mending

good luck to corey in his recovery. who says biking isn't dangerous?

lights action jackson

i got my power back around 11 p.m. last night. it makes me so happy. the only problem is a naked juice mysteriously broke in my refrigerator, thus rendering my refrigerator juicy and my apartment musty drink smelling. mmm.

chief moose will be on the loose at my store tomorrow. should be crazy. we've had too many events this week. i've already worked 35+ hours and will work 8 tomorrow. geesh.

i'm hoping to go to richmond one of these weeks to visit some peeps. i don't think i'll go to the reunion. paying for that crap seems wrong. especially considering i see most of the people i want to see. or at least i know where they are.

good luck to stew in n.c.

i have to think of a good domain name so i can put some pictures up in this peace.

feeling like walter matthau...grumpy old man

maybe it's just my job. maybe it's isabel. but i just don't feel energetic or ecstatic about much. i realized recently that my support group for anything is minimal at best in this area. i have some really good friends. but some have really faded over the year(s). and that's kind of depressing. maybe i feel claustrophobic in this area. who knows. i'm figuring things out.

my job is blah right now. i babysit half the time. i don't get paid much. and i feel underappreciated. plus i'm a "yes" man so people expect me to do everything..never say "no". even though i don't always want to do that crap. geesh.

maybe once the lights come back on i'll feel better. supposedly this might happen tomorrow. if not, people will be in for a disgruntled luscious.

no power

i still don't have power. isabel is kickin my ass.

i'm thinking about having an american party, but obviously i can't have it at my place. my friend leigh might have it at her parents' house. we'll see.

people keep asking me if i'm going to my 5 yr reunion. here's the thing. all the people i want to see are in richmond or nova. i see all the ones i want to see. and i don't know if i feel like paying all the bogus charges for brunch and afternoon celebration. we'll see if i go. maybe.

i hope my peeps in richmond get power soon too.

jasmine is 4. what a cutie pie.

isapirate

waiting for isabel. she hasn't lost any of her power. and that's kind of scary. i thought it usually did when it hit land. my friend alexis told me last night we haven't gotten warnings like these in over 30 years. woah. time to brave the storm.

last night i went to see goldfrapp, and it wasn't as frappy as i would have liked. i really don't understand how bands can play their songs the same way they are on the album. what gives?

at least tomorrow is talk like a pirate day

storm izzy, hmm.

what's the chances we'll get a heavy rainstorm and not a hurricane? i'm guessing highly likely. a majority of the warnings we've gotten in the past have been fluff. at least i have some bread, water, and root beer.

it's official....

i'm american.
there were lots of speeches. one by sen. lamar alexander (tenn.) he gave a pretty good speech. some of the others were very patriotic.

they also showed a cheesy america video featuring g.dubbs.

some russian dude didn't even show up. i guess he wants to be "back in the u.s.s.r."

over and out,
a-citizen

why it wouldn't be so bad to have another job

i have a little story to tell about three customers that came into work...

customer 1

a country bumpkin. he was looking for a criminology book that we didn't have so i let him call a store i recommended downtown called reiters. when he called the bookseller put him on hold. he turned to me and said "i think they speak ebonics over there." then he turned to my indian co-worker and said "do you speak ebonics?"

uhm, who the heck says that anymore? answer: ignorant fools.

customer 2

pre-question before i start: when you go into a store, do you search for what you need first, then ask if you can't find it? or do you ask immediately where something is? me, i search the store for what i need...and i usually find it on my own.

so this customer comes in and asks "where is the reference section?" i tell him "against the back wall, next to audio." he asks me to show him where it is. i'm already helping a customer, so i tell him i can't. so he goes over to the registers where my co-worker matt is ringing up about 3 people. there is a line. he asks matt "where is reference?" matt says the same thing i say. and the guy says again, "show me where it is." after ringing everyone up, he helps the guy to the section. i notice when the guy finally comes back he has a dictionary and a thesarus and asks "which one is the dictionary?" then he asks for two of a particular kind, which we don't have. and finally he rings out. i remember he asks another frustrating question that makes matt have an expression like "are you finished yet?". i am just in awe.

what makes me frustrated isn't the fact that the guy wanted us to show him where the section was, it was that he kept asking when it was clear that we were helping someone else. i really don't like it when customers think they are the first ones in line ALWAYS and must be helped IMMEDIATELY.

customer 3

drunk rich lady who spend a lot at the bookstore calls up. her name is maggie smith. not the actress. sorry, this is not professer mcgonagall. anyway, she is infamous in the store. my co-worker chris dealt with her 2 weeks previous. she is really snippy and demanding. she made him carry her stuff to the taxi. (that isn't bad if it's a good, nice customer. but for one who complains about everything, not so fun)

so she calls the store and i answer. she asks for the song "something" by the beatles. i tell her it's on abbey road and beatles 1. she tells me to read of all the songs on both albums so she can select the one she wants. so i read of all of abbey road. then she scolds me "you didn't say SOMETHING." and i respond, "i did. song 2: something." then i read off all of beatles 1 and she says "i hate that one. forget that one." (i'd also like to note this lady ends most of her sentences with honey or babe." and she usually gets drunk by 10:30). so she hangs up and calls back immediately. "do you have 30 minute tapes." i say "i don't think so, but i can check." then she scolds me again, "YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET ME FINISH, GOSH." so this is what i'm thinking. will her question end with "and does the tape come with rainbows? does the wrapper sing to you when it comes off? is the inside tape green?" no. she just repeats her question. the same question. i tell her we don't have it and that she might find it at a best buy or something. although i haven't see 30 minute tapes before.

i'd like to also point out that the conversation was 30 minutes i'll never get back in my life.

on a better note, i went to ryan's on saturday night and had some good tempeh sandwich, beans, and tofu cheesecake. yum! we also watched freaks and geeks which is always amazing.

man in black

sad sad day. johnny cash dies at age 71. listen to some cash today. i know i will.

"Johnny Cash transcends all musical boundaries, and is one of the original outlaws."

-- Willie Nelson

woah, john ritter died too. i grew up watching three's company. this day is crazy.

in case you didn't know...

when you ride a bike 25+ miles and you are out of shape, you actually become sore afterwards. really sore.

when there is not sufficient liquid running to your battery, or it gets overheated, the battery does explode. and the top does get knocked off.

mentionables

i forgot to mention. happy 2nd anniversary to ryan & huyen.

also, good luck to corey and rob on their rock night @ the national press club.

i got the call

on sept. 16th, i'll be sworn in as a u.s. citizen. i might have to have an america party. who knows.

my labor day weekend was spent unlaboring as much as possible. on sunday i went to with some co-workers to my friend's parents' lake house. it was in this enclosed community outside of fredericksburg called "lake of the woods". basically you must have the cash money soldiers to live there. we spent a lot of time pontooning around the lake, then eating lots of good grub. on the way back, i was amazed to see how much of fredericksburg has changed since i've last been there. wal-mart has moved to central park...along with ten million other stores. i remember driving way out there just to go to wal-mart for whatever stupid thing i needed. also the fredericksburg nursing home has changed it's name to the fredericksburg chateau. such a vacationy name for a not so relaxing place. the spotsy mall has a digital board/sign in the front instead of the 1980's old school sign. it kind of looks like the new board/sign at the pentagon.

so much has changed. and i'll be american soon.

oh, i forgot to mention i'm going to the washington JETSskins game on thursday. it's the season opener. how sweet is that ?!!!!!!!!