasting away. To say I'm flabbergasted would be a serious understatement. I've got some questions:

1) How does a CHILD get his hands on a gun??!!

2) How does a child keep an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom WITHOUT his parents knowing??!!

....and last but not least.....

3) How in the HELL does a kid get past a metal detector (as most schools these days have) with a freakin GUN on him??!!!

I'm going to sound REALLY old when I say this, but back in MY school days, the idea of bringing a gun to school wouldn't have even been a passing consideration! Sure, there were kids who sometimes would get caught with knives on them, but that's about the most dangerous things ever got.

When I was a kid I had this one asshole that used to pick on me...I'll never forget him. His name was Allen...this little shithead was the biggest jerk I'd ever met up to that point. This kid would on a daily basis taunt me about the clothes I wore to school. See, mom and dad weren't exactly what you'd call responsible parents. They considered school clothes, food, and shelter to be luxuries. As a result, when I was in the 6th grade I had only two pair of pants to wear. Cords even. One pair was brown and the other dark blue. I'll never EVER forget those two pair of pants as long as I live...and to this day I will absolutely NOT wear cords!!

Anyway, as much as it tormented me to have to deal with Allen on a daily basis, I would have never dreamed about killing him or anyone else at my school. Well, ok..maybe I actually DID dream about his untimely demise, but that was only in my dreams. I'd not be capable of following through on something like that! Besides, something inside me told me that at some point in his life Allen would end up regretting having been such a dick. Guess what....many years later my nemesis would find himself in quite a predicament: a wife who refuses to work, four kids that looked like little rag-a-muffins, and living in a trailer!! He's had a pretty hard time of it since those days on the school bus and at school itself. The best part? I didn't have to do a damn thing to him! That sort of poetic justice beats out mowing someone down by a LONG SHOT!

Ok, that's enough of the serious stuff. Time for Thursday stuff, part 2 in another entry........