The Week Wrap Up.

Just some thoughts and a little overview of my past week...

1. Today the iPhone comes out. I am not in line. I am not interested. Buying the first version of anything is usually a bad idea. Plus everyone thinks they can get rid of their mp3 player, crackberry, and mobile and just have this. It only holds 4 or 8 gbs. So a few songs and one movie. Weak.

2. I took the Zune back, got a 30gb iPod which I hate and will return this weekend. My iPod has crashed twice in one week. Lovely.

3. Anyone seen Lil' Bush on Comedy Central? Classic!

4. I found 7oz bottles of Miller High Life. When you just want a little taste of the High Life.

5. One word: Headhunter.

6. The beginning of the week found me sweating my ass off. It was so hot and humid and all around nasty. Now it's sweatshirt weather.

7. I spent this morning cleaning the office... vacuuming, dusting, etc. Why? I'm a freak I guess.

8. Tried really hard this week to be positive and not say mean things... didn't do too well, but I am not giving up.

9. The White Sox have won 4 in a row. Nice!

10. The CTA buses have a huge conspiracy against me. This week has been an awful for waiting on the bus. Time and time again I've had to wait 30+ minutes for a bus. One day I waited an hour and the bus never came... so I walked over a mile to the El with a bus never passing me. Grrrr.

11. The hippie moved his RV. Have not heard singing in a few days. Excellent!

12. Looking forward to fireworks next week.

Squishy Inside.

Too busy to write something thought provoking... or entertaining. So today you get kitty photos since kitty photos make you feel all squishy inside (unless you are Julie Gong). Eloise is above... and Georgia is below. My goal is to write something tomorrow... it's been a busy week.

Sox Suck.

There are times... plenty of times it's hard to root for your team (unless you're a Yankees fan who win all the time). This season it's been tough to be a White Sox fan... especially this past weekend when they got the crap kicked out of them by the Cubs. Ug.

Hey Sox - buy some hitting please and keep Buehrle!

At least I am also a fan of the Giants (one NL team, one AL team)... who stink too - BUT they did win their weekend series against the Yankees!

This photo from the Chicago Sun Times sums up us White Sox fans this year.

Cousin Eddie.

We have a new neighbors. Probably renters... most of the houses on our street are young families, not college-aged renters/partiers. And one of the douche bags likes to sit on the porch and strum his crappy guitar and "sing" crappy pseudo-hippie songs... yes, I'm talking Dave Matthews and Phish. And yes, both bands completely blow, BUT they are soooo much worse when hearing this wanna-be troubadour belt them out.

What else has Mr. Smell-Like-Dirt brought with him... besides a pack of wanna-be hippies (they probably all work for the Man)? A large RV. That's a recreational vehicle... or a hippie commune on wheels. This monstrosity blocks our view of the house next to the one the hippies at renting. If it's not moved soon someone just might call the city, and sadly that person probably won't be me... I am sure someone else on our block will make the first call.

The worst of it is the singing on the porch at night. That's my main complaint. Make it stop! Make the Jack Kerouac of song find another road to get on and go away! I hope he is my neighbor's cousin Eddie from the farm country that just stopped in for a few weeks to get the metal plate in the head checked.

If you can't sing... don't.

This is my new neighbor in 2o years (yes, he is probably 22 now).

Stop Sucking My Blood!

Ever since I've was little I was somehow the biggest target to mosquitoes. I have no clue why. Maybe because my blood is sweet. I would sit outside for less than ten minutes and come back inside and be covered in bites. Little red itchy bites on my legs and arms... mostly on my lower legs.

And do I scratch the itchy bites? Hell yes! I cannot stop from scratching. No sure why... I just cannot. So in a day or two my legs look like I've been infected with some funky disease. Just lovely.

Last weekend at the lake house in Indiana those pesty little mosquitoes were out to get me and they sure did. My legs look terrible now. And yes, I am still scratching... so it is my own fault I guess. But why do I get picked on? I have used all of the natural and unnatural ways to keep them away but nothing works.

This is why I love the winter so much. No bugs.

Work Sucks.

It seems that most of the blogs I read complain about work. Most - not all. There are a few of you who truly love your career, and a few who are too young to be jaded. But why are the rest so unhappy? Is it because everyone around us is unhappy? Is it just to norm these day to talk negatively about one's job? So many sitcoms, movies, books, blogs... are about hating the 9-5 and detesting the Man.

Where is the happiness? How do we find a better job?

Congratulations! It's a...

... Zune. It's what I picked as my new MP3 player. And here is why...

After doing my research there were only two players I was really interested in: iPod and Zune. The rest just had too many questions about them. I went to Best Buy and they were completely useless as usual. The people at Best Buy knew very little about the MP3 players (calling them all iPods). They were just not helpful at all. When I discovered that I could return my purchase within 30 days if I did not like it I had to go with the Zune. I liked my iPod, and I am sure the new iPods are just dandy. But I could buy a Zune ($50 cheaper) and if I was not into it I could return it and get an iPod instead... which I know I will probably like.

So far... I dig the Zune. The video screen is bigger than iPod, and the picture is really nice. It is just as easy to use as an iPod, just different. I am not a music downloader... so I have little to say about the Zune Marketplace (their version of iTunes).

The only downsides I've noticed: They are a little bigger than the iPod. They don't seem to play with seamless gaps which is annoying on some albums (my old iPod did the same thing). Loading CDs to the Zune is very simple, but loading a CD-R full of mp3 is a litte tricky and a tad annoying. Also most of the accessories out there are made for iPods, not Zunes.

Right now I am sticking with my Zune, I really do like it... but we'll see after 29 days. I am sure the next version of Zune will be fantastic... but with the glitches of Microsoft I would not tell impatient people to go buy. But at least for now I am not drinking the Apple Kool-Aid... for now.

What Does All Of This Really Mean?

Not sure why I'm doing this... I usually ignore them. Maybe because it's Friday and I'm in a good mood. Who knows. Well here goes...

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place.

Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) FeistyMnGirl
2) What Greg Likes
3) A Blog of a Good Time
4) Classy (c'est moi!)
5) 5 of 9er

Select five people to tag:
Step Right Up
Carolyn Says
Capital Cities Whinemonger
Once Upon A Day...
Tabbie. Like Cabbie, with a T.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Working in the music industry in NYC. Living from paycheck to paycheck. Skateboarding. Seeing more bands and meeting more people than one person should ever have to deal with.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Pretty much the same as now. That might be a bad thing. What happened to thoe plans I had?

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Jays Chips (plain)
2) Peanuts (salted)
3) Rotel Dip
4) Big League Chew
5) Dots

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
1) "When The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens
2) "Count Five or Six" by Cornelius
3) "Nation States" by Propagandhi
4) "Welcome to the Terrodome" by Public Enemy
5) "Rise" by P.i.L.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Pay off debt.
2) Buy a house.
3) Take LP to Paris.
4) Write a book.
5) Learn to manage money.

Five bad habits:
1) Procrastinating.
2) Talking to the TV... especially when baseball is on.
3) Talking to myself.
4) Buying more books than I can read.
5) Planning... and then never doing.

Five things you like doing:
1) Holding hands with LP.
2) Skateboarding.
3) Singing.
4) Pretending I'm a cat.
5) Eating BBQ.

Five things you would never wear again:
1) Earrings.
2) Blue hair.
3) Ranger hat.
4) A Yankees cap.
5) Pegged Dickies.

Five favorite toys:
1) Bop-it.
2) Monopoly.
3) Frogger.
4) Elevator Action.
5) My baseball glove.

C|Net Sad.

Yesterday I went on C|Net to read up on some reviews about MP3 players. After my iPod died I decided that I would look into all my options before my next purchase. Why should Apple automatically get my money? The Gigabeat and the Zune have receive very favorable reviews... but before I go out and test them I needed a little more info.

I highly recommend C|Net when you are thinking about buying a new electronic gadget. They point out the perks and the flaws and keep it pretty simple in their explanations.

I navigated to the MP3 player reviews and went to the Editor's Top Picks page. Each player pick has a written review that also includes a video clip with the editor showing each player and how it works and what they like about it. It it is much more helpful than just reading about a device... now when I go to the store and will sort of know what I am looking at and hopefully not look like a complete dumbass.

After watching the second video review it dawned on me that the editor on the screen looked really familiar. It took about half a second to put it all together... the guy on the video was James Kim. The same James Kim who died in the Oregon forest last winter trying to save his family. Way sad. It truly bummed me out and I was done for the day thinking about MP3 players.

Not sure why his videos are still up there. Not sure if it's a good thing or not. But I was surprised not to see some note from C|Net that mentioned his passing or that he will be missed.

Used by UZED.

Note: I wrote this entry a while ago and never posted it because I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot and never get my money. Yesterday (six months after this all started) I got a check from the company. I believe UZED.com has gone out of business, and I am glad they are doing the right thing and paying up. But let this be a lesson about doing some research on unknown companies before doing business with them.

I always see those television news stories about how elderly people get scammed... like the stories about people winning an international lottery but to get it they need to send thousands of dollars to some random place in Africa to pay for the taxes. I always feel bad for those people for being so gullible. Couldn't they see it was a scam?

I got scammed by UZED.com. UZED.com is an online site where you can sell your used CDs and DVDs and they will send you money for them. The past few months I've been writing on this blog about selling half of my CD and DVD collection to slim down, and also to pay debt... so I decided to send some of my things to UZED.com - the things local shops were not interested in buying. UZED.com collected my shipment and never paid. NEVER. It's been several months since they received and accepted my shipment and they have not paid me, and they have not replied to one single email or phone call. They owe me over $300 - which is a lot of money to me.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but they were unsuccessful in contacting the company. Through the BBB I found out that numerous complaints have been filed against this UZED.com company. The BBB can only assist in trying to contact the company, they are not a collections company, and they do not take legal action.

I wish I could file a lawsuit against UZED.com so I could get my $300... or at least my CDs and DVDs back - but I don't have the money to do that. So I am writing here to let some people know NOT to send their things to UZED.com. It's a scam. They are an evil company who took advantage of me.

Again... I'd like to say I finally did get my money. Their website said 10 business days, and it took me six months to get paid. I am going to use the money and buy a new mp3 player. So a happy ending, and a lesson learned.

Mr. Eleven: Update.

So... Mr. Eleven's boss has known about the Coke situation for a while. Yesterday he decided to talk to him about it. I had nothing to do with this talk... I was not complaining at work that these Cokes were disappearing. I found it a little funny and sad and rude all at the same time. Sadly this was not the first time he had spoken to Mr. Eleven about replacing what he had taken. The boss wants to teach Mr. Eleven how to get along in the workplace.

Towards the end of the work day Mr. Eleven walked over to my desk. His posture and overall appearance sort of resembled Eeyore. It was slightly awkward. And then the words came out... "Do you know where I can buy some new shoes?" Huh? Really?

I sent him to DSW down the street as a good place to start. This morning there was a six-pack of Coke in the unmagical fridge. It's not twelve... but it's a start. And he had some new shoes.

Clifford & 9er.

Weekend highlights for the 9er:

1. White Sox game. So they lost again... what's new? Classy was in attendance with us, and after the loss we got to watch a fireworks show in sync to a collage of bad butt rock tunes. It was mullet night... and Classy might of found the love of her life (the one in cut off acid wash jorts).

2. New skate shoes. Followed by a beautiful weekend to be on the skateboard rolling around the city.

3. Celebrated Cherry's Birthday Weekend. One word... drunk. Saturday was spent going from one place to the next drinking around the city. Stopped for Taco Bell. Ended up at a party where I proceeded to throw all of the balloons off the balcony onto Chicago Avenue, except for the balloons I put in the elevator.

4. Clifford. It was bound to happen... at some point. I ran into Clifford the Big Red Dog. He was hanging out at the Printers Row Book Fair signing books and doing the photo thing with all of the kids. Printers Row is a fantastic time... if you like books. Good times.

I look fat here and should of been wearing my sunglasses. I'm not fat, or drunk in this photo... really.

The Refigerator.

I don't write about work often... almost never. I always worry that my boss will read it and fire my ass if I bitched about it. So that is why there are very few post about my daily grind here.

The company I work for is not based in Chicago. Since I am the only person in our Chicago office, I share space with another company (the metalheads I've mentioned in previous posts). They are really good people and for the most part they make great office mates... for the most part.

At the office we have a little lunch area with a refrigerator... like most offices do. Nothing special about it. No magical fridge, although it would be way cool to have a magical fridge. Must work on that.

Once in a while I'll go out and buy a box of Cokes and put them in our non-magical refrigerator. I don't drink pop too often at work, but every now and then I get the craving. And why buy one... a twelve pack is only around $3. Funny thing happens... our non-magical fridge does this crazy disappearing act with my pop, sodas, Cokes.

My last purchase was consumed without me consuming one single can of delicious Coke. When I first bought them one person asked for one and I said sure. A few weeks later someone else asked for one which I said of course too (at that point they were more than half gone). Everyone in the office knows they are allowed to take my Cokes, but most people ask anyway which is the polite thing to do. But you would think that they would take the time to buy the next round. Right? I have found out that one office mate had one can, and another office mate had eleven. No one else took any. AND the final four went while I was on vacation. Isn't there some unwritten rule (or maybe it's written) that you should never take someone's last (fill in the blank)?

Mr. Eleven please get off your ass and replace what you so easily took... so we can all share your cans of fizz.

Here is a clue to what went missing.

Signs I Might Be Getting Old.

I eat All-Bran every weekday. I mix it with a cup of yogurt. I always thought you had to be in your fifties to eat All-Bran... but now I found myself consuming tons of it. I remember when I was a reckless twenty-something and use to eats bacon, eggs, bagels, Coco Puffs, Lucky Charms, or Fruit Loops for breakfast. Now it's All-Bran. Maybe that's why I'm grumpy?

Spanks.

I'll get all mushy here and send out a thank you to my readers and posters. Your comments on yesterday's post did me a lot of good. Really. Thanks very much.

And why Britney? When I searched on Google Images for "Thank You" it gave me this photo.

Tomorrow... back to entertaining 5 of 9er. No more mushy.

Jerk.

Lately... maybe the past six months or so, I've been a bear. Well, really a jerk. Not all the time. Not even most of the time. I just have these spurts of assholeness. I don't go to extremes where I shoot puppies, pop little kids balloons, or beat people. It really bothers me since I have no idea where it comes from, and I know it bugs the crap out of people in my life. Why does this little negativity come out and snap? I am a really positive fun person (not cheerleader happy, more yell captain happy) most of the time.

Where does this short, negative, nasty, cold, jerk come from?
- Maybe it's my job that I'm tired of. 8+ hours per day of negativity can wear people down.
- Maybe it's the news I read and watch... this negative world and our crappy president are getting to me.
- Maybe it's in the genes.
- Maybe I should not do things when I don't feel like doing them... that seems to spark crappiness.
- Maybe it's just my sarcasm going way too far.
- Maybe it's all the blogs I read since we all seem to bitch about this and that.
- Maybe it's the metal music I overhear all day from the metal promotions company that shares office space with my company.

I don't want to be a jerk. Not even a jerk 1% of the time. I know LP doesn't want to be married to a jerk. I know my cats don't want to be around a jerk... although they've been really nice to me lately. It's fun to post about mean-spirited rants but I have no desire to be a mean person. Mean people don't have friends. They probably don't get any nooky either.

Not really sure what to do. If I was a jerk 25%+ of the time I'd seek some professional help, but I know that it's not me... just part of me that needs to be squashed. I don't want it to grow.

Maybe I just need to look at this photo of the more often... find my quiet place.

Sorry Cherry & LP for being a jerk last night.

My Little Black Book... Update.

I know you are all dying to find out the results of my month long drink count... and if you have no clue what I am talking about you can always read this post.

This was a pain in the ass and I recommend it to anyone. Really. It is hard to keep track of what you drink... but worth the end result (if you are curious about what you consume). I found myself getting out of bed a couple times just to get my bag and pull out my little black book to write down the glass of water I had before bed. And since some people seemed to think it was important include Juices and Coffee... I did. See, I listen to my loyal readers.

Alcohol: 2.0 per day
Pop: 1.2 per day
Water: 5.9 per day
Coffee: 1.3 per day
Juice: 0.8 per day

The number are 99% accurate (maybe 95%)... or something like that. I spaced a couple times and had to guestimate what I did they day before. But for the most part I did a good job of keeping track. I did not go a single day without water consumption. I did how ever go a few days without pop, juice, and coffee. Also, I went thirteen days without alcohol.

So what did I learn? I learned that I drink more water than I thought (good), and I was actually suprised that I don't drink more alcohol than I do. I was worried it was going to be like 6.5 per day or something crazy like that. I still need to work getting that closer to 1.0 per day... that's my next goal. And to make those units more in wine and less in beer.

While I Was Out... The Photos.

Since I just borrowed photos for my post on my time off... I am posting some photos I actually took (or that LP took). I've actually never done a photo post before... and I'm not sure I'll do one again. But enjoy, or don't, this one time.
Side note: On our drive home we did see the General Lee on Hwy 57 heading the opposite direction. We did not get a photo of that... big bummer.

Our game of Life.

The Aussie and the Cherry and the Life. Cherry does not like losing at Life.

K.i.D. and the 9er. I'm working on winning... K.i.D. is working on drinking.

Wedding at the University of Illinois.

Hey! Hay! Mississippi hay!

A big dog on the farm...

...and a little dog on the farm.

AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis... a beautiful ballpark, even if it is AAA baseball.

The left-over BBQ at Interstate. It seems the best BBQ is in the not-so-nice neighborhoods.

This is Beale Street... it is usually packed with people - but not during a random week night.

Me in front of Stax... I look frumpy. It was bright out and I did not have my shades. If you ever go to Memphis make sure you stop at Stax... it's an amazing place.

Our car (Jermaine) passed the 10,000 mile mark on our trip... right before we crossed over the Mississippi River for the final time. Jermaine turns two this month.

Done With Prada.

Finally. I finished The Devil Wears Prada... the book I've been reading for over a year. Yep. It was not the book's fault for me taking so long, I was just slacking. I thought the book was a good fun read and would recommend it. BUT I will also say that the movie version was better. The adapted screenplay took the feeling of the book and improved it.

Moving on to something new...

While I Was Out...

It is June, and as I promised... I'm back. I had a fantastic break (actually today is my last day of traveling) and I am ready to get writing once again... just hope my brain is ready too. I think it is. So, what you all missed while I was on break:

1. I had a great time out celebrating K.i.D.'s new job / staying in Chicago. Played the board game Life at this little corner bar in Wrigleyville which no one won (thanks to the alcohol consumed)... or maybe everyone won. Cherry soooo did not win. It was a good time out with friends that included Cherry, the Aussie, Dr. Ken, Classy, Not Carrie, and of course K.i.D.

2. I finally got to meet I'm Not Carrie Bradshaw... and her really nice friend from Portland whose name I forgot. Sorry. Not Carrie was a hoot (and so was her friend). Yea! Hope you both had a good time in Chicago.

3. Realized that the thought of a bunch of bloggers meeting up sounds like the ultimate dork convention... but in reality through blogging I've met some really great people. And yes, there are tweakers out there in this internet world... but I just delete there comments. :)

4. LP and I drove 1,500 miles. Went through the lovely states of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Crossed the mighty Mississippi River four times. Gas prices seem to blow ass in every state. Good mix tapes (CD-Rs) are always a plus.

5. Visited Champaign-Urbana, IL for the first time. Saw the University of Illinois... and went to a wedding there. The ceremony was in Philo, IL which has a population of about 200. I believe the entire town was at the wedding. Every street in Philo is named after a President.

6. Went to breakfast in the little downtown Urbana with two of our friends from NYC that have just finished up their PhD's and are moving back to NYC this summer. Sniff Sniff. It was good to see them. Had some tasty biscuits and gravy.

7. Went to Calhoun City, MS. This was my first time ever in the state of Mississippi... which I was looking forward to, except for all of the magnolia trees (I'm allergic to them). Calhoun City is anything but a city... see Philo, IL. Saw our friend TW's first baby. Her husband took me on a tour of his farms (cotton, corn, soy bean) and saw a cotton gin for the first time (lots of first on this trip). Plus I learned how to blow up a beaver dam. Yep... with dynamite. I'd like to go back to Mississippi and visit Oxford since I have heard good things about it.

8. Made stops in Memphis at Stax and Sun which are two of my favorite places... I seem to go to Stax each time I'm there. Ate BBQ at Interstate, Corky's, and Tops. The BBQ spaghetti at Interstate is unreal.

9. Went to my first Memphis Redbirds game (AAA for the St. Louis Cardinals) at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis. This is hands down the nicest AAA ballpark... it's better than some major league parks (see the Minnesota Twins). The Redbirds lost, but I was more upset that I did not try the BBQ nachos they sell. Must go back.

10. Spent good time with our friend Fo who we have not seen since her dad passed away. Found out that her family just got finished building a new cabin (more like a massive lodge) in Heber Springs, AR (yep... that's Arkansas) right by the Greers Ferry Lake. I know one blogger who should know where that is. I cannot wait to go.

11. Saw no movies. Still did not finish my book. Slept a lot. Went swimming.

12. Found our favorite Portland beer (Bridgeport) at a grocery store in Memphis and filled up the SUV with it... just like Smokey & the Bandit!

13. Made a few obtainable goals for the summer... which includes no more rests for the 5 of 9er.

I am going to try and post some of my photos of the time off in my next entry... hopefully. Glad to be back... and hope to spend some of this weekend catching up on your writings.