Annoying Coworker was especially annoying over the last few days, leading to a conflict that left me unable to blog coherently (eyes crossed by frustration will do that to you!). Suffice to say that attempts to end this peacefully by appealing to higher authorities (my supervisor and the assigned chaplain to my department - the position that I once held) seemed to go nowhere. Actually it went further with the chaplain than it did with my boss, unfortunately. So I may have to deal with the nutjob - that's a technical term - myself. At least Drink Man (who has been sober since his accident, thankfully) and a few of the others have my back, so that's good.
I'll blog more tomorrow, as there is only 14 minutes left to my work day and I'm exhausted. In the meantime, I have a new favorite web comic book - Shadowgirls. Think Lovecraft-inspired plot (and a good one, at that) meets characters with lots of chutzpah. Enjoy. I'll be adding a link to the list on the right.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Continued Conflict and Online Comic Books
Monday, July 6, 2009
Has the Shooting Stopped?
I've felt like I've been living in a war zone over the last few days. Since we live on the line between a "no fireworks" county and a "we love to blow stuff up" county, people in my neighborhood have been crossing the line and heading to one of 5,000 vendors set up to fuel their pyromania. Seriously, there are that many fireworks tents set up near my house. And the end result is that every night the evening calm is torn asunder.
Normally I love blowing stuff up. It's just that I have a dog who doesn't like that at all. Barney the not-so-brave Beagle refuses to go outside, which results in the occasional accident. Even when we drugged him with puppy prozac (ask for it by name!), he was coherent enough to realize that outside was not where he wanted to be. So clean up duty was a constant around my house.
It did rain for part of the evening of the Fourth, though, which proves the point made by the following chart:
The funny part was that people were apparently sitting inside holding their fireworks while standing on starter blocks. The moment the rain halted, or even slowed slightly, the explosions commenced. Sometimes it seemed as if people were holding umbrellas over the rockets, then jerking them away at the last minute!
We did manage to have a good time with some friends who came over for dinner and to watch the dog chaos. Strangely, the cuisine was all Mexican - enchiladas, Dos Equis beer, chips, salsa, the works. Oh, well. We're free to eat whatever we want, and after watching a clip of the hot dog eating championship on CNN, I'm not sure I EVER want to touch one of those again!
To sum up: the holiday was fun. Sleep was in short supply due to the dogs and fireworks, and I am exhausted. I am at work now, and still am tired.
More later.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Good-bye Lucy. Hello Chupacabra
Today was Lucy (the administrative assistant who is keeping us semi-sane at work)'s going away lunch. Needless to say, we're all happy that she's moving up the ladder to a better paying clerical job. However, we are also sad and worried because taking over for her is the dreaded Chupacabra.
No, Lucy is not being replaced by this. Rather, Chupacabra is the name I've chosen for the four feet of bad attitude that is now sitting at Lucy's desk. And like the creature, this individual can be both irritating and unpredictable, though I haven't heard any reports of her destroying livestock. Still, it's not a good day here.
There's also another event that troubles me here at work, but I've been told to keep my trap shut by people way up the chain of command. As soon as it becomes public, I'll report it here. But I'm concerned about this incident and what it says about this place where I work and the community that surrounds it.
But on to happier topics:
Drink Man is continuing his recovery, almost to the point of irritation, as he seems to make constant reference to the accident and how he's making all sorts of changes in his life. His truck was totaled, but the insurance is paying it almost completely off, so he'll be able to bounce back from this in short order with hardly any financial strains. There's still his court date, but given his seemingly teflon nature, I'm sure he'll skate clear of that, too. I don't wish him ill, but I almost wish that something would hit him and stick, so that he'd have a reminder of this event to reinforce the need for him to maintain the changes about which he's currently excited. Sooner or later he's going to get bored with the "new" life, and be tempted to return to his partying, womanizing ways. Then all hell's going to break loose.
'til then, One Ring and I will probably be watching and waiting.
In other news, Pooh called One Ring last night. Seems she's planning a trip out here to get some much needed study time / respite from her work. You might recall from an earlier post that Pooh had given thought to getting a tattoo. Well, I jokingly suggested that when she comes out in late August, we head out to a local shop and get some ink together. One Ring exclaimed, "You don't have a bare place to put it!" She pointed to my arm to prove her point.
Sigh.
Well, I'm not going to let a little thing like fur prevent me from being utterly foolish and a possible embarrassment to friends and family! Rest assured that I will be providing updates and pictures should this quasi-plan come to fruition.
Drink Man took a similarly dim view of my plan. "You're pushing 40!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah," said I. "And I know a woman in her 60s who just got a tat done not too long ago. What's your point?"
He asked me what I was going to put on, and I said, "Religious symbol, probably."
"But you're not religious!"
"Okay, fine. Some spirituality symbol, then!"
"What some upside down Ozzy Osbourne cross?"
"Uhm, dude. That would be an upright cross ..."
You can see how deep our conversations get at work most days. In case you're interested. This is the symbol that so far is leading the pack:
It's the Dharma Wheel, and is one of the most basic of Buddhist symbols, representing discipline (the hub of the wheel), mindfulness (the rim of the wheel), and The Eightfold Path (the spokes of the wheel).
As far as symbols go, it's pretty important in my life right now, which is why I'm considering it as a tattoo, as opposed to these (warning: some images are not safe for work)! I've spent some spare time today wondering what people are thinking when they pick a design or choose an artist to do the work. I mean seriously, did they even look at the artist's previous designs before shelling out the cash for something that will last until the day they die? Scary stuff. Which is why I'm thinking of going with something simple, yet filled with meaning. And if my views change over time, I can always tell people that it's supposed to be the wheel of a pirate ship or something!
Okay, the doctor just left, which means that I am absolutely doing nothing for the next 35 minutes. Huzzah!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Drink Man Update
... in case anyone cares.
He's alive, sore, and recovering following a late night trip to the ER yesterday. The pain finally caught up with him (as did the police - more on that later), so he went to get checked out. All the CT scans, X-rays, etc. came back negative so all is well. Aside from his friends who want to really do some damage to him, he should be safe and sound.
Because he managed to get home and sleep it off, there was no evidence left that he had been drinking prior to the accident, so legally he's okay - except, perhaps, for a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, but that's still up in the air and depends on how much the officer in charge hates paperwork.
So now I'm acting as his press secretary, answering questions, taking phone calls, and telling people, "For God's sake, call him! What do I look like, his freakin' press secretary????"
Apparently, I do.
I'm charging him for this. Hourly rates. I swear.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
With Friends Like These ...
I'm pissed. This morning I received a flood of messages from One Ring, who had been trying to reach me repeatedly during my morning commute. Unfortunately, I had Metallica's Master of Puppets cranked up, and didn't hear my phone ring. So I only picked up after I pulled into an awesome "I got here on time" parking spot.
She informed me that Drink Man and inevitability had finally collided. Last night he had gone out drinking with some friends, and then attempted to drive home. Apparently he lost control of his car and wrecked, receiving injuries to his ribs, elbow and face. He says he's fine, but he made matters worse by wandering off into the woods and sleeping under a tree while the police came and towed his car to parts unknown (he lives in a rural community not far from the hospital).
So, whom does he call? Me. He calls me and asks me to drive out to his house (he walked home this morning at 4:30), and help him out during my lunch break. Will I? Yes, because I'm a nice guy. Will I tell him, "Everything's all right. We'll fix it and make it all better."? Oh, hells no!
First off, I'm thinking that he's a binge drinker variety of alcoholic. Which makes him damn dangerous on the road and irritating to be around. I pray that this incident will convince him to seek help and you can bet that I'm going to be suggesting it and going all kinds of intervention on his sorry tail.
And you can bet I'm going to make him feel guilty for making me give up that awesome parking space I scored this morning!
More later.
Monday, June 22, 2009
This Could be Really, Really Good ...
... or really, really bad.
I called in sick for work on Friday, hence the lack of posts. I was so angry with Annoying Coworker, who was pulling some nasty office politics, that I developed a major headache. Add to that the dogs freaking out because One Ring was out of town, and it was an easy decision to call in due to pain and lack of sleep. I spent the weekend plotting my revenge and trying to decide the proper way to get my revenge - keelhauling, hanging from the yard arm, or a straight up duel (swords, of course, I prefer them to guns.). As it turns out, my being absent was revenge enough, as he was slammed with all my work on top of his admittedly light schedule. So he has't spoken to me all day. Now if I can only make this last.
The rest of the weekend came and went fairly quickly and with limited fanfare. Went to dinner with some friends from graduate school Friday night, then skipped a get together with the same friends on Saturday. Worked on my guitar, took care of the dogs, mowed the lawn - the usual weekend stuff. Nothing to report.
So I figure I'll move on to another subject - The upcoming Tim Burton Film Alice in Wonderland.
The Hollywood powers that be have just released still shots from the film. Despite my love of the story, with all it's drug induced psychodelic philosophical chaos, I'm still not sure what I think of this. On the one hand, the scenery looks incredible, as do the CGI effects that bring many of the characters to life:
However - and this is a big however - take a look at Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter who once again work with Burton (Depp for the 7th time!) as The Mad Hatter and the Red Queen:
Oh, well. I have until 2010, when the movie comes out, to get used to the strangeness. I've liked everything else Burton has put out - with the exception of that Pee Wee Herman movie and the Batman movies, but that was more of a casting issue and the inability of the script writers to completely get rid of the campy-ness of the original television series than anything else. So maybe I'll be able to enjoy this, too. Time will tell.
