Pittsburgh 3 San Jose 1
Sidney Crosby - 2 A
Pittsburgh won their 4th Stanley Cup in franchise history
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-2
Thursday, June 30, 2016
SCF - Sharks @ Penguins 06/09/2016
San Jose 4 Pittsburgh 2
Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin - G each
Pttsburgh failed to become the first team since the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates to clinch a title at home
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-2
Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin - G each
Pttsburgh failed to become the first team since the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates to clinch a title at home
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-2
SCF - Penguins @ Sharks 06/06/2016
Pittsburgh 3 San Jose 1
Phil Kessel - 2 A
After 4 games Pittsburgh has not trailed in the series, save for the OT goal in game 3, a span of 435:46
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-1
Phil Kessel - 2 A
After 4 games Pittsburgh has not trailed in the series, save for the OT goal in game 3, a span of 435:46
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-1
SCF - Penguins @ Sharks 06/04/2016
San Jose 3 Pittsburgh 2 OT
Ben Lovejoy - G, A
Pittsburgh has played 7 OT games this post season (4-3)
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
Ben Lovejoy - G, A
Pittsburgh has played 7 OT games this post season (4-3)
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
SCF - Sharks @ Penguins 06/01/2016
Pittsburgh2 San Jose 1 OT
Connor Sheary, Phil Kessel - G each
Sheary has a goal in each of the Stanley Cup final games thus far
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-0
Connor Sheary, Phil Kessel - G each
Sheary has a goal in each of the Stanley Cup final games thus far
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-0
SCF - Sharks @ Penguins 05/30/2016
Pittsburgh 3 San Jose 2
Bryan Rust, Connor Sheary, Nick Bonino - G each
Rust set a team record for playoff goal by a rookie (6)
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 1-0
Bryan Rust, Connor Sheary, Nick Bonino - G each
Rust set a team record for playoff goal by a rookie (6)
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 1-0
ECF - Lightning @ Penguins 05/26/2016
Pittsburgh 2 Tampa Bay 1
Bryan Rust - 2 G
Rust had 5 goals in 55 NHL games, he has 5 goals in the playoffs this year
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-3
Bryan Rust - 2 G
Rust had 5 goals in 55 NHL games, he has 5 goals in the playoffs this year
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-3
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
B365V3.38 - The yard
So I am sitting outside again, not in the park mind you, but in my driveway. My landlord left a temporary desk. By that I mean there is a large wooden spindle type thing (one of the ones used to roll up cable) turned on its side in the driveway. Probably due to some construction they are dong in one of their neighboring apartments. But with it sitting here on it's side, the wooden top is quite a nice table top, plus I can steal my own wifi from my apartment.
This has all of the strange comforts of the park, a strange man was walking up and down the street yelling into his cell phone about how he was going to kick the ass of the person on the other end of the line. An while i was sitting here, I turned around for a second (my spider sense was tingling) and sure enough, there were 4 tanuki in my neighbors yard. They were creeping up on me, like they were a prison gang and I was the next to be shanked. But once I established my dominance in the "yard". the hopped the fence in the back of the neighbors yard and presumably found someone else to shank.
I am starting to worry about ed at work. Without getting to wrapped up in organizational flow chartiness, the power structure goes something like this, Brian is the owner of the business, Ed is his dad, and when Ed is around Brian defers to his dad's judgement on most things. I would fall in at #3 on the list. Ed usually s around during the spring and summer months, hen goes back to his Florida home during winter, So usually spring and summer Ed is #1, Brian is #2 and those positions get reversed during winter. Except Ed left early last year, like late August and here it is almost July and he hasn't come back yet. Perhaps he has an abundance of confidence n how Brian and I do things, but this extended absence makes me wonder if there aren't other issues at play.
Well the 7 Up rep was in today, put in a request for home opener tickets next season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I doubt I will get them, but it can't hurt to ask. I would like to be there for the Stanley Cup banner raising at Consol, so started working my professional angles early.
This has all of the strange comforts of the park, a strange man was walking up and down the street yelling into his cell phone about how he was going to kick the ass of the person on the other end of the line. An while i was sitting here, I turned around for a second (my spider sense was tingling) and sure enough, there were 4 tanuki in my neighbors yard. They were creeping up on me, like they were a prison gang and I was the next to be shanked. But once I established my dominance in the "yard". the hopped the fence in the back of the neighbors yard and presumably found someone else to shank.
I am starting to worry about ed at work. Without getting to wrapped up in organizational flow chartiness, the power structure goes something like this, Brian is the owner of the business, Ed is his dad, and when Ed is around Brian defers to his dad's judgement on most things. I would fall in at #3 on the list. Ed usually s around during the spring and summer months, hen goes back to his Florida home during winter, So usually spring and summer Ed is #1, Brian is #2 and those positions get reversed during winter. Except Ed left early last year, like late August and here it is almost July and he hasn't come back yet. Perhaps he has an abundance of confidence n how Brian and I do things, but this extended absence makes me wonder if there aren't other issues at play.
Well the 7 Up rep was in today, put in a request for home opener tickets next season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I doubt I will get them, but it can't hurt to ask. I would like to be there for the Stanley Cup banner raising at Consol, so started working my professional angles early.
ECF - Penguins @ Lightning 05/24/2016
Pittsburgh 5 Tampa Bay 2
Sidney Crosby - G, A
Crosby has 3 GWGs in the series
Best of seven series tied 3-3
Sidney Crosby - G, A
Crosby has 3 GWGs in the series
Best of seven series tied 3-3
ECF - Lightning @ Penguins 05/22/2016
Tampa Bay 4 Pittsburgh 3 OT
Chris Kunitz - G, A
Marc-Andre Fleury got his first start in goal this post season for Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay leads best of seven series 3-2
Chris Kunitz - G, A
Marc-Andre Fleury got his first start in goal this post season for Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay leads best of seven series 3-2
ECF - Penguins @ Lightning 05/20/2016
Tampa Bay 4 Pittsburgh 3
Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz - G each
Matt Murray pulled after 2 periods
Best of seven series tied 2-2
Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz - G each
Matt Murray pulled after 2 periods
Best of seven series tied 2-2
Monday, June 27, 2016
ECF - Penguins @ Lightning 05/18/2016
Pittsburgh 4 Tampa Bay 2
Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin - G, A each
Through three games Pittsburgh has a 124-69 advantage in shots
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin - G, A each
Through three games Pittsburgh has a 124-69 advantage in shots
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
ECF - Lightning @ Penguins 05/16/2016
Pittsburgh 3 Tampa Bay 2 OT
Sidney Crosby - OT G
Nine different Penguins registered a point in the win
Best of seven series tied 1-1
Sidney Crosby - OT G
Nine different Penguins registered a point in the win
Best of seven series tied 1-1
ECF - Lightning @ Penguins 05/13/2016
Tampa Bay 3 Pittsburgh 1
Patric Hornqvist - G
Pittsburgh had a 35-20 advantage in shots
Tampa Bay leads best of seven series 1-0
Patric Hornqvist - G
Pittsburgh had a 35-20 advantage in shots
Tampa Bay leads best of seven series 1-0
Sunday, June 26, 2016
B365V3.37 - Old haunts
So, after my self diagnosed bout of food poisoning, though I dare anyone to have what I had and call it anything less, I managed to drag myself through Friday, with my stomach and back still feeling somewhat stabby, but I was having the oddest of cravings for the last couple of days (no I am not pregnant) for one of the giant subs from the WalMart that used to work at. I am not one of those self righteous types when it comes to shopping, if WalMart has cheaper prices I will go there, but the one that I used to work at (another one of those second jobs from my radio days) is a good 50 minute bus ride from downtown. (As well as a two zone ride, whereas I have a one zone pass, a problem the Port Authority will be fixng come January, thanks to one of my vacation blogs, or at least I am taking credit for it.) So after getting off of work I walked to the bus stop for the Lincoln Highway Flyer, with the jetpack in tow, if I was going to need to kill time, best I have internet access to dawdle with.
I get there and everything is just as I left it, save for a massive employee turnover. Not that I was close to my coworkers there, it was a job, I got in and got out most days and was happy when the check came, that was it. But there were only a couple of familiar faces, everybody else I couldn't even give a knowing nod too. It is Walmart though, so I wasn't going to just buy sandwich and leave, I walked around the store a bit, got some groceries and some clothes, including a new pair of swimming trunks, after last year's incident and the Vintage Grand Prix, where my junk was nearly left flapping n the breeze like a checkered flag. Never have I been happier to not be porn star huge as I was that day, otherwise I would have been arrested and the only thing worse than being in public with your junk hanging out is being in jail with your junk hanging out.
As I was walking around the store, for a brief moment I thought, you know, I could still do this. I could go back to working two jobs, it would help with the vacation fund that I need to start up for next summer, as right now that fund is pretty much non existent, it consists of my paid vacation time that I accrue this year (sitting at 6 days as of now). Sorry, but Vancouver is going to cost more than that. Summer up there looks to be more expensive than spring, but i want to go when the beaches are open. I would like to go with someone this time too, but I don't see any volunteers in the offing for that.
Anyway, as I were, I was thinking that I could do this two job thing, especially if there is a tangible goal in the offing. But then as I am busy doing the grocery thing I have one kid running up and down some aisles. I wanted to trip him. Later as I am shopping for swimwear I hear another kid crying, my first impulse is to grab a pillowcase and suffocate him. finish my shopping and go outside to wait on the bus. The thing is, while the bus there is a one bus ride, coming back is two buses, with a transfer at the Waterfront. So I go to get on the first bus and there is a lady there trying to get an air conditioner onto the bus. She can't even lift it out of her cart, god knows how she got it in there, but it is another annoyance I have to navigate around in order to get a seat. get to the Waterfront and the next bus is literally right there, no wait. Perhaps the fates looked kindly on me for putting in a full day's work when others would have called off, then set about to be productive afterwards. But the kids and all the time spent on buses talked me out of the second job thing pretty quickly, the ride back to Oakland took 1.5 hours and I have no desire to spend 2.5 hours on buses when I have already put in a full day already. Besides I would end up in jail, what with all of the kids I would kill.
I get there and everything is just as I left it, save for a massive employee turnover. Not that I was close to my coworkers there, it was a job, I got in and got out most days and was happy when the check came, that was it. But there were only a couple of familiar faces, everybody else I couldn't even give a knowing nod too. It is Walmart though, so I wasn't going to just buy sandwich and leave, I walked around the store a bit, got some groceries and some clothes, including a new pair of swimming trunks, after last year's incident and the Vintage Grand Prix, where my junk was nearly left flapping n the breeze like a checkered flag. Never have I been happier to not be porn star huge as I was that day, otherwise I would have been arrested and the only thing worse than being in public with your junk hanging out is being in jail with your junk hanging out.
As I was walking around the store, for a brief moment I thought, you know, I could still do this. I could go back to working two jobs, it would help with the vacation fund that I need to start up for next summer, as right now that fund is pretty much non existent, it consists of my paid vacation time that I accrue this year (sitting at 6 days as of now). Sorry, but Vancouver is going to cost more than that. Summer up there looks to be more expensive than spring, but i want to go when the beaches are open. I would like to go with someone this time too, but I don't see any volunteers in the offing for that.
Anyway, as I were, I was thinking that I could do this two job thing, especially if there is a tangible goal in the offing. But then as I am busy doing the grocery thing I have one kid running up and down some aisles. I wanted to trip him. Later as I am shopping for swimwear I hear another kid crying, my first impulse is to grab a pillowcase and suffocate him. finish my shopping and go outside to wait on the bus. The thing is, while the bus there is a one bus ride, coming back is two buses, with a transfer at the Waterfront. So I go to get on the first bus and there is a lady there trying to get an air conditioner onto the bus. She can't even lift it out of her cart, god knows how she got it in there, but it is another annoyance I have to navigate around in order to get a seat. get to the Waterfront and the next bus is literally right there, no wait. Perhaps the fates looked kindly on me for putting in a full day's work when others would have called off, then set about to be productive afterwards. But the kids and all the time spent on buses talked me out of the second job thing pretty quickly, the ride back to Oakland took 1.5 hours and I have no desire to spend 2.5 hours on buses when I have already put in a full day already. Besides I would end up in jail, what with all of the kids I would kill.
ECSF - Capitals @ Penguins 05/10/2016
Pittsburgh 4 Washington 3 OT
Phil Kessel - 2 G, A
The Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino line combined for 7 points in the win
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-2
Phil Kessel - 2 G, A
The Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino line combined for 7 points in the win
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-2
ECSF - Penguins @ Capitals 05/07/2016
Washington 3 Pittsburgh 1
Chris Kunitz - G
Pittsburgh's goal was their first power play goal of the series
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-2
Chris Kunitz - G
Pittsburgh's goal was their first power play goal of the series
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-2
ECSF - Capitals @ Penguins 05/04/2016
Pittsburgh 3 Washington 2 OT
Brian Dumoulin - 2 A
The Penguins had lost their previous 8 playoff games that went to overtime
Pittsburgh leads best of 7 series 3-1
Brian Dumoulin - 2 A
The Penguins had lost their previous 8 playoff games that went to overtime
Pittsburgh leads best of 7 series 3-1
ECSF - Capitals @ Penguins 05/02/2016
Pittsburgh 3 Washington 2
Matt Murray - 47 SV
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby both played their 108th layoff game, tied for second most in team history.
Pittsburgh leads best of 7 series 2-1
Matt Murray - 47 SV
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby both played their 108th layoff game, tied for second most in team history.
Pittsburgh leads best of 7 series 2-1
Saturday, June 25, 2016
B365V3.36 - 47 is not the new 46
Today was as close as a near death experience as I have had since the wallet at the bottom of Schenley Pool incident last summer. But the fun actually started last night. I stopped at Bootleggers for a couple of post work libations where I was greeted with some bad news, one of the regulars from Jimmy's passed away, Mel. Apparently he was diagnosed with cancer a while back and passed away about a week ago. Mel and I weren't particularly close, we would talk in the bar and what not, maybe buy each other a drink here or there, but I knew better than to shoot pool with him, he would kick my ass. Though through my years of torturing people with my juke box selections, I did manage to get Mel hooked on Keb Mo, and that is the extent of my musical influence on anyone.
Anyway I stayed at the bar for maybe three beers and then walked across the street to Larry and Carol's to grab something to eat. Longtime readers of the blog (2100+ entries now) know that L&C was a place I worked back in my radio days, as radio paid so well a second job was mandatory just to get by. Anyway I stopped in a checked out the menu before ordering a meatball wedge and fries. I got my feast and took it back to my apartment to eat in the comfort of my own home. For those not in the know a wedge is a pizza dough stretched out and the items that get cooked, in this instance the meatballs and cheese are placed on half of the stretched out dough, then the other half is folded over and the entire thing is placed in the pizza oven. When it is done, you open it back up and add the cold items, like lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.
So I get my cornucopia of food back to my place and begin to eat, when I notice the dough is under done, it is all chewy and what not, but hunger beat common sense so I ate half of it before falling asleep. I woke up a little later, ate some more and went back to bed.
My alarm goes off this morning and I shut it off and went to roll over when a paralyzingly pain shot through my right side, from my abdomen all the way up to my shoulder. Had it been the other side I would have though heart attack (yeah, like I have a heart). I managed to finagle myself to the edge of the bed to lower myself to the floor to be in an upright position. I located my cell phone because it hurt bad enough that I was on the verge of calling off work (which never happens) and calling an ambulance. But I keep aspirin on my headboard for a reason, so I grabbed the bottle and swallowed 4 of them, if I could manage this pain, I could be functional. I swallow the aspirin with a swig of iced tea, next thing I know I get the feeling I am going to throw up. I make it to the bathroom and begin to projectile vomit. What is that anyway, isn't all vomit projectile of some degree, it's not like a kid playing with his mashed potatoes, squeezing them out between his lips. Likewise, vomit has a more immediate means of letting loose, nobody dribbles it out and let's it run down their chin onto their shirt.
So I hack up my aspirin and anything else that will come out, I feel slightly better, now it just feels like my abdomen is being stabbed and underneath my right shoulder blade is also being stabbed, a shitty condition to work in but it beats being paralyzed on my bed. If this is what being 47 is going to feel like, I will go back to being 46.
Anyway I stayed at the bar for maybe three beers and then walked across the street to Larry and Carol's to grab something to eat. Longtime readers of the blog (2100+ entries now) know that L&C was a place I worked back in my radio days, as radio paid so well a second job was mandatory just to get by. Anyway I stopped in a checked out the menu before ordering a meatball wedge and fries. I got my feast and took it back to my apartment to eat in the comfort of my own home. For those not in the know a wedge is a pizza dough stretched out and the items that get cooked, in this instance the meatballs and cheese are placed on half of the stretched out dough, then the other half is folded over and the entire thing is placed in the pizza oven. When it is done, you open it back up and add the cold items, like lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.
So I get my cornucopia of food back to my place and begin to eat, when I notice the dough is under done, it is all chewy and what not, but hunger beat common sense so I ate half of it before falling asleep. I woke up a little later, ate some more and went back to bed.
My alarm goes off this morning and I shut it off and went to roll over when a paralyzingly pain shot through my right side, from my abdomen all the way up to my shoulder. Had it been the other side I would have though heart attack (yeah, like I have a heart). I managed to finagle myself to the edge of the bed to lower myself to the floor to be in an upright position. I located my cell phone because it hurt bad enough that I was on the verge of calling off work (which never happens) and calling an ambulance. But I keep aspirin on my headboard for a reason, so I grabbed the bottle and swallowed 4 of them, if I could manage this pain, I could be functional. I swallow the aspirin with a swig of iced tea, next thing I know I get the feeling I am going to throw up. I make it to the bathroom and begin to projectile vomit. What is that anyway, isn't all vomit projectile of some degree, it's not like a kid playing with his mashed potatoes, squeezing them out between his lips. Likewise, vomit has a more immediate means of letting loose, nobody dribbles it out and let's it run down their chin onto their shirt.
So I hack up my aspirin and anything else that will come out, I feel slightly better, now it just feels like my abdomen is being stabbed and underneath my right shoulder blade is also being stabbed, a shitty condition to work in but it beats being paralyzed on my bed. If this is what being 47 is going to feel like, I will go back to being 46.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
ECSF - Penguins @ Capitals 04/30/2016
Pittsburgh 2 Washington 1
Carl Hagelin, Eric Fehr - G each
Second straight game Pittsburgh registered 10 or more shots than Washington(10, 11)
Best of seven series tied 1-1
Carl Hagelin, Eric Fehr - G each
Second straight game Pittsburgh registered 10 or more shots than Washington(10, 11)
Best of seven series tied 1-1
ECSF - Penguins @ Capitals 04/28/2016
Washington 4 Pittsburgh 3 OT
Nick Bonino - G, A
Pttsburgh outshot Washington 45-35
Washington leads best of 7 series 1-0
Nick Bonino - G, A
Pttsburgh outshot Washington 45-35
Washington leads best of 7 series 1-0
ECQF - NY Rangers @ Penguins 04/23/2016
Pittsburgh 6 NY Rangers 3
Bryan Rust - 2 G, A
New York had eliminated Pittsburgh from the playoffs each of the past two seasons
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-1
Bryan Rust - 2 G, A
New York had eliminated Pittsburgh from the playoffs each of the past two seasons
Pittsburgh wins best of seven series 4-1
ECQF - Penguins @ NY Rangers 04/21/2016
Pittsburgh 5 NY Rangers 0
Evgeni Malkin - 2 G, 2 A
Matt Murray recorded his first playoff shutout in the win
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-1
Evgeni Malkin - 2 G, 2 A
Matt Murray recorded his first playoff shutout in the win
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 3-1
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
ECQF - Penguins @ NY Rangers 04/19/1026
Pittsburgh 3 Y Rangers 1
Sidney Crosby, Matt Cullen Kris Letang - G each
Matt Murray received his first NHL playoff start in goal for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
Sidney Crosby, Matt Cullen Kris Letang - G each
Matt Murray received his first NHL playoff start in goal for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 2-1
ECQF NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh 04/16/2016
NY Rangers 4 Penguins 2
Phil Kessel - 2 G
Pittsburgh outshot NY 31-28
Series tied 1-1
Phil Kessel - 2 G
Pittsburgh outshot NY 31-28
Series tied 1-1
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
04/13 2016 ECQF NY Rangers @ Penguins
Pittsburgh 5 NY Rangers 2
Patric Hornqvist - 3 G, A
Jeff Zatkoff started in goal, just his 6th appearance since Jan 1st
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 1-0
Patric Hornqvist - 3 G, A
Jeff Zatkoff started in goal, just his 6th appearance since Jan 1st
Pittsburgh leads best of seven series 1-0
Sunday, June 19, 2016
B365V3.35 - Hey, hey, it's my birthday
So yesterday was my birthday, I didn't make a big deal of it here, save to beg for presents, which did not pan out but que sera, sera. I really did not expect much for my birthday, some Facebook greetings and what not, but no huge soirée was in the offing. I did put some money aside for the occasion, what with getting paid on Wednesday and having worked all 14 days in the pay period, plus a holiday thrown in for good measure, I had a couple of shekels to rub together for a change. So I figure I would take myself to breakfast and then go from there.
Ah, but the best laid plans, I over slept and as I was laying there debating mentally with what to do, I opted to take myself to lunch instead, so I grabbed some clothes (people have this thing about me walking around in public naked, go figure), did the shower and dress thing and walked to the bus stop to catch a 54 and head over to the Strip District. I opted for some Kelly O's, where I got the meatloaf sandwich w/fries and gravy. Meatloaf is one of those go to foods when I don't know what I want, simply because I never make it for myself. Plus I had the jet pack with me, so I sat at the counter and played some MPQ while eating. I decided I would tackle the day at my own pace, which put me in a very relaxed state of mind. After finishing my lunch, I started walking back to work, not that I was eager to work on my birthday, but I wanted to make a stop before continuing my plans for the day. On the walk back a problem creeped up though, my need for new shoes reared its ugly head once again. The inner soles on my shoes came lose, a common problem for me with shoes, and as I am walking, the sole in the left shoes kept sliding up the back of my ankle, like it was trying to escape my shoe. My mind started racing as to how I could fix this problem in the quickest way possible. There are places I could go shoe shopping, but I really wasn't in the mood to go bus hopping all day to find a mall then I remembered their is a Burlington downtown (one of the few remaining stores), so I ducked in there and snagged a pair of Adidas for $30. Not money I planned on spending, but I consider it a birthday present to myself. So I get the shoes, continue walking into work, where I switch into my new kicks, then I set my lock my backpack up, a,one with my tablet and jet pack and continue with my days plans, which included a trip to the casino.
Seeing as how I wasn't showered with gifts, I did remember if you go to the casino on your birthday you get a certificate for a free buffet which is good for 30 days, and you all know I am all about free stuff. I was disappointed this year that I did not get the email for free pancakes at IHOP, perhaps they cancelled that promotion, but still I figured I would get the free stuff while I could, so I left work and subwayed myself over to the casino. I go to the players club desk, not only did they give me my certificate, they made me a new casino membership card, since my old one was bent. Then I set about plating some slots, I planned on that as well, I set aside $60 I could blow, so I found a Wonder Woman slot machine (images of Lynda Carter spinning by my eyes, far worse fates have befallen far greater men). I hit a bonus on it and cashed out up $60, so now I had more money to play with. If before I had $60 to lose, technically now I had $120, so I head off to the Clue slot machine and I nearly put all $120 into it before hitting a large bonus and basically breaking even. Then I played a couple of slots where I didn't cash out, nothing substantial, maybe $20 in each of them, when I went walking around the casino for another machine to donate too, and I saw the Bejeweled Blitz ma nine was open. I had never played it before, but I am usually pretty good at figuring these things out on the fly. I start playing just $20 so if I don't like it I can walk away, I hit a bonus screen, which turns one of the four progressive jackpots, $275. Now I am thinking even if I p,at this down to $250 I am good, except I kept hitting, I hit the same jackpot a second time, only for $25 this time, as it barely had reset from my last hit. I ended up cashing out at a little over $300, which was more than enough to pay for all of my mischief. Besides I still had to get back to work and do things, which is why they pay me after all.
So I go to work, I fix a register that had been giving me trouble, reload the instant ticket machines and the ATM, balance the lottery and sell the change back to the store, break down the invoices for the accountant, make chicken, tuna and egg salad, and proceed to add a. Inch of items to the register system. I got the new ice cream vendor up to date, our Hostess section and a box full of non scannable items I was left. Dare I say I was almost productive. I even got a call at work from my mom to wish me a happy birthday. Highly unexpected given that since her most recent stroke she has been forgetful of holidays and occasions and what not. But I talked to her while working on my invoices, she was out having dinner at Perkins I do believe. But we talked for about 20 minutes or so and then I got back to getting things done.
I left work around 11pm, came home and was watching TV when it felt like something was in my eye. I couldn't locate any eye lashes or hair or anything, but I was getting all kinds of stringy eye snot, like it would be on my eye lash, I would get it between two fingers and pull, and it would stretch onto my eye ball before I would get it all. Finally I just went to sleep, rather than continue to fight with my eye all night.
Ah, but the best laid plans, I over slept and as I was laying there debating mentally with what to do, I opted to take myself to lunch instead, so I grabbed some clothes (people have this thing about me walking around in public naked, go figure), did the shower and dress thing and walked to the bus stop to catch a 54 and head over to the Strip District. I opted for some Kelly O's, where I got the meatloaf sandwich w/fries and gravy. Meatloaf is one of those go to foods when I don't know what I want, simply because I never make it for myself. Plus I had the jet pack with me, so I sat at the counter and played some MPQ while eating. I decided I would tackle the day at my own pace, which put me in a very relaxed state of mind. After finishing my lunch, I started walking back to work, not that I was eager to work on my birthday, but I wanted to make a stop before continuing my plans for the day. On the walk back a problem creeped up though, my need for new shoes reared its ugly head once again. The inner soles on my shoes came lose, a common problem for me with shoes, and as I am walking, the sole in the left shoes kept sliding up the back of my ankle, like it was trying to escape my shoe. My mind started racing as to how I could fix this problem in the quickest way possible. There are places I could go shoe shopping, but I really wasn't in the mood to go bus hopping all day to find a mall then I remembered their is a Burlington downtown (one of the few remaining stores), so I ducked in there and snagged a pair of Adidas for $30. Not money I planned on spending, but I consider it a birthday present to myself. So I get the shoes, continue walking into work, where I switch into my new kicks, then I set my lock my backpack up, a,one with my tablet and jet pack and continue with my days plans, which included a trip to the casino.
Seeing as how I wasn't showered with gifts, I did remember if you go to the casino on your birthday you get a certificate for a free buffet which is good for 30 days, and you all know I am all about free stuff. I was disappointed this year that I did not get the email for free pancakes at IHOP, perhaps they cancelled that promotion, but still I figured I would get the free stuff while I could, so I left work and subwayed myself over to the casino. I go to the players club desk, not only did they give me my certificate, they made me a new casino membership card, since my old one was bent. Then I set about plating some slots, I planned on that as well, I set aside $60 I could blow, so I found a Wonder Woman slot machine (images of Lynda Carter spinning by my eyes, far worse fates have befallen far greater men). I hit a bonus on it and cashed out up $60, so now I had more money to play with. If before I had $60 to lose, technically now I had $120, so I head off to the Clue slot machine and I nearly put all $120 into it before hitting a large bonus and basically breaking even. Then I played a couple of slots where I didn't cash out, nothing substantial, maybe $20 in each of them, when I went walking around the casino for another machine to donate too, and I saw the Bejeweled Blitz ma nine was open. I had never played it before, but I am usually pretty good at figuring these things out on the fly. I start playing just $20 so if I don't like it I can walk away, I hit a bonus screen, which turns one of the four progressive jackpots, $275. Now I am thinking even if I p,at this down to $250 I am good, except I kept hitting, I hit the same jackpot a second time, only for $25 this time, as it barely had reset from my last hit. I ended up cashing out at a little over $300, which was more than enough to pay for all of my mischief. Besides I still had to get back to work and do things, which is why they pay me after all.
So I go to work, I fix a register that had been giving me trouble, reload the instant ticket machines and the ATM, balance the lottery and sell the change back to the store, break down the invoices for the accountant, make chicken, tuna and egg salad, and proceed to add a. Inch of items to the register system. I got the new ice cream vendor up to date, our Hostess section and a box full of non scannable items I was left. Dare I say I was almost productive. I even got a call at work from my mom to wish me a happy birthday. Highly unexpected given that since her most recent stroke she has been forgetful of holidays and occasions and what not. But I talked to her while working on my invoices, she was out having dinner at Perkins I do believe. But we talked for about 20 minutes or so and then I got back to getting things done.
I left work around 11pm, came home and was watching TV when it felt like something was in my eye. I couldn't locate any eye lashes or hair or anything, but I was getting all kinds of stringy eye snot, like it would be on my eye lash, I would get it between two fingers and pull, and it would stretch onto my eye ball before I would get it all. Finally I just went to sleep, rather than continue to fight with my eye all night.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
B365v3.34 - Creepers
Creepers, I have been surrounded by them a lot recently, both the nosy, sneaky kind and the less enjoyable skeezy kind.
Of course the tanuki here in the park are creepers, simply because they are all kinds of sneaking up on me while I am blogging. Since I came to the park tonight I have seen at least 4 of them. I brought my offering tonight, potato chips, and when I saw my first one when I sat down, (I am on a bench as opposed to under the pavilion) but I am also sans laptop, just going with the tablet tonight. Anyway, as soon as I sat down I saw one scurry off the top of a garbage can about 25 feet away, re ran up a nearby tree, so I laid out some potato chips and eventually he came back down, ate. Out of the chips, then climbed back into the garbage can and pulled a bag put of it. Holy heck, i just had one almost climb up on my bench, I teased him away with a clue potato chips, but it is becoming apparent that they like to come put for feeding during my late night blogging hours.
I took the opportunity to check my we tracker the other evening, and who should be creeping on my page but someone from the naval intelligence web, which is kind of like the Internet but for government creepers. Now why I should be visited is beyond me, one needs only read my blog to know that intelligence is not a word I would use to describe it.
Lastly, I did not see but did see a skeezy creeper at work the other day. I stepped outside to have a cigarette, which is a common enough occurrence. Those of you who know where I work know that the store is located under a porn shop. But what struck me that particular day was there was a bicycle outside the porn shop entrance. Not just any bicycle, but one of those rentals that are littered throughout Pittsburgh from those UPMC kiosks. So someone had to wake up in the morning and when they were reviewing their checklist of things to do had to put rent a bike to go to the porn shop on their mental list. Mind you, with as much free porn as there is on the web, the last thing I would think of is renting a bike to go get some. But then again we all know I am cheap and I suppose their is a health benefit to biking to the porn shop, but it still strikes me as odd.
Of course the tanuki here in the park are creepers, simply because they are all kinds of sneaking up on me while I am blogging. Since I came to the park tonight I have seen at least 4 of them. I brought my offering tonight, potato chips, and when I saw my first one when I sat down, (I am on a bench as opposed to under the pavilion) but I am also sans laptop, just going with the tablet tonight. Anyway, as soon as I sat down I saw one scurry off the top of a garbage can about 25 feet away, re ran up a nearby tree, so I laid out some potato chips and eventually he came back down, ate. Out of the chips, then climbed back into the garbage can and pulled a bag put of it. Holy heck, i just had one almost climb up on my bench, I teased him away with a clue potato chips, but it is becoming apparent that they like to come put for feeding during my late night blogging hours.
I took the opportunity to check my we tracker the other evening, and who should be creeping on my page but someone from the naval intelligence web, which is kind of like the Internet but for government creepers. Now why I should be visited is beyond me, one needs only read my blog to know that intelligence is not a word I would use to describe it.
Lastly, I did not see but did see a skeezy creeper at work the other day. I stepped outside to have a cigarette, which is a common enough occurrence. Those of you who know where I work know that the store is located under a porn shop. But what struck me that particular day was there was a bicycle outside the porn shop entrance. Not just any bicycle, but one of those rentals that are littered throughout Pittsburgh from those UPMC kiosks. So someone had to wake up in the morning and when they were reviewing their checklist of things to do had to put rent a bike to go to the porn shop on their mental list. Mind you, with as much free porn as there is on the web, the last thing I would think of is renting a bike to go get some. But then again we all know I am cheap and I suppose their is a health benefit to biking to the porn shop, but it still strikes me as odd.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
B365V3.33 - I'd rather not be blind
Well, it has come to that time of year again, when I venture forth and blog from my spot in Schenley Park. It certainly hasn't lost it's creepiness factor at night, my first foray over here earlier this week, to canch up on some hockey posts (hey, I have the regular season done now, playoffs and Stanley Cup win are still forthcoming), it is extremely dark here, I have already been harassed by the tanuki (you probably think they are raccoons, but my night blindedeness and a desire to be more dramatic and make you look up things says they are tanuki). Anyway, two appeared my first night here sitting under the pavilion, now I have had another one here tonight come up to the garbage can not more than 10 feet away. I didn't even see him approach (night blindedness again), I heard him rusting around in the trash can and lowered my laptop screen, so could see better and he took off runnng. There are also some drug dealers on the turnaround road behind me, one car was there when I first got here, then another one appeared and he is sitting there not moving with his lights on.
I am sitting here, locked and loaded as it were, with my Snapple iced tea, the store's Verizon jetpack, which allows me internet access, something I did not have in my possession last year when I blogged from here and probably will not have much longer this year, it is only mine because Brian and/or Verizon hasn't claimed it back, or shut off its access yet. I also have a couple of .50 bags of Doritos, when in the midst of tanuki it is always wise to bring offerings, lest they get all practical jokery on me.
Too add to our spooky ambience, there are flashes of lightning every now and again, it stormed a little while ago, so it is cool outside. To giver you a better understanding of my surroundings, the drug road starts at about my 12 o clock, past a patch of trees and a playground, which isn't being used right now (it is 10:35 pm) and runs to a turnaround almost directly behind me at my 6 o clock. There is a car parked at my 6 and the one with lights on is at my 8. The other half of the clock is framed by the sidewalk, which people bike on and parallel to that is Blvd of the Allies and beyond that more park, including a big weeded overgrown area before giving way to more trees and foot trails. I just heard something crashing through that area a little while ago, but I not in the mood to investigate. I know how those horror movies turn out, young person goes off into the woods to investigate some oddity or noise, next thing you know their body parts are scattered everywhere and the end up on the news. Thanks but no thanks, I will keep my body parts right here if it is all the same.
To tell the truth, I don't know why I am writing tonight, I am not achy or in pain, my crew did an admirable job today at work, (which shocked the hell out of me) and things just seeed to go as right as they could today at work. I went in early, got my numbers done before Brian showed up, then went about helping out on the registers and helping Sammy with the coolers. Today that was no easy task, given the Stanley Cup Parade was today and it runs right in front of our store. The early estimate was there was 400,000 people downtown to see the parade.
Just spotted another tanuki, and if I can spot you being as blind as I currently am, you aren't hiding very well. Also the drug car and my 8 opened and closed a car door, so I should be playing "Psycho Killer" or something on Spotify right now. Have to settle for Smash It Up by The Damned.
Anyway, I was thinking disaster for the parade most of the last two weeks, none of the people I had on had worked a Stanley Cup parade before, I worked the last one in 2009, back in my premanagement days, so I knew he type of ass kicking we were in for, but knowing and doing aren't the same thing. I found some pictures online to show everyone the type of crowd we would be dealing with, and most left with their mouth agape at the prospect. But everyone brought their A game and things went about as smooth as they possible could go. I even took the time to thank everyone for their effort. It is probably as proud of my crew as I could be, especially after how much they had been aggravating me recently. Let's not kid anyone they have still had me in the store 24 days in a row now, but maybe it was seeing the Stanley Cup roll by that lifted my spirits, I am not sure. Or maybe it was the beer I had last night, whatever the case I felt much better today. I do know the business needed a day like today, almost as much as I did.
My mind has been wandering off to next year's vacation a lot recently, as I want to go back to Vancouver enough that I can taste it. I have already started pricing next years trip, or as close as I can get with Expedia which only allows booking about 11 months in advance and I am thinking of going for my birthday next year (June 18th kids, better have your presents bought by now, you are on the clock after all). Expedia only allows me to go to May of 2017 and the hotel I stayed at for a week, with airfare in 2017 comes out to $5000 right now.
Okay, creepy car just pulled up to my 9 o'clock then turned around and headed back to my 6, my body parts may end up in the woods yet. Anyway back to my vacation planning, at that cost I may be switching hotels next time around. good thing i did lots of walking last time and made myself familiar with most of downtown. I now know where I need to get off the subway fro the airport and can meander my way anywhere downtown from there.
Something fell out of the garbage can behind me, not sure if it was due to a tanuki or not as that was the opposite direction in which I was facing. Similarly it is lights out for drug car # 2, so I better call it a night before the world starts creeping up on me. Look at that, turns out there was a third car, way off at my 2, that I never spotted (night blindness again), starting to think this place isn't safe.
I am sitting here, locked and loaded as it were, with my Snapple iced tea, the store's Verizon jetpack, which allows me internet access, something I did not have in my possession last year when I blogged from here and probably will not have much longer this year, it is only mine because Brian and/or Verizon hasn't claimed it back, or shut off its access yet. I also have a couple of .50 bags of Doritos, when in the midst of tanuki it is always wise to bring offerings, lest they get all practical jokery on me.
Too add to our spooky ambience, there are flashes of lightning every now and again, it stormed a little while ago, so it is cool outside. To giver you a better understanding of my surroundings, the drug road starts at about my 12 o clock, past a patch of trees and a playground, which isn't being used right now (it is 10:35 pm) and runs to a turnaround almost directly behind me at my 6 o clock. There is a car parked at my 6 and the one with lights on is at my 8. The other half of the clock is framed by the sidewalk, which people bike on and parallel to that is Blvd of the Allies and beyond that more park, including a big weeded overgrown area before giving way to more trees and foot trails. I just heard something crashing through that area a little while ago, but I not in the mood to investigate. I know how those horror movies turn out, young person goes off into the woods to investigate some oddity or noise, next thing you know their body parts are scattered everywhere and the end up on the news. Thanks but no thanks, I will keep my body parts right here if it is all the same.
To tell the truth, I don't know why I am writing tonight, I am not achy or in pain, my crew did an admirable job today at work, (which shocked the hell out of me) and things just seeed to go as right as they could today at work. I went in early, got my numbers done before Brian showed up, then went about helping out on the registers and helping Sammy with the coolers. Today that was no easy task, given the Stanley Cup Parade was today and it runs right in front of our store. The early estimate was there was 400,000 people downtown to see the parade.
Just spotted another tanuki, and if I can spot you being as blind as I currently am, you aren't hiding very well. Also the drug car and my 8 opened and closed a car door, so I should be playing "Psycho Killer" or something on Spotify right now. Have to settle for Smash It Up by The Damned.
Anyway, I was thinking disaster for the parade most of the last two weeks, none of the people I had on had worked a Stanley Cup parade before, I worked the last one in 2009, back in my premanagement days, so I knew he type of ass kicking we were in for, but knowing and doing aren't the same thing. I found some pictures online to show everyone the type of crowd we would be dealing with, and most left with their mouth agape at the prospect. But everyone brought their A game and things went about as smooth as they possible could go. I even took the time to thank everyone for their effort. It is probably as proud of my crew as I could be, especially after how much they had been aggravating me recently. Let's not kid anyone they have still had me in the store 24 days in a row now, but maybe it was seeing the Stanley Cup roll by that lifted my spirits, I am not sure. Or maybe it was the beer I had last night, whatever the case I felt much better today. I do know the business needed a day like today, almost as much as I did.
My mind has been wandering off to next year's vacation a lot recently, as I want to go back to Vancouver enough that I can taste it. I have already started pricing next years trip, or as close as I can get with Expedia which only allows booking about 11 months in advance and I am thinking of going for my birthday next year (June 18th kids, better have your presents bought by now, you are on the clock after all). Expedia only allows me to go to May of 2017 and the hotel I stayed at for a week, with airfare in 2017 comes out to $5000 right now.
Okay, creepy car just pulled up to my 9 o'clock then turned around and headed back to my 6, my body parts may end up in the woods yet. Anyway back to my vacation planning, at that cost I may be switching hotels next time around. good thing i did lots of walking last time and made myself familiar with most of downtown. I now know where I need to get off the subway fro the airport and can meander my way anywhere downtown from there.
Something fell out of the garbage can behind me, not sure if it was due to a tanuki or not as that was the opposite direction in which I was facing. Similarly it is lights out for drug car # 2, so I better call it a night before the world starts creeping up on me. Look at that, turns out there was a third car, way off at my 2, that I never spotted (night blindness again), starting to think this place isn't safe.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Penguins @ Flyers 04/09/2016
Philadelphia 3 Pittsburgh 1
Nick Bonino - G
Loss snapped Pittsburgh's 8 game winning streak
Nick Bonino - G
Loss snapped Pittsburgh's 8 game winning streak
Penguins @ Capitals 04/07/2016
Pittsburgh 4 Washington 3 OT
Matt Cullen - 2 G
The win clinched home ice advantage for Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs
Matt Cullen - 2 G
The win clinched home ice advantage for Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs
Penguins @ Senators 04/05/2016
Pittsburgh 5 Ottawa 3
Nick Bonino - 3 A
Pittsburgh scored the last 5 goals after falling behind 3-0
Nick Bonino - 3 A
Pittsburgh scored the last 5 goals after falling behind 3-0
Flyers @ Penguins 04/03/2016
Pittsburgh 6 Philadelphia 2
Eric Fehr - 2 G
Pittsburgh has won 12 of their last 13 games
Eric Fehr - 2 G
Pittsburgh has won 12 of their last 13 games
Penguins @ NY Islanders 04/02/2016
Pittsburgh 5 NY Islanders 0
Matt Murray - 24 SV
The shutout was Murray's first in his NHL career
Matt Murray - 24 SV
The shutout was Murray's first in his NHL career
Predators @ Penguins 03/31/2016
Pittsburgh 5 Nashville 2
Phil Kessel - 2 G
Marc-Andre Fleury has won 35 games for the 7th time in his career
No NHL.com video available
Phil Kessel - 2 G
Marc-Andre Fleury has won 35 games for the 7th time in his career
No NHL.com video available
B365V3.32 - Shitty
Once again I find myself sitting at the Squirrel Cage, waiting on a sandwich and fries. After the last week I need this badly.
Monday was complete with another half hour fight with Verizon, their internet setup still wasn't working, though the set up Art and I put together (mostly Art) was. Instead of fixing our internet the first time, Verizon sent us a jetpack, which is basically a wifi hot spot type thing. They offered us free data usage on it until our problem was remedied. Because our in store network is not wifi I had Art pick up a wifi receiver, which we then install on my back office computer. The problem was Brian's computer, which is wifi capable, couldn't get online. Rather it was connected to both the jetpack and the in house network at the same time. So I went back to Brian's desk and disconnected him from the in house network so his computer would only see the jetpack. Not the optimal solution, but it turned out to be a workable one nonetheless. Ideally we just wanted the same setup we had a few weeks ago, before all of our problems started. So we put in a service ticket ( our fourth or fifth one on this project), they are scheduled to come in Tuesday. And Brian is taking Tuesday off, so one more thing that falls on my plate I guess.
Tuesday rolls around, a relatively normal day for the most part, save for flying solo which means everything falls on my shoulders. About 1:30 I get a text message from Verizon saying that our issue has been resolved, to which I replied, "not possible since none of you motherfuckers showed up today. Yes, after 3 weeks of this bullshit, my politeness to Verizon Folk is fleeting to say the least. About 2:00 there is a call from Verizon on the store phone. Of course I am thinking I have rattled some cages with my text, in a positive or a negative manner I am not sure, but if it gets someone to show up all the better. Turns out I wasn't that lucky, it was someone with new sales and service trying to sell us Verizon service. I am thinking, how fucking stupid do you have to be to try to sell us a service which you are currently incapable of providing properly. So Tuesday turned into another long unproductive day.
Wednesday Brian is supposed to come in, so I shoot hi a quick text of some things we need from Restaurant Depot. I get an ok for a reply, so I a figuring all is good, I go back to fixing a problem I noticed when I came in, our touch screen lottery machine stopped working. The video screens wouldn't operate, though I was still getting a light from the ticket scanner. So I know the problem isn't electrical though I double checked the circuit box just to be sure. Now the fact the lottery machine went down and nobody called me is just more proof of the lazy pieces of shit we employ, if it doesn't affect their paycheck they don't give a fuck. I could have had the service call in like 12 hours prior and the problem already solved. Instead I am going to have to take time out of the middle of my day to deal with the technician when he shows up. I get my sales numbers done, still waiting on Brian, so I shoot him a text saying I had the numbers done, presumably this would be the kick in the ass he needs, knowing when he came in he wouldn't be waiting on me for anything. Except he isn't coming in, turns out it was his kids last day of school and he had to pick them up. More shit I could have know hours earlier and planned around. By the end of another long day, I hopped on my bus and headed home. I climbed into bed, took a couple of aspirin for what feels like chronic achiness these days. Most nights I can't sleep without a couple of aspirin, the pain is enough to keep me awake most nights, the only way my sleep is restful is if I have numbed the pain. The aspirin kicks in and I fall asleep for a nap, somewhere in the ballpark of 5:30 to 8:00 pm. I wake up, and a thought crossed my mind that I was supposed to go see Motion City Soundtrack later in the week, I should probably check the dates and then see which buses I have to take to the show. Doing the whole planning thing, is it smarter to leave from work, or go home and change after work. If a bus can get me near the venue from home, then I go home, if a more direct route can be achieved by staying at work, I will pick up a few extra hours. No big thing either way. So I go to check the date and time of the show and it is Wednesday night, starting right about the time I woke up. I thought about throwing some clothes on quickly and rushing out the door, but till I got there and with how shitty my body felt I wouldn't have enjoyed it. I really wanted to go too, it is their farewell tour, no more dates after this one and given I missed their last show in Pittsburgh (sold out, as was this one but I got my ticket early), I really was looking forward to this show. But misery does not like company, at least when I am the miserable one, so I stayed home.
This is where a TV show would have inserted a commercial break, but since I am blogging, for no monetary gain, we shall play on. Thursday rolls around, Brian shows up and get this so does Verizon, or at least our contact at Verizon, Russell. He starts talking to Brian, I explain that I disabled the in house network to Brian's computer in order for him to access the Internet via the jetpack and I am told I am out of the circle of people who should know what is going on. Good luck with that you fucking piece of shit, given I am the only one in the store with the remotest of clues as to our current situation. Ed refuses to learn how to use a computer, and Brian is clueless enough with them that he didn't even know how to use the print icon in his email. So naturally I am the guy you want to keep out of the loop. Eventually we did get the original network up and running, which knocked the credit cards back offline. I put on a quick call to Art, who was able to reset that feature. On the plus side, having fixed the internet connection, I have been walking around with the jetpack all weekend so I can have internet access on my tablet. Until Verizon asks for it back I see no reason we should get use of it. On the not so plus side though, having Verizon in the store set everything else back. It was after 3 pm before they finished and the bank closes at 4pm, plus I still had to go to kinkos and mail out a package to Ed and come back to the store and finish our grocery order.
Friday would turn out to be a relatively normal day, nothing stupid happened. I went in Saturday, it is a day when I do invoices, my GFS order and make my chicken, tuna and egg salad. Except I couldn't, nobody bothered to order eggs, which we are out of, thus putting the kibosh on what I wanted to do and probably costing us another $100 come Monday when we have to order the same things from the guy who brings us deli sides daily. The next person who argues for a $15 an hour minimum wage needs to work with my crew for a week. That will talk them out of that nonsense pretty quickly.
So I do my stuff, stop by the Sq Cage, as referenced at the beginning of this entry, had some lunch and came home. I figured worst case scenario, I could run some errands on Sunday and try resting a bit, in hopes that may help with my nightly achiness. I get up Sunday morning, consider going to breakfast but their is a line at Pamela's and the special (roast beef omelet) is not something I feel like waiting for, so instead I decide to go to Giant Eagle, I had some change I wanted to dump in the Coinstar machine and to grab a couple of things for dinner tonight. I get back from the store and I get a text from work, we only have $60 in fives left. Of course this wouldn't be an issue if the stupid motherfuckers would do what they are to,d at the end of their shift, which is sell back your ones and fives to the bank before making your last drop. Sure enough I go in and go through maybe half of the drops this weekend and find $600 in fives. I sell that back to the bank then text Brian and tell him I am sick of working with people who do not listen, whose idea of work is to come in and play on their fucking cells phones for 8 hours and consider that work. Yeah, my attitude is pretty shitty after 20 straight days at work.
Monday was complete with another half hour fight with Verizon, their internet setup still wasn't working, though the set up Art and I put together (mostly Art) was. Instead of fixing our internet the first time, Verizon sent us a jetpack, which is basically a wifi hot spot type thing. They offered us free data usage on it until our problem was remedied. Because our in store network is not wifi I had Art pick up a wifi receiver, which we then install on my back office computer. The problem was Brian's computer, which is wifi capable, couldn't get online. Rather it was connected to both the jetpack and the in house network at the same time. So I went back to Brian's desk and disconnected him from the in house network so his computer would only see the jetpack. Not the optimal solution, but it turned out to be a workable one nonetheless. Ideally we just wanted the same setup we had a few weeks ago, before all of our problems started. So we put in a service ticket ( our fourth or fifth one on this project), they are scheduled to come in Tuesday. And Brian is taking Tuesday off, so one more thing that falls on my plate I guess.
Tuesday rolls around, a relatively normal day for the most part, save for flying solo which means everything falls on my shoulders. About 1:30 I get a text message from Verizon saying that our issue has been resolved, to which I replied, "not possible since none of you motherfuckers showed up today. Yes, after 3 weeks of this bullshit, my politeness to Verizon Folk is fleeting to say the least. About 2:00 there is a call from Verizon on the store phone. Of course I am thinking I have rattled some cages with my text, in a positive or a negative manner I am not sure, but if it gets someone to show up all the better. Turns out I wasn't that lucky, it was someone with new sales and service trying to sell us Verizon service. I am thinking, how fucking stupid do you have to be to try to sell us a service which you are currently incapable of providing properly. So Tuesday turned into another long unproductive day.
Wednesday Brian is supposed to come in, so I shoot hi a quick text of some things we need from Restaurant Depot. I get an ok for a reply, so I a figuring all is good, I go back to fixing a problem I noticed when I came in, our touch screen lottery machine stopped working. The video screens wouldn't operate, though I was still getting a light from the ticket scanner. So I know the problem isn't electrical though I double checked the circuit box just to be sure. Now the fact the lottery machine went down and nobody called me is just more proof of the lazy pieces of shit we employ, if it doesn't affect their paycheck they don't give a fuck. I could have had the service call in like 12 hours prior and the problem already solved. Instead I am going to have to take time out of the middle of my day to deal with the technician when he shows up. I get my sales numbers done, still waiting on Brian, so I shoot him a text saying I had the numbers done, presumably this would be the kick in the ass he needs, knowing when he came in he wouldn't be waiting on me for anything. Except he isn't coming in, turns out it was his kids last day of school and he had to pick them up. More shit I could have know hours earlier and planned around. By the end of another long day, I hopped on my bus and headed home. I climbed into bed, took a couple of aspirin for what feels like chronic achiness these days. Most nights I can't sleep without a couple of aspirin, the pain is enough to keep me awake most nights, the only way my sleep is restful is if I have numbed the pain. The aspirin kicks in and I fall asleep for a nap, somewhere in the ballpark of 5:30 to 8:00 pm. I wake up, and a thought crossed my mind that I was supposed to go see Motion City Soundtrack later in the week, I should probably check the dates and then see which buses I have to take to the show. Doing the whole planning thing, is it smarter to leave from work, or go home and change after work. If a bus can get me near the venue from home, then I go home, if a more direct route can be achieved by staying at work, I will pick up a few extra hours. No big thing either way. So I go to check the date and time of the show and it is Wednesday night, starting right about the time I woke up. I thought about throwing some clothes on quickly and rushing out the door, but till I got there and with how shitty my body felt I wouldn't have enjoyed it. I really wanted to go too, it is their farewell tour, no more dates after this one and given I missed their last show in Pittsburgh (sold out, as was this one but I got my ticket early), I really was looking forward to this show. But misery does not like company, at least when I am the miserable one, so I stayed home.
This is where a TV show would have inserted a commercial break, but since I am blogging, for no monetary gain, we shall play on. Thursday rolls around, Brian shows up and get this so does Verizon, or at least our contact at Verizon, Russell. He starts talking to Brian, I explain that I disabled the in house network to Brian's computer in order for him to access the Internet via the jetpack and I am told I am out of the circle of people who should know what is going on. Good luck with that you fucking piece of shit, given I am the only one in the store with the remotest of clues as to our current situation. Ed refuses to learn how to use a computer, and Brian is clueless enough with them that he didn't even know how to use the print icon in his email. So naturally I am the guy you want to keep out of the loop. Eventually we did get the original network up and running, which knocked the credit cards back offline. I put on a quick call to Art, who was able to reset that feature. On the plus side, having fixed the internet connection, I have been walking around with the jetpack all weekend so I can have internet access on my tablet. Until Verizon asks for it back I see no reason we should get use of it. On the not so plus side though, having Verizon in the store set everything else back. It was after 3 pm before they finished and the bank closes at 4pm, plus I still had to go to kinkos and mail out a package to Ed and come back to the store and finish our grocery order.
Friday would turn out to be a relatively normal day, nothing stupid happened. I went in Saturday, it is a day when I do invoices, my GFS order and make my chicken, tuna and egg salad. Except I couldn't, nobody bothered to order eggs, which we are out of, thus putting the kibosh on what I wanted to do and probably costing us another $100 come Monday when we have to order the same things from the guy who brings us deli sides daily. The next person who argues for a $15 an hour minimum wage needs to work with my crew for a week. That will talk them out of that nonsense pretty quickly.
So I do my stuff, stop by the Sq Cage, as referenced at the beginning of this entry, had some lunch and came home. I figured worst case scenario, I could run some errands on Sunday and try resting a bit, in hopes that may help with my nightly achiness. I get up Sunday morning, consider going to breakfast but their is a line at Pamela's and the special (roast beef omelet) is not something I feel like waiting for, so instead I decide to go to Giant Eagle, I had some change I wanted to dump in the Coinstar machine and to grab a couple of things for dinner tonight. I get back from the store and I get a text from work, we only have $60 in fives left. Of course this wouldn't be an issue if the stupid motherfuckers would do what they are to,d at the end of their shift, which is sell back your ones and fives to the bank before making your last drop. Sure enough I go in and go through maybe half of the drops this weekend and find $600 in fives. I sell that back to the bank then text Brian and tell him I am sick of working with people who do not listen, whose idea of work is to come in and play on their fucking cells phones for 8 hours and consider that work. Yeah, my attitude is pretty shitty after 20 straight days at work.
Monday, June 6, 2016
B365V3.31 - A Saturday in the life of.........
6:30 Woke up early, I have a truck coming in today, a day late because of the Memorial Day holiday, which means I will be putting it away myself. I asked Sammy if he wanted to come in, he had been complaining about the hours he has been getting, but Sammy said no. So then, it is me up next, though when you complain about hours and then I get you some, future complaints fall on deaf ears from here on out.
8:24. Sitting down to breakfast at Pamela's. I realize it took me almost two hours to get from bed to breakfast, but part of the morning I spent playing MPQ, first clearing out the Deadpool Daily, and after that I played long enough to win the one command point I need to cash in for a legendary character, which ended up being a 4 star X-Force. Depending on how long breakfast takes I should be at work by 10 am I would think. And I really do need to be there after yesterday, when Brian gave me his baseball tickets for Sunday. 4 seats, third base side about 12 rows off of the field. Face value on the tickets is $57 each and if the boss is going to kick you nice prizes like that, probably a good thing to show up and work for a bit?
9:26. Made in downtown, had an egg white omelet with garlic chicken, banana peppers and Swiss cheese for brekkie, then stopped to do my next week's bus pass at the subway station. God forbid, I got something done today before 10 am. Read some more of my book while at breakfast, I fixed the Shelfari thing on my page (since Shelfari no longer exists, it has been replaced by Goodreads).
2:13 So far I have most of my order put away, just some boxes of candy left. I also reloaded the sugar machine next to the coffee, the sugar, sweet and low, creamer and French vanilla creamer were all empty, reloaded the atm, and reloaded the two instant ticket machines. You could stay I have been busy and that is why I haven't been typing the last few hours.
5:15 I think I finished at work, got my orders done and rebuilt two sales sheets from scratch when our system was Verizoned last week. Who knew I would be going through such mental anguish. I had to use algebra and stuff. I am getting out of here now, my head hurts.
6:00 Made it home and to what I call pants off mode, because that is how I am comfiest. So usually after I get home I take off my shoes, put down my bag, dig out my tablet and any munchies I picked up at work and then it is all kinds of "Off with the pants". I am kind of sleepy though, that happens when I wake up way early so I am going to do some online bus scheduling and take a nap. I need to figure out what time I have to be downtown tomorrow to catch the Freeport Road to ride out to Natrona Heights, where my cousin lives. I am meeting him at his place prior to us going to the baseball game tomorrow.
10:12 Making dinner finally. What can I say, on days where I have breakfast I don't get hungry until way late. But now I am making some beef around, because that's the way I roll. Looked up the bus schedule I needed, I have to be downtown about 9 ish to catch the bus I need, then off to meet my cousin, then off to see the Pirates game and then maybe check out some of the TRAF. I think getting out for a baseball game would fall under the #itsmyyear hashtag. So far this year that hashtag has already been slapped on two lottery scratch off wins ($1000, $400), my Vancouver vacation, concerts by Coheed and Cambria and Living Colour and tickets to game 2 of the Eastern Conference final between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. And in less than a week, a Motion City Soundtrack show gets added to that list.
8:24. Sitting down to breakfast at Pamela's. I realize it took me almost two hours to get from bed to breakfast, but part of the morning I spent playing MPQ, first clearing out the Deadpool Daily, and after that I played long enough to win the one command point I need to cash in for a legendary character, which ended up being a 4 star X-Force. Depending on how long breakfast takes I should be at work by 10 am I would think. And I really do need to be there after yesterday, when Brian gave me his baseball tickets for Sunday. 4 seats, third base side about 12 rows off of the field. Face value on the tickets is $57 each and if the boss is going to kick you nice prizes like that, probably a good thing to show up and work for a bit?
9:26. Made in downtown, had an egg white omelet with garlic chicken, banana peppers and Swiss cheese for brekkie, then stopped to do my next week's bus pass at the subway station. God forbid, I got something done today before 10 am. Read some more of my book while at breakfast, I fixed the Shelfari thing on my page (since Shelfari no longer exists, it has been replaced by Goodreads).
2:13 So far I have most of my order put away, just some boxes of candy left. I also reloaded the sugar machine next to the coffee, the sugar, sweet and low, creamer and French vanilla creamer were all empty, reloaded the atm, and reloaded the two instant ticket machines. You could stay I have been busy and that is why I haven't been typing the last few hours.
5:15 I think I finished at work, got my orders done and rebuilt two sales sheets from scratch when our system was Verizoned last week. Who knew I would be going through such mental anguish. I had to use algebra and stuff. I am getting out of here now, my head hurts.
6:00 Made it home and to what I call pants off mode, because that is how I am comfiest. So usually after I get home I take off my shoes, put down my bag, dig out my tablet and any munchies I picked up at work and then it is all kinds of "Off with the pants". I am kind of sleepy though, that happens when I wake up way early so I am going to do some online bus scheduling and take a nap. I need to figure out what time I have to be downtown tomorrow to catch the Freeport Road to ride out to Natrona Heights, where my cousin lives. I am meeting him at his place prior to us going to the baseball game tomorrow.
10:12 Making dinner finally. What can I say, on days where I have breakfast I don't get hungry until way late. But now I am making some beef around, because that's the way I roll. Looked up the bus schedule I needed, I have to be downtown about 9 ish to catch the bus I need, then off to meet my cousin, then off to see the Pirates game and then maybe check out some of the TRAF. I think getting out for a baseball game would fall under the #itsmyyear hashtag. So far this year that hashtag has already been slapped on two lottery scratch off wins ($1000, $400), my Vancouver vacation, concerts by Coheed and Cambria and Living Colour and tickets to game 2 of the Eastern Conference final between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. And in less than a week, a Motion City Soundtrack show gets added to that list.
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