Sabres @ Penguins

Pittsburgh 4  Buffalo 3

Jeff Zatkoff - 50 SV

Pittsburgh was out shot 53-29

B365V2.151 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #7)

Well it was a week where I went all Beck (I'm a loser baby), though I would appreciate it if no one killed me. Something about living and breathing seems good to me. Anyway, on with the results.

Work league (L) 101.80 – 82.30 Another week, another opponent hanging a 100+ point effort against me. The total is now 778.04 points against in 7 weeks. More of the same old, same old here, though I am only one game out of a playoff spot and I have to believe at some point I will not get everyone else's best effort.

Bloggers league (L) 91-68 This I expected with so many of my players having a bye, I should get my starting quarterback back from injury this week, which could help the cause, whatever cause that actually is.

Penguins @ Capitals 10/28/2015

Pittsburgh 3  Washington 1

Marc-Andre Fleury - 33 V

Phil Kessel scored his team leading 4th goal

Penguins @ Predators 10/22/2015

Pittsburgh 2  Nashville 1  OT

Marc-Andre Fleury - 38 SV

Phil Kessel leads the Penguins in goals with 3

B365V2.150 - Lost and found

So today I woke up with the plans of watching some of the early NFL game from London, which Yahoo was streaming, so of course I had my fingers crossed that it would actually work, but it did work fairly well, slight lag which I expected because of the number of people who would be viewing the stream.  Afterward my plan was to go blow off my free movie pass that I have been toting around for a few weeks now.  I knew the pass was in my +1 bag of wholesome goodness,but before I ventured out I figured I would need my wallet.  Except I couldn't find it.  I checked the pockets of the shorts I wore on Saturday, I checked the pockets of my jacket.  I started to panic, wondering where I had it last.  I remembered I had it when I was buying the stuff for Rocko (see yesterday's blog for more on that) last night, and I had it afterward because I bought two lottery tickets.  Did I set it down on my way home when I stopped to rearrange the stuff I was carrying?  I didn't think so but I could be sure.  So now I started checking pockets on clothes in my laundry, and while I didn't find my wallet I did find $30 that I had left in them.  

I also found a stack of tickets for number games, lottery games with an actual drawing.  They were dated Oct 17th, and I instantly remembered where they were from, I ran some numbers at work for a guy and then he complained they weren't the numbers he wanted.  Since we have no way of cancelling a ticket once it is printed I bought them all ($5 in total) just so the lottery wasn't short when it came time to balance it.  I figured I might as well go on the lottery website and check them.  Turns out one was a $250 winner.  So losing my wallet is proving to be a profitable endeavor at this point.  

I eventually did find my wallet, underneath a pile of stuff, grabbed it and the +1 bag of wholesome goodness, the winning lottery ticket and walked out the door.  First stop was to double check the ticket and make sure it was a winner.  I enter it into the touch screen lottery machine and sure enough it did win $250.  Bet that guy is wishing he had taken my mistake now.   Instead of taking the $250, I bought 3 $10 scratch offs and 4 $5 scratch offs and pocketed $200, which is still way better than I had started the day with.   Next I walked across the street and got my gas station coffee that I fetch on non Crazy Mocha days.  I go over to the coffee section, there is a girl there trying to figure out where everything is, me being a trained professional, zipped through my coffee stuff and made my way to the checkout.  I pulled out the money for my coffee as well as my coffee card (buy 9, get one free) and it turns out today was #9.  So I have a free coffee coming, except the girl got in line behind me, she had finished her coffee learning experience, so I turned around and gave her the card.  

I walked over to my bus stop and decided I might as well scratch off my tickets while I wait for my chariot to arrive.  Turns out the $50 in tickets I bought won $90.    I figure I will take them with me to the Waterfront  and cash them in at Giant Eagle and then take my new found extra winnings to Barnes and Noble because I have been jonesing for some new reading material.  First though was getting my free movie ticket and picking a movie.  I wanted to see "Pawn Sacrifice" but is has already come and gone from theaters here, so instead I opted for the new Steve Jobs  movie.  

I say free movie ticket though technically it is a voucher, the voucher is good for $15, which is more than the cost of a solo ticket, but I am a professional at flying solo and there is no one I would rather be with right now than myself.   So I present the voucher to the ticket last and puck a showing, I picked one after 3 pm, just so I would have time to go to Barnes and Noble before the movie.  As it turns out $15 is good enough for VIP seating, so can you say upgrade, upgrade.  I wonder if this is what people who fly feel like when they get bumped to first class.   I have been to quite a few movies at the Waterfront, this will be my 1st first class seating experience.  I even got a coupon for 3.50 off at the restaurant they have up there.  Of course it isn't open today but I was told I could save it for another sojourn to the movies and use it then.  

I did make my way to Barnes and Noble and picked out two books from the cheapie bin and am sitting down in the indoor Starbucks here, drinking a large hot chocolate.  The barista is a cute redhead (+1 to all her charisma checks).  So I did the requisite Che king out, no jewelry, no rings but that could just be because of the job, though I note she was not wearing a necklace either.  

I escaped Barnes and Noble before I looked like a creeper, but then I am rocking the Holy Guacamole Grubhub shirt today, so creeper is just part of the ensemble.  Instead I went to one of the outside tables at Starbucks, there are three Starbucks at the Waterfront, a standalone, one in Barnes and Noble and one inside Target.  I would much rather go to Crazy Mocha, but any port in a storm as it were.  Plus I am all into stealing wifi (no, I will not give it back). Instead I am sitting outside the standalone, which ironically enough is where I blogged from after my bus crash incident.  

I came over here after using the public restrooms here, which aren't back as far as public restrooms go.  The toilets have one of those sensors that automatically flush when you get up, but my ass was being all eclipsy, I merely turned around to put down my +1 bag of wholesome goodness and the toilet flushed, I hadn't even sat down yet.  It flushed again when I was done and a third time when my fat ass blocked all available light when I picked up my bag.  I think I will refer to future occurrences of such a phenomena as an assclipse.  

I could go get something to eat but my diet of Reese peanut butter cups and Diet Coke last night has my internal tapeworm in a sugar coma, which was aided by my coffee and hot chocolate today.    

Anyway, I better put the tablet away for a while, I think I have written enough to constitute a blog entry.  Let's just hope my ass doesn't get in the way or you will never see it.

B365V2.149 - Tis Saturday

So I got some disappointing news yesterday.  I found out that the #1 song when i was born was a Beatles song.  I paid no mind to what the title was, The Beatles are disappointing enough.  I have often argued that The Beatles paved the way for all of the horrid boy bands to follow.  So I blame them for N'Sync, The Backstreet Boys, One Direction, just an entire genre of suck.  And knowing that they are somehow tied to the date of my birth makes me think I must be cursed or something.

Maybe that is why I woke up so early this morning, 6:30 to be more precise.  I realize that isn't early for everyone, but it is early for me.  Then I forced myself to stay awake, just so I could get to Pamela's before the Soviet style bread line formed out front.   I have been craving some chorizo and eggs recently, this seemed like as good a time as any to fix that.

Having finished breakfast I meandered my way to the bus stop to head into work.  Yes, I work Saturdays, I work 6 day weeks every week for those not in the know.  Anyway I am walking to the stop and I see a Hispanic woman (cute but not Sexican cute) running across the street to try and catch the airport bus as it is pulling away from the stop. Neither one of them were stopping and it looked like it was going to take on a crackhead Frogger type moment, but the bus managed to avoid hitting her, but didn't stop to pick her up either.

Having got into town earlier than I am used to most Saturday's (or most any days for that matter) I wandered over to the park where I do some of my blogging.  I posted a picture of the deliciousness that was my breakfast on Facebook, played a little MPQ and sent a few fireworks videos from the Pirates game a few weeks back to Misty.  I promised her I would take pictures because she couldn't go and when I was posting the breakfast pic on Facebook I realized I still had them on my tablet, so I sent them off in a message.

I went ahead and walked into work, banged out most of my invoices and balanced the instant ticket machines, faxed a pricing sheet to Ed and settled a batch of credit card receipts, but I was still not feeling all that energetic, so I left, walked back down to the park and played on my tablet a little longer for about a hour and then meandered my way back in where I finished everything I needed to do.  And then I was only too happy to leave, this week has been dragging on me.  I needed to switch my mojo so to speak, get out of my doldrums and get about being me again.

It was then that I remembered Halloween is coming and while I am not the dress up in costume kind of guy, I did tell my friend Kat that I would put together a little something for her son, Rocko, for Halloween, so on my way home from work I went ahead and got the stuff to do that.  I probably got way too much candy, but I am sure Kat will eat some of it.

When I finally made it home I watched a Godzilla marathon on TV (it's Saturday night plans like this that make me popular with the lady folk) and made some dinner, simply do my meal wouldn't mock me again.

And that is Saturday kids.

B365V2.148 - Rundowns

A quick rundown on this that may or may not have happened over the last week or so.

So it has been almost a week since I heard from Misty across the street from where I work. I get the feeling that she just isn't into me, which I wish if people do feel that way they would just come out and say it rather than beat around the bush about such things. Life would be so much easier if people were honest on that front than if they tried to spare my feelings. Listen I get it, I am not  GQ model material, and as I have come to know most of the women in and around where I work, I fail the desirable man chart simply because I a) don't have drug habit, b) I don't have a criminal record as long as my arm and c) have no desire to get someone pregnant and then leave them to fend for themselves. Why that seems to be the type of guy that women dig, I have no idea I just know it to be true from life experience. And anyone who knows how I think know that why's don't matter to me, why's are just excuses, I just need to know things are the way they are.

Elsewhere, for a brief moment in time chocolate peanut butter milk was a thing. I had heard about it in my travails hither and yon, so I asked if our dairy people had it and they did. So there was me the other night have warm apple pie and a glass of chocolate peanut butter milk for dessert with that kick ass lasagna I made for dinner. Don't laugh, I am a good cook when I put my mind to it. My life is not all about take out, and there will be even less take out if I continue to be insulted by my fortune cookies. The other night I got a cookie that said “he who could take advice is sometimes superior to those who give it.” Just what I need, an inferiority complex from my combo lo mien.

I bitch about my neighbors a lot, because my neighbors are all college kids and I grew out of the get drunk every night phase of my life about 20 years ago. That being said there were some neighbors who really annoyed me, they live a block over on Semple Street and their back balcony can be seen from my doorstep. Every weekend they would come out and through a keg party of some sort (mom and dad should be proud that their money is being spend so frugally) and they would blast their stereo so loud it sounded like it was in my apartment. To make matters worse they would climb out on the balcony and sing along with shitty 80s music like Billy Joel and Cindy Lauper. They weren't good either, they sounded like the people you want to throat punch on Karaoke night. Well as potential luck would have it, there was an armed robbery on Semple Street about a week ago, someone went into an apartment at gun point and took stuff. Now I admit I am a bad person for saying this, but I haven't heard the stereo since and one can only hope that was one of the things that was stolen.

I have mentioned in the past that my boss comes in and puts on Fox News in the morning, so imagine the glee that was taking place when they were carrying the Hillary Clinton testimony in front of Bengazi Committee Version 8.0 at this point. Not sure why people were so gung ho about having this hearing, theyb got nothing in the previous 7 hearings to suggest anything was done wrong and this particular version of the committee was so committed to their task that they couldn't even be bothered to show up for many of their own hearings they called for, unless that hearing involved someone named Clinton and they could get some TV time out of it. They were too busy making gun clubs and wine clubs for their committee members to worry about getting to any sort of truth that may have eluded the previous 7 committees that looked into what happened. Your tax dollars hard at work people.

Okay, I am outtie, like a belly button.

Stars @ Penguins 10/22/2015

Dallas 4  Pittsburgh 1

Nick Bonino - G

Pittsburgh has scored just 11 goals in their first 7 games

B365V2.147 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #6)

A plit week for me, I won a game n one league, lost one in another, if I could get those percentages in life I would take them.  Anyway, onto the results.

Work league (L) - 124.08 - 88.38  Again I play someone who manages to go off against me.  So far this season (6 games) my opponents have scored 676.24 points, the closest anyone else gets in the points against department is 594.06.  The fact that despite that high of a number I am still 3-3 I take as win, I could easily be 0-6 with that number of points against.

Blogger league (W) - 76 - 56  I don't know how I win in this league other than the rosters are so diluted with 16 teams because I look at my team and I think it sucks.  My starting quarterback is still out, my best wide receiver was cut the final week of preseason and then signed by another team, it really is a smoke and mirrors job as to how I am 4-2.  Technically I now lead my division by a half game, second place is 3-2-1.  the bye week kills me this week, 5 different players on my roster are off.  MY opponent this week is 5-1 so I am not liking my odds.

Panthers @ Penguins 10/20/2015

Pittsburgh 3  Florida 2  OT

Sidney Crosby - G, 2 A

Evgeni Malkin has 5 points in his last 4 games

B365V2.146 - Loop closed

Well I have kept you all abreast of things going on, it only seems natural that I go ahead and give you the status quo.

After not receiving the phone call from Misty this weekend, I pretty much perceived that as the writing on the wall moment, nothing was going to come of anything.  But Monday morning I did received a message from her, saying that she is still coming out of a relationship and isn't ready to jump into said waters again.  That is fine I said, when she suggested that we go out some day after work, I assumed it would be for coffee or something, I wasn't expecting us to start making wedding plans or rent a hotel room to get our respective freaks on.  While I admit I do like her and she knows as much, I hardly know her.  There are only so many things to do in downtown Pittsburgh, it is not a Mecca of things to do or trouble to instigate.  So I said listen, if you want to grab a coffee sometimes, no strings attached, that's cool with me, if not that is fine as well.  I made a point of saying that my last relationship also sucked, and after that disaster (referred to in the blog sometimes as the crazy Canadian incident), I am not eager to put myself in a position to be lied to again.  Not saying Misty would lie to me, but then like I said earlier, I hardly know her.  It is one thing to have an occasional conversation in passing with someone, it is quite another to climb inside their head and see how things operate there.  So I have no idea what she is or isn't capable of.  It is one reason why I am not looking to rush into a relationship, I don't trust anyone.  If anyone reading this wishes to perceive it as an insult, I pretty much don't care, looking after my own self interest is paramount to assuaging anyone's feelings.

So everything is pretty much where it all started, we may or may not go out for coffee after work some day.  That was an exercise in boredom for you the reader,  wasn't it?

B365V2.145 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #5)

Yes I am late in posting my results from last week, but I have been busy with the blog and the beginning of hockey season and the first snow of the year and yada, yada, yada.  Anyone who has been around the page this weekend knows I have been posting all kinds of stuff.  Technically I am in a fantasy hockey league as well, but I am not posting those results because it is the same league I was in last year where I don't understand the scoring and rather than spend all season bitching and moaning about things I don't understand, I will just do it and if I win I will make mention of it at some point in the future. 

Anyway, as far as fantasy football goes, last week saw me win n both leagues (winner, winner, chicken dinner)  leaving my teams in both leagues at 3-2.  As for scores, well here they are

Work league - (W) 124.8 - 117.32  Another one of those games where I needed pretty much every point.  I finished with the highest point total in the league this week, my opponent had the third highest.  I continue to lead the league in points against, my opponents are averaging over 105 points a game each week against me, so the fact I am 3-2 is great, I could just as easily be 0-5.

 Bloggers league - (W) 62 - 42  The win was against a team that was previously undefeated, but it was also against someone who obviously has already lost interest, he had three players on a bye week in his starting lineup.  Who cares, years from now nobody goes back and looks at individual box scores, they just care who wins titles and at 3-2 I am still in the running.

B365V2.144 - Tis the season

So last night I am sitting in my apartment after a longish day at work, I logged around 8 hours or so. Don't get me wrong, they were productive hours but by the time I got home all I wanted to do was relax. I was playing on my iPad bouncing between MPQ and Facebook. I popped a couple of things up on the blog page here when I went back to Facebook and my eyes lit up. There was a post on my newsfeed from the National Weather Service, which has a monitoring station out by Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. They were reporting that they were seeing snowflakes, so it was officially the first snowfall of the season. Anyone who has been around the page for more than a minute knows what hat means, I have to drop everything and go have a hot chocolate.

Way back in the day, when I moved into my first apartment, I met Hope, she lived on the other side of the building. The building was two connected units, each side had two apartments on the first floor and three efficiency apartments on floors two and three, I lived in the middle apartment on the second floor on one side and Hope lived in the rear apartment on the second floor on the other side.

Growing up in the sticks I had never met anyone quite like Hope before, in my hometown they would have scoffed at her and called her a hippie (which couldn't be further from the truth but, oh well) and I don't know how her and I met or began to hang out, probably just my boyish charm or lack thereof. But anyway, her and I would end up spending time together, we would watch movies together, or go jogging or go sit outside Frick Fine Arts building on the Pitt campus and just read, her usually a book or poetry or something along those lines, I would usually have a newspaper in tow.

I have written in here before about hot chocolate, and the Pirates game and going to the ballet, all cherished memories of time I had spent with her. As far as hot chocolate goes, we had started a tradition where during the first snowfall of the year we would meet up and have hot chocolate together. I would be lying if I didn't say I probably fell in love with her, and I was hoping we could see something more come from our friendship, but it was never to be.

Finally I had reached a point where I knew what was what, she was never going to feel about me the way I felt about her and I had decided to quit putting my life on hold and move on, I had planned on going on a date with someone I worked with at the time, so I came home after work and got ready and got about the business of me being me. I noticed that it started snowing outside, it was the first snow of the year, but I paid it no mind, I had a date to get ready for after all, when my phone rang. It was Hope, she was calling me from work and wanted me to meet her about something. It sounded important and since she worked a few blocks from my apartment I figured I better go see what was up.

I get to where she worked, it was in an office at the Pubic Health building on the Pitt campus, so I make my way up to her floor and knocked on the office door and there she was with the lights out in the office, save for a desktop Christmas tree that was decorated with the lights on and Hope was there with two hot chocolates. My heart literally melted. Nobody has ever done anything quite like that for me before (or since for that matter).

Ever since that day I make it a point during the first snowfall to drop everything I am doing and go have hot chocolate. Last night, trying to get hot chocolate at 1:30 in the morning was a bit of a challenge, first I went to the corner store but Numan was out of hot chocolate, so I turned and walked back to the gas station at the other end of my street where I sometimes get my coffee in the morning and grabbed a hot chocolate from there, then made my way home and climbed under some blankets with happy thoughts in my head.

Maple Leafs @ Penguins 10/18/2015

Pittsburgh 2  Toronto 1

Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta - G each

Game was the 600th in Marc Andre Fleury's career

B365V2.142 - Days of our lives

So according to my Facebook newsfeed Friday was supposed to be Boss's Day. Technically as general manager of Smithfield News I guess I can be considered a boss of sorts, yet there was me celebration, I was not showered with gifts or praise for my awesomeness as a boss. Honestly if I were an employee of me, I would think I was pretty cool, but then I would have the same mindset as me the boss, so I imagine I would be pretty easy to work for. I am glad though there were no parties, no cards, it turned out Friday was just an average sort of workday, just the way it should be. I fail to understand the inherent need of some for the continual pat on the back, as though their every action should be congratulated and they should be given a pat on the back for it. Grandparents Day, secretaries day, boss's day, all of this contrived nonsense so a segment of the population can feel good about themselves. Really what is next, participation trophies for breathing? At what point do we stop seeking out kudos for doing that which we should do anyway? Do we need to have a one legged lesbian day? A day for fat kids who love cake?

Senators @ Penguins

Pittsburgh 2  Ottawa 0

Evgeni Malkin, Daniel Sprong - G each

Sprong's goal was his first in the NHL

B365V2.141 - The loop is staring to feel like a noose

Well, in an effort to keep everyone in the loop about my so called life, as soon as things look up they look back down again.  When we last left off our saga I had walked Misty to her car on Thursday and she said again that she wanted to go out some time this coming week, though there was no date certain set.  Because of how things went the last time you could say I curbed my enthusiasm somewhat.  Don't get me wrong,I would love to go out with her, but I would not be holding breath for it to happen.  Not being pessimistic, more like realistic.  One thing the crazy Canadian incident taught me is don't believe things coming out of the mouths of females.

      Friday comes along and I get a message from my friend Debbie on Facebook, she is bringing her kids to Pittsburgh and she asked if I would be busy.  Given I am running a store with employees dropping like flies from sickness, yeah, I said I was going to be busy.  Apparently she was taking her kids to the Carnegie Science Center, but she wanted to stop by and see me when they were done.  I sad that would be coolish, I still had zoo tickets in my desk for them. Our bank did a sale on them back in March so I bought four, thinking we could all go. I ended up going by myself on a relatively nice Sunday back in spring, but I kept the other three tickets in case they wanted to go at a later date.  So we agree to meet up after I get off of work, around 3 or so.

     This was cool for me because I know Misty works until 4:39, so I could kill some time and offer to walk her to her car again.  All of a sudden I am a guy flush with post work plans, I shoot Misty a message saying I should be around when she gets done if she wants me to walk her to her car.  I don't hear back from her, so much like Thursday I figure everything is cool.  Debbie and I end up talking until about 4:20 or so, I go back into the store to pick up my things and go outside and wait for Misty to get done.  Sure enough, on cue, her and a bunch of co workers come out at 4:30, so I go to meet her and she says that they are all going out for a drink after work.  That's cool and all, but I wish I would have known she had plans ahead of time and I wouldn't have waited around.  I am not even saying I need to know what the plans are, just say there is no need to wait and I will 23 scadoo the idea of waiting around.  Misty says she will call me later on Friday night, and while I have given her my cell number, she has never called me before nor did I expect her to on Friday.  Again not being a pessimist, just being a realist.

     Sure enough I did not receive a phone call, I fell asleep around 11 pm and woke up again around 1 am, when I shot her a quick message saying that if she doesn't feel the same way about me, that was fine I just don't want her agreeing to go out with me out of a sense of obligation or something.  Personally I would rather not go out with someone simply because they feel they have to be there.  So as if this typing I have not heard back but I am betting we will not be going out next week.

B365V2.140 - In the loop

Well, I said I would keep you kids in the loop, and so I shall. When last we left off on the little Matt saga I had mentioned that last Thursday I had mentioned to Misty if she did want to go out some time all she had to do was say when, rather than have me get my hopes up only to see them come crashing down again.

As those of us know, Monday was a holiday, or as much of a holiday as Columbus Day can actually be. More like an excuse for some to get another day off, but when you are open 24/7/365 like we are, it's just Monday here. But I knew Misty most likely would be off, which was just as well, I was sick most of the weekend, I doubt I would have been able to go out even if she asked me. I was living off of my AIDS cocktail as I called it, a mixture of headache medicine and CVS brand Dayquil, which I was slamming nonstop for two days straight.

But I am not one for awkward silences either, so Tuesday I shot her a message asking how her weekend was, mentioning that I have been sick and just more mindless chatter than anything else. I did say that I hope I didn't say or do anything to upset her, she messaged back that she was good, her weekend was fine and I said that I was running late at work, so maybe I would see her after work, while I was waiting for my bus, she said that couldn't happen, she had to take her son to a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and then drop him off at his dad's house so she wasn't even at work. See the geography of things is such that I work on the corner of Smithfield Street and Blvd of the Allies, Misty works across the street and down a little ways from my store on Blvd of the Allies, but she usually parks her car in the garage that is cattywampus from my store on the opposite corner of Smithfield and Blvd of the Allies, so when she leaves work I could see her walk up the street to the garage if I so wanted to. She also mentioned that she felt like she was coming down with something, so I said it was good she didn't have to work and carry around my AIDS like cocktail in her bag, because it isn't fun (and it wasn't by the way). Better to stay home and rest up than be in the same position as me.

Wednesday passed in relative silence no communication on either of our parts until late Wednesday night I shot her a quick note asking how she was and hoping I wasn't coming off to clingy. Clingy is a really bad look for me, it's like plaid and pinstripes. So today rolls around and I shoot her another note saying that I can wait and walk her to her car if she wants, so there was no pressure to g anywhere or do anything, just me walking her to her car. I don't hear back, which can happen, after all I get pissed when my employees spend their time pissing around on their phones and I know all about being busy at work, with me I is vendors dropping in unexpectedly or making sure orders get put away right and we had two trucks come in today, plus I placed 4 separate orders, so I know business can get in the way of personal stuff. When I hadn't heard from her by 2pm, I took matters into my own hands and determined I was going to wait for her to get off work, so on my bank run with the daily deposits I stopped by Oliver Flowers and picked up a dozen roses, then got back to the store and busied myself with being busy. I knocked out a couple of new sets of shelf tags and then checked again to see I still hadn't heard back, so I waited until she got done at 4:30. Anyone who would have seen me would have thought I was waiting for my bus, which stops right outside my store (I almost get curbside service from door to door, how lucky am I), and I see her come out of work, so I walk across the street and catch her right on the corner. I give her the flowers and got that awesome smile she has and walked her up to her car in the garage, she told me about taking her one son to his dad's place and trying to get him settled in for school since he would be switching schools and again I did my best to listen and not say anything because I am nervous about blathering too much (couldn't have fooled you the reader, huh?) and not listening enough.

On the way to going to her car she ssaid she still wanted to go out, I said it wasn't a must thing, she didn't have to say that simply because I got her flowers or anything but she insisted that she wants to go out and was suggesting a day next week. Which sounds good to me, like I said before if she wants to do something all she has to do is say so. Not getting my hopes up, but we did part with a nice long hug, I wasn't going to kiss her after being germ infested for days now and her thinking she my already be getting sick. Work is enough of a germ factory these days, I have people dropping like flies, no sense in making things worse.

There, now you know as much as I do, told you I would keep you in the loop.

Canadiens @ Penguins 10/13/15

Montreal 3  Pittsburgh 2

Kris Letang, Beau Bennett - G each

Pittsburgh hasn't started a season 0-3 since 2005

B365V2.139 - On a roll (an olde timey story)

There was a time in my life that existed pre-radio and hopefully there will be a time that will exist post Smithfield News, provided this job doesn't kill me. During my pre radio days I even almost got married. I say almost like we had a chapel booked and what not and somebody was a no show, but it wasn't that far along, rather we had looked at rings and such, I had picked out the one I was going to get before the relationship turned into a shitstorm of nonsense and we went our separate ways.

Now the story I am about to tell took place about a block from where I am sitting, Jen and I had a two bedroom apartment that I walk by every day on my way to the bus stop. Truth be told I am sure I have written this story once before in the blog, but as NBC used to say about their reruns, if you haven't see it, then it's new to you. And there is the radio adage about repeating things as well, your audience is always changing, not everybody heard what you did in the last hour, with 10 years worth of material, not everybody has read everything I ever wrote as well.

A brief little background on the Matt-Jen relationship. We met while working at the now out of business Rax restaurant. There were a roast beef chain, much like Arby's, but we had a salad bar. They had a location here in Oakland at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bouquet Street and I think I got an application for there during one of those times where I was willing to do anything to make ends meet. Back in those days two jobs was the rule, not the exception. And the thing was while I was working there  Jen was a shift supervisor, so yes I am also guilty of at one point in my life of fucking my boss. I would like to say there were perks to that arrangement but what perks to you get out of fucking your boss at Rax, free roast beef sandwiches?

While our relationship lasted two plus years our working relationship did not. I eventually left and worked at a bar/restaurant down the street, The Attic, where I ran the kitchen during dinner shift. Jen stayed at Rax, which was eventually bought out by Miami Subs, another chain that failed miserably. Okay, I just did a little research, Rax has 4 locations left, Miami Subs is now Miami Subs Grill and has a bunch of Florida locations as well as plans to expand globally, so anyone who is reading this, no matter where on the globe they may be could potentially put in to be a Miami Subs franchisee still. All I know is their 4 or so Pittsburgh locations died a terrible death, though it was quicker than the steel industry here.

Okay, that bullshit was completely off topic, when we last left our happy couple (happy at that time, now, no so much) Jen was working at Rax/Miami Subs and Matt was working at The Attic. The thing about working at The Attic was that I was working with a bunch of friends that I had known for years prior and some new people that would also become friends. And some of us even shared the same name, as there were three Matt's who worked at The Attic, so it was decided by someone, though I do not know who was on that voting committee, that we should all have nicknames. So Matt the bouncer was called Bones, a nickname he picked up in high school as a wrestler. Matt the bartender was called Tiger, why I don't know, he had no particular attribute that would make one think he was a tiger, though he did started homebrewing his own beer in his apartment, which eventually let to bigger and better gigs. When I last lost track of him I heard he was with Baltimore Brewing, one of those trendy micro brew outfits. I too was stuck with a nick name, mine was big P, it has nothing to do with genitalia (trust me on that, I am not posting pictures to prove it) but P is simply the first letter of my last name.

Now a bunch of us from the Attic would party together outside of work. On Sundays we would go drinking together when our bar was closed, after work we would hang out and play hockey on the Sega genesis at Steve's apartment or go to Bones's place where a bunch of them would get high (sorry, marijuana isn't my thing) and we would sit around and watch old Star Trek TNG reruns on USA Network or we would get together and play Dungeons and Dragons (which is where all of my nerdish D&D references in the blog come from). There were maybe 7 of us that made up that group, me, Bones, Chad, Steve, Bake and Rich.

Back to our story, one day Jen is getting ready for work and I am laying on the couch. She was running between the two bedrooms we had, one of which we used for storage and what not (this isn't a story from Puritan times, her and I shared a bed) and she had set up an ironing board in the spare bedroom and would run between the rooms going into the spare bedroom to work on her work outfit, then run back to the actual bedroom. During the time between the bedrooms I would see her go by and we were joking with each other, teasing each other with a “you're tubby” or “you're fat” type silliness that we sometimes did. Finally during one flash between the rooms, as she went to iron her shirt or something she went by in her bra and panties and I yelled out “Get me a stick of butter”. She came back into the living room and asked what I said, so I repeated myself. She asked why I would need a stick of butter and I exclaimed, “I will need some butter for all of those rolls.”

I laughed so hard I fell off the couch, I though for sure the greatness of my comedic genius would soon be recognized and I would be doing USO Tours with Bob Hope or something. Jen left for work, I got off of the couch and got dressed and made my way into work, still revelling in my comedic genius. So I go up to Bones and Steve and Chad and tell them all about my cleverness. “Ha ha ha, I told her I would need a stick of butter for her rolls, ha ha ha.” Having unloaded my comedic genius on my work audience I ran the dinner shift and closed the kitchen for the night. I had my free after work drink, shot a little pool and then went home.

I got home, Jen was there, I don't think she was all that happy with me though it was about to get a lot worse, little did I realize. Around 3am there is a car horn honking outside our apartment, I get up from the bed and look out the window, it is Chad's car, they are headed back to Bones's place to probably smoke and get high and watch Star Trek again. But why are they outside my place honking the car horn and waking up my neighbors? So I open the window to yell down and see what they want. When I open the window, four people are hanging out Chad's car windows and they all scream up to me “Big P butters the roll.” Of course Jen heard this, and suffice it to say she was not pleased, to the tune of not talking to me for hours afterward. What can I say, but some people don't appreciate comedy.

B365V2.138 - TWTW

     I realize that my posts over the last week or so come off as a little disjointed, so I spam going to spend this evening putting everything in chronological order as best as possible.

     Our little saga begins last Friday, I had completed  running the store solo for a few days with no major casualties.  I am sure there are people out there that could or would have done a better job, I just don't know if any of them currently work for us.  Because of the job I did, Brian offered me baseball tickets for that weekend, I could go to ether the Saturday or Sunday game. The company seats are good seats too, 4 seats on the third base side, about 20 or so rows off the field.  It wasn't a cheap gift either, the tickets face value is $48 each.

     So I was thinking of who I could go to the game with that might be able to use multiple tickets and almost instantly I thought of Misty who works across the street from us, and I have been smitten with for some time now.  Not that I expected offering tickets to change the status quo between her and I, that being just people that know each other and seem to get along well enough when we interact.  In fact I figured with three extra tickets (and a parking pass) if she wanted to bring her boyfriend or her son, she could have all of the tickets.  It isn't the first time I have offered tickets to a work acquaintance, last season I gave some tickets to our former bank manager, Stacy, to take her and her boyfriend to a game.

     Misty informed me she couldn't go, she had to do something with her ex, regarding him picking up some things and what not, but thanked me for the offer and said if she were to go it would just be with her son, her and her boyfriend broke up and that she was back on the market.  I said I was sorry about that and hoped she was okay, she assured me she was.  I did not inquire about details, nor do I want any.

     So Monday rolls around and I am thinking, you know I get paid on Tuesday, so I have some extra cash I could order some flowers for Misty, in part because I don't know if she is still upset about her breakup and I guess in part to show her that I like her.  So I order them from home to be delivered to her work, which is right across the street from me, and I can't count the number of times I went outside at work to see if the delivery guy had showed up yet.  Yes, I was a nervous wreck to say the least.  I even requested a delivery confirmation from FTD, just to make sure they arrived.   Rather than put undue pressure on her, I merely put on the card that I hoped these would put a smile on your face.  Around 2 pm I get a message from Misty that they did indeed put a smile on her face, they had arrived unbeknownst to me.  Still I was happy that they got there.  She asked me what time  I was done with work, so I messaged her back when I finished, she said she still had some time left.  I offered to wait, thinking I could walk her to her car after work.  I don't know if that was misinterpreted or not, but she said she'd love for me to wait, but she had to pick up her son from a function with school, but would I be free on Wednesday?  For her, of course I would be free.

     Wednesday rolls around and I am a little giddy about the day.  I mentioned something to Brian in the office about my upcoming plans and he hands me $50 and tells me to have a good time.  Whether that is because I am such a good employee or the prospect of me having plans with a female is such a rarity, who knows.  I made a detour during my work related bank run and stopped at SWRandall, a toy store located downtown, where I bought her a stuffed teddy bear for the occasion. I send her a message just as I am finishing up, suggesting that someone will be coming with us (the teddy bear of course) as I figured she would be working later than I was based on Tuesday, and I get a reply that says she has to pick up her son from some place and she couldn't stick around for more than a quick hi or hello.  I offered to wait and walk her to her car, which she agreed to, so I stuck around work till 4:30 when she got off, then her and I walked to her car.  It was more of a hide and seek mission, as she couldn't remember where she parked in the garage, but the entire time we were walking she was talking, telling me about her family, which is when I learned she has two sons, I was under the mistaken impression that she only had one.  Not that kids are a deal breaker for me, my attitude on that has changed since I first started blogging ten plus years ago, but I was on my best behavior doing more listening than talking for a change.  Eventually we did locate her car, she offered to give me a ride home, but I politely declined, she had her son to pick up after all and I could easily catch my bus home, instead I gave her the bear and walked to my bus stop which was right across the street from the parking garage.   She suggested while walking to her car that we could possibly do something on Thursday, to which I was open to.  I figure even if I am running late at work, I would still be done before she was.

     Thursday comes around and sure enough I am on point and ahead of schedule.  So when I finish up I shoot her a quick message that I was going to walk down to my park (the one where I blog from) but I would be back for when she got done.  The park is only a few blocks from where we work, so getting back wouldn't be much of a problem.  I got a message back saying that after work she had to go to the DMV to switch some names on titles to cars.  At this point I was under the impression that we will never actually do anything after work and the excuses were just ways of getting out of it.  So I shot her a message saying that if she ever wanted to do something after work, she just needs to tell me when.  I'll be honest, I was starting to get worn down on excuses, but I am sure that part of that is do to with everything that happened with the crazy Canadian, who had excuses and stories for everything.  Not to say Misty was lying about anything, but based on my life experiences to this point, the more the excuses pile up, the less believable the overall narrative gets.

       Friday rolls around and we don't communicate or anything, save for me sending her one message.  While walking to her car on Wednesday she mentioned that everyone in her office complimented her on the flowers, she said they came from her secret admirer, so I sent her a copy of the link in this blog from the end of July and our walk back from the bank together and said that I was really blowing this secret admirer thing, wasn't I?  I haven't heard back about that message, I don't even know if she read the entry on here on not.  But Friday was a normal Friday for me, save for my mind questioning whether or not I did anything right all week long.  Maybe I made a series of mistakes and by keeping my hopes up I was setting myself up for a larger disappointment later on.

      Not sure why but when I woke up on Saturday I was all achy and my throat was sore.  I managed to get myself functional enough to get through my workday, I still hadn't heard anything about my last message to her, which just reaffirmed my thought that I had been wasting my time and the week had been a series of missteps on my part.

      Sunday was no better, though when I first woke up around 4am I felt a little better, probably because I had leftover egg drop soup for dinner the night before and soup is always a good thing when I am sick.  I went back to bed around 6:30 am and when I woke around 9:30 and by going back to sleep my sickness reaffirmed its grip on me.  I managed to make it to the Italian store on the corner, where I picked up some stuff for sandwiches and some stuff for dinner later in this week.  I came back home and sat around for a while then decided to go for my Sunday walk that I try to take most Sundays, I got about two miles in before I decided to stop, the walk was quite nice, the weather was gorgeous but being out was making me feel even worse, so I got home and then walked up the street to CVS and bought some meds in hopes of fighting off whatever it is that has me in its death grip.

      And that is where we are now kids, I have numbed whatever pain that has been inflicted on me with this illness, enough so that I could bang out this entry.  As for what the next week brings, well, who knows.

Penguins @ Coyotes 10/10/15

Arizona 2  Pittsburgh 1

Phil Kessel - G

Kessel's goal was his first as a Pittsburgh Penguin

B365V2.137 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #4)

Four weeks in and all I am doing is treading water at this point. At least that is what it feels like with two different teams both sitting at 2-2. Oh well, time to get to the specifics....

Work league – (L) 87.46 – 54.64 It didn't help that New England was on a bye, therefore I lost Tom Brady and Dion Lewis for the week. Not that those two would have come up with an additional 30+ points over the guys I started, but the most certainly would have helped. Let's just chalk it up to a bad week and move on.

Bloggers league – (L) 82-63 Some times you have to just tip your cap to your opponent and move on, He started Tavon Austin, who had arguably the best game of his NFL career to this point and Vincent Jackson who picked up all kinds of garbage time points while is team got blown out. That was two guys with 20+ fantasy points, meanwhile the best one on my roster only scored 13 (Matt Forte). 

Oh well, at 2-2 I am not too far back in either league, I certainly have not been mathematically eliminated yet.   So let's see what week 5 brings.

Penguins @ Stars 10/08/15

Dallas 3  Pittsburgh 0

Marc-Andre Fleury - 21 SV

B356V2.136 - Not so holding patterns

     In a previous blog entry I said that going out after work with Misty was put on hold till Thursday, well that too was put on hold dear readers.  It seems Thursday came and went and when I shot her a message saying that I was just about done with work, I got a reply that she had to go to the DMV after work and change names on car titles. 

      One would think, or at least one such as I would think that you would know in advance if you are going to do such a thing and not leave it for last minute unless you are vying for my procrastination crown.  There comes a tipping point though where I ask myself if the reasons ate legitimate or if it is just a way of avoiding me.  That could be based on my already shaky self confidence when it comes to members of the opposite sex, and it could be because I witnessed two years of this with the crazy Canadian, who always had an excuse for everything, it just turned out that most of her excuses were lies. 

      So I laid my cards on the table so to speak, I told her what I think of her and said it was up to her if we were going to do something after work, or at any time really.  I said this because I was burnt out on waiting only to find something new had come up.  I just don't get why, if someone doesn't want to do something, they don't just say so.  I might be disappointed in that knowledge, but it is a lot less disappointing that my own personal Waiting for Gedot, which is what the last few days have felt like. 

B365V2.135 - It twas and it twasn't

So I said I would keep all of my dear readers in the loop of things, except I know nothing more as I type now than when I did when I typed before.

The flowers did arrive (yay to that) and after they arrived I got a nice message from her saying how much she liked them.  We continued to chat via Facebook messenger through the course of the day and she asked what time I was getting done.  Since I do not have a check in, check out time, my schedule is dependent on me getting my work done and nothing more, I did what I needed to and shot her a quick note to say I was done for the day.  Her day hadn't ended yet but I offered to stick around, figuring I would walk her to her car or something, but she said she had to pick up her son from a function, but if I wanted I could wait on Wednesday and we could go do something after work when she wasn't pressed for time.  That was honestly more than I expected, I just figured I would walk her to her car, but it was something that I wasn't going to say no to obviously, so I said sure, I would wait after work on Wednesday.

As you know, Wednesday has now passed us by.  I waited till she got off of work, but it turns out that she sends me a message towards the end of her day that she needs to pick her son up from another function.  So I offered to at least walk her to her car, I figure I might as well do something since I waited around after all.  Plus I had detoured my bank run today so I could stop by SW Randall and picked up a stuffed bear for the occasion, if I walk her to her car I can get this bear out of my bag at least.  So we meet after work and I walk her to her car, which she has conveniently forgot where she parked in the garage, so it looked like one of those Family Circus cartoons before we got to where we were supposed to be.  She apologized about forgetting that she needed to pick her son up, said she would be free Thursday after work.  So everything is in a holding pattern for the time being.

That being said I don't know if it is a holding pattern I am all that comfortable with.  Leftover scars from the crazy Canadian incident, who piled on so many lies in order to avoid things that my baseline assumption is to assume the worst and hope for the best.  I get spending time with me should not be her priority, hell I don't even know if she likes me, her family should come first, it is a parental obligation I have avoided for my 46 years on this planet, but I am coming from dealing with someone who lied about a dead kid, lied about custody of her kid, lied about her family, so my guard is up, probably more than it should reasonably be.

There, now you are all caught up, we will see what transpires manana.

B365V2.134 - The proof is in the vegetation

So, as I was formulating what it was I wanted to write about this evening I took the opportunity to proofread my previous couple of entries. They definitely needed some tweakage, a misspelling here, the wrong choice of word there, I think I caught everything, but thankfully this isn't English class, it is my blog. Everyone around here should be used to me fucking up from time to time.

But proofreading wasn't the only thing I did when I got home. I needed to give myself a pick me up and usually that involves a process where I throw caution to the wind and do something that ends up blowing up in my face. I think I have mentioned in the blog before that I was somewhat smitten with Misty from across the street at work (see evidence of this in the PlayMisty for me entry to this blog), well tonight I decided that I would have flowers sent to her at work tomorrow. I am not sure what I expect to come from it, most normal people would simply ask someone out if they were interested in them, I guess I am going all stealth mode in that regard. If the flowers get tossed out in the street or given back to me I will know she is completely not interested, if not then I know as much now as I will tomorrow, but I will feel better. Yes, giving things away does make me feel better. Maybe that is why my mom overdid Christmas so much when I was a kid, I enjoy giving things away now that I have reached a point in my life where I can. So if they don't boomerang back to me, it's a win.

Fear not blog readers, I will keep you in the loop as to how things go. If they go at all.

Speaking of blog readers, I saw via tracker info today that someone has me on a blog reader. I can tell because it comes up as localhost on my tracker. Hopefully it isn't the crazy Canadian, who did have me on a reader at one point. I would prefer to think that maybe someone else out there made the mistake of putting this on a reader than revisiting horror stories of my past. We move forward around these parts, unless I am retelling a funny story (okay, funny to me story), other than that I have no desire to revisit the past.

Perhaps my past needs a proofreader as well, just to go and edit out all of the mistakes. If only it were that easy.

B365V2.133 - Weekenders

So, it is Sunday and I decided to take the blog on a little road trip.  Nothing significant mind you, just to Eat N Park in Squirrel Hill.  But I needed to get out of the house, lest I feel all couch potatoey all day long.  Me being stupid yesterday gave me the required motivation to get out.  See, I went into work yesterday and I got a good chunk of everything I needed to get done done.   However I left my cell phone at home, which is an incredibly liberating feeling to not have people call you every second of the day.  Not that my phone rings all the time, but when it does my mental response isn't " Hi" or "Hello" but more along the lines of "Now what?"

So I left my phone at home, and while I was at work I also was trying to see if anyone else wanted to go to the baseball game last night.  Having Brian's tickets meant I had 4 seats, and after hearing back from Misty that Saturday was no good for her, I tried my cousin Bobby to see if he and his wife would like to go, but she was videoing a wedding on Saturday, so they were not available.  I tried one of my former coworkers to see if she would like to take her son to the game, I figured he might not like the game but would like the fireworks display afterward and got no response whatsoever.   Of course waiting around for a non answer put everything in a holding pattern, I didn't want to ask anyone else in case she said yes, but the longer I waited the less of a chance anyone else would get to go.  And the more likely anyone else would go about making their own plans for Saturday.  Not that I got overly upset by the non answer, it is just something I file away for future reference on people to never invite anywhere ever again.

Not that the game was the biggest event, but it was somewhat important to sports fans, with it being possibly the last game AJ Burnett would pitch in a Pirates uniform, plus the Pirates with a win, could clinch home field for the wild card playoff game and did I mention fireworks.  So I could have moved the tickets if I would have received an answer.  Instead I went by myself, with four seats I had plenty of room to sprawl out. I could literally let my fat spill into the neighboring sits and it wouldn't hit anyone.  Because no one goes to the baseball game with the though, "I sure hope someone's fat rubs up against me tonight."

So I went to the game, the Pirates lost 3-1, the first game I have been to this year where they lost.  So they didn't clinch home field, that will come down to today's game, a Pirates win or a Cubs loss and the game will be here, if the reverse happens (a Pirates loss and a Cubs win) the game will be played in Chicago.  I told Misty I would take pictures of the fireworks for her, instead I used my tablet and just shot video, then uploaded it to Facebook via the Pirates Wifi, and tagged her with it.  She seemed to like it, but I am a terrible judge of women, she could just as easily be being polite.  46 years on this planet, and I have no clue when it comes to women.  Maybe I should just be gay instead.  Guys are easy to figure out.  I just am not attracted to them.

None of this has shit to do with my phone however, well I finally got home around 11:30 and saw my phone laying there, I had missed a few calls.  I say missed only because I didn't get them, I had no emotional attachment to them, in that regard I didn't miss them at all.  One was from Ed, he wanted me to fax the schedule down to him so he could get a start on payroll.   That was the reason I got up today, to go into work and fax him the schedule, because life is all about getting paid after all.  I figure I might as well do my managerial duty and facilitate that process for everyone.

My milkshake arrived.  I got it because yesterday was Scratch N Win Saturday at the baseball game as well.   Every who goes gets an Eat N Park scratch card and there are varying prizes, like $1 off an order, or free smiley cookies, or in my case it was I won a free milkshake.  So after faxing the schedule I hopped my bus to Squirrel Hill to cash in my free goodies.  I also got dinner, because I would feel all kinds of guilty to take up a booth and do my blogging that I am doing, and take up the waitresses time all so I could get a free item.  Besides, I have to eat sometime, right?  And unlike last night, there is no one firing hot dogs in my general direction, so I must fend for myself.  I say that because at the game last night, they brought out the hot dog cannon and a hot dog landed about a row behind me.  Now I don't know your personal opinion on flying meat, but I was holding my iPad at the time and iPad > meat projectiles.

I finished my milkshake, then I decided to walk home from Squirrel Hill to work off my new found fat.  I think I did okay on tipping my waitress ($5 on a $13 check, $10 after they deducted my free milkshake) but then I used to wait tables and I know what a shitty existence that can be at an Eat N Park style restaurant, though I worked at Valley Dairy, same shit, different show.   I have covered the "why you should tip" spiel here before, I feel no need to revisit the issue.

The return walk allowed me to stop at my bench and bang out some more words, though I am not sure what words are left.  I did finally finish my book, "Furiously Happy" and that is all I will say about it.  Well that and that it can be found on the bookshelf to the right.  Other than that I will say nothing, because I don't do reviews.  There are certain things people do well, if you want your car fixed, you go to a mechanic, if you want to read a review on a book, there are professional reviewers out there.  If you want someone who specializes in mindless prattling and who promises to never try to fix you car or review anything, then you have come to the right place.

I also took a couple of pictures on the way home, I will try to add them on the bottom of the blog entry when I get home.

I would hang out on the park bench a little longer, but I am being bombarded by gnats right now.  That is no fun, in case you were wondering.

                                            Schenley Park overlook

                                          My squirrelly companion

                                          Playing "Where's Waldo with the squirrel

                                         Sunset over Pittsburgh

                                              

B365V2.131 - How it went

So it turns out this was an interesting week to say the least.  The store survived with me in charge for 3 days, despite the issue I had with the credit/debit system not working for almost two days.  But I managed to get that problem fixed, with some help from Verizon and Roth, so I guess it was my trial by fire moment.  Crisis averted so to speak.

We had our return visit from the health department, all good save for a couple of coolers not being up tom temp and the problem with the air conditioner.  But I had called about the air conditioner two days prior, I can't make the maintenance guy come in, all I could do is call him and say the problem still exists, then I shut the unit off until he comes in, just to stop it from leaking into the basement.  One of the collers that wasn't cold enough I also called about a couple of weeks ago, I will have to call them again on Saturday to ask just where the hell they are.  But until they come in I had it empty, so there was no product sitting in it spoiling, the other cooler we are having an issue with is off by one degree, but I could turn it up to make it colder, I just didn't want to freeze the items in it, now I don't care as long as it gets cold enough for the next inspection on Wednesday next week.

That wasn't the big event of the week though, nor was the fact that Brian called me the best employee they have ever had.  Not too shabby, but I downplayed the compliment by saying he was setting the bar pretty low for me. Still the best part of the week happened on Thursday.

I had just left Crazy Mocha after getting my coffee and walked to the corner to cross the street and make my way into work and who should  walk up beside me but Misty.  We did our hellos and what not and went to hug, but she was holding a cigarette and was afraid she would burn me (like I would have felt it, seeing her she could have set me on fire and I wouldn't have felt it)  so we did one of those side by side hug things and I don't know what came over me, but when we did I went ahead and kissed her on her forehead.We walked over to the store, she had to get some cigarettes before her workday got started, I meandered about on the floor for a minute and then went down to the office to do my thing.

Everything went rather smoothly at work, it was Brian's first day back so he had plenty of mail and what not to go through.  but he was pleasantly surprised with how the store looked, I had been pushing people to get things done for the pending health inspection.  Still it was nice that it was noticed.

I got out of work on time for a change (which was a first this week for me)  when I got home and I couldn't get the day out of my head.  So I decided to use my limited internet skill set to see if I could find Misty on Facebook, which I did, so I sent her a friend request which she accepted (yay to that).

I get into work today and things are still moving along nicely, I gave Brian the results of the health inspection, he left Thursday before the inspector came, so I gave him our copy of the report, I sorted out the 5 different orders we had come in, and then I went about the business of doing the paperwork and balancing the previous days books.   I got the sales numbers done and gave them to Brian and he asks me if I want to go to Saturday's baseball game.  Of course I said yes, it's free after all and it is Fireworks night and our seats kick ass for fireworks.  Of course I have four tickets and just me going, so I decided to shoot Misty a message on Facebook to see if she wanted to go.  I figure with the extra tickets if she wants to take her son and her boyfriend, that's cool, as long as the tickets get used.  She can't go, she has plans, but if she were to go she tells me it would just be her and her son, apparently she is single again (on the market is the what she called it, I would shop at that market).  Of course I shot a quick note back saying I was sorry to hear that, hoped she was okay and that some guys are idiots (as some are, statistics prove that fact to be correct).

Oh well, I have to get about the business of finding people to go to the game with.  Toodles.

B365V2.132 - Karaoke Friday

Some times there is a song that just hits you because it is exactly what you needed to hear at that point in time.  That is the case this evening when this song came on Pandora while I was working on a different blog entry.  It fit my mood this evening perfectly.  Sing along if you like, I know I will be.



I find you in the morning
After dreams of distant signs
You pour yourself over me
Like the sun through the blinds
You lift me up
And get me out
Keep me walking
But never shout
Hold the secret close
I hear you say

You know the way
It throws about
It takes you in
And spits you out
It spits you out
When you desire
To conquer it
To feel you're higher
To follow it
You must be clean
With mistakes
That you do mean
Move the heart
Switch the pace
Look for what seems out of place

On and on it goes
Calling like a distant wind
Through the zero hour we'll walk
Cut the thick and break the thin
No sound to break no moment clear
When all the doubts are crystal clear
Crashing hard into the secret wind

You know the way
It twists and turns
Changing colour
Spinning yarns
You know the way
It leaves you dry
It cuts you up
And takes you high
You know the way
It's painted gold
Is it honey
Is it cold
You know the way
It throws about
It takes you in
And spits you out
You know the way
It throws about
It takes you in
And spits you out
It spits you out
When you desire
To conquer it
To feel you're higher
To follow it
You must be clean
With mistakes
That you do mean
Move the heart
Switch the pace
Look for what
Seems out of place

It's o.k.
It goes this way
The line it twists
It twists away
Cuts you up
and spits you out
Keeps you walking
But never shout.

B365v2.130 - Welfare queens

     So today I am sitting at work, Brian comes in and goes and turns on Fox News as he usually does and they are carrying a live speech at the UN from Benjamin Netanyahu.  He is at the podium, saying how bad the current treaty with Iran is, a deal brokered by the State Department along with many of our allies.  Much of what he was saying were the same platitudes mouthed by many of the Republican hopefuls for President. 

     Israel has received from the United States, since its inception as a country, 124.3 billion dollars (not adjusted for inflation) of aid.  If American citizens that do receive assistance from their government, they are called free loaders, told they need to get a job, to quit expecting handouts, mocked as welfare queens, have their purchases scrutinized.  Given the amount of assistance that Israel receives, shouldn't they be treated the same way.  Demand dug testing of all Israeli citizens before they receive any money, micromanage the assistance they do receive, no undo purchases that might make them appear uppity.

     Instead of making Israel jump through the same hoops as our own citizens, we hand them money hand over fist so they can go bad mouth our best efforts at diplomacy at the United Nations.  So why aren't' they be labeled as welfare queens? or free loaders?  When they openly mock our best efforts at a peaceful resolution.   Just saying is all.....

B365v2.129 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #3) - Winner , winner, chicken dinner

So it turned out to be a good weekend for me fantasy wise, considering I pulled off a rare double.  That being that in one league I was playing an opponent and had a 13 point lead but they had one person left, Travis Kelce of Kansas City, playing Monday night, while in the other league I was trailing going into the Monday night game and had two players left on my roster that had yet to play and one of thsoe players was, you guessed it, Travis Kelce.  So if he Kelce goes off, I might win one game and lose the other, but if he does just enough to hit that sweet spot, I could walk away with two wins, provided my other Monday night player, James Jones chips in on the point scoring as well.  Much like an award show, it is time for the envelopes and winners here.......

Work league (W) 138.72 - 135.40   Much like last week where I had the highest score in the league and ended up playing the person who scored the second highest, this week I was second highest in scoring and played the team that had the third highest score.  After three weeks I have scored more points than anyone else in the league, but I have the second highest points against total as well.

Bloggers league (W) - 66-64  A win but at a cost as my starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger went down to injury and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks of action.  I had to cut Boobie Dixon (#boobies) to pick up an adequate quarterback (Derek Carr) to play for the time being.

Both leagues I am current 2-1, which in the case of the work league, is probably where I expected to be after my draft there and in the bloggers league, surprises me as much as anyone.