N'awlins at heart

Monday, February 26, 2007

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

"What's the matter Eddie? Does it frighten you?"
"Frighten me? No Frank, I think startled is a better word." ***

Okay, 2 weekends ago I went out with a friend of mine at his first Mardi Gras. And somewhere throughout the night I blacked out. It has never happened before and really caught me off guard. It was pretty funny when I thought about it. All fun and games. Until the following weekend (last weekend) when it happened again. Not something I planned on, expected, or wanted to happen. But it did. I know I have drank more than that on numerous occasions. And I am not impressed.

I'm not sure what suddenly happened but I don't like it. It was enough to make me realize that excessive drinking on my part can be pretty dangerous. My only guess is that I have cut down my drinking drastically, and my body isn't prepared for the amount I took in over the past 2 weekends. Either way, I think I may be cutting down on the weekend drinking too. (Not cutting it out, just down).

Lets go through the list. I changed my diet, switched from regular coke to diet, cut down my weeknight drinking, quit smoking, and now cutting down on the weekend drinking. (Sounds like the recipe for a pretty boring individual). Let's say it all together kids. Can you say "Midlife Crisis"? I know you can. Lets label it a "Wake up call". It just sounds better.

Other than that I did have a really good weekend. Hanging out with W1. We had a really good time. My friend usually comes by at least 1 day each weekend but I think after a week with us during Mardi Gras he needed a weekend to himself. As did we. And it was nice. We got to relax, watch TV, wash the vehicles (which are already covered in pollen again), not worry about places we had to be. (I did work for a few hours on Saturday but that was whenever I felt like strolling in, gosh, and whenever I felt like leaving, gosh again). Sorry. "Gosh" just sounded like it belonged in there.

For any and all of you who may have been or are worried about W1 and I, don't be. We are doing fine. We love and miss you all, and just needed a weekend to get ourselves back on track after the rush of any and every thing that has been going on.

***Ministry "Just like you" (Although they sampled it from somewhere else).

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Mardi Gras

Sorry for the brief hiatus. You know how we do it at Carnival Time! That's right, we were back in New Orleans (but if you're reading this you probably already know that info).

Yes, it was an amazing trip. The new word we learned was Fawesome!!! Think about it if you don't know what it means. I bet you can figure it out. But yes, we had a great time. I brought down a friend who had never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and he absolutely loved it. And not just Mardi Gras, the city itself. He said he couldn't wait to go back again. And I have to say that makes me sort of proud. Proud of family, friends, and the city itself. I already knew my family and friends were the greatest in the world, but I sometimes forget about the city. I have to say though, once you get New Orleans in your soul, it stays there. It's a hard place to leave.

Other than attacking Chia's (brand new) DVD rack, and leaving W1's windows down, I can say I had a great trip too. (And as far as those 2 incidents go, I still stand by "If I don't remember it, it didn't happen"). But I still want to apologise to both of them. Sorry you guys. :(

It was nice to visit with someone who has never been to Mardi Gras, it's like I got to experience it for the first time again too. At least in the sense that we were constantly planning or doing something. There were a few times there that I would have gave in and stayed home, but I knew my friend was excited so, like a trooper, I headed back out. There were a few people I wanted him to meet, but it was pretty busy. Maybe next time.

I rode the bike in to work today and was a little embarrased. I had to actually "dust it off". I mean literally. What is up with that? My poor bike. LOL. That's just a reminder to not neglect her quite so much. I got new riding gloves courtesy of W1 and wanted to try them out. They are Joe Rocket Honda HRC gloves. Very sweet looking. And they felt great too. I can't wait to try them out again. In fact, I think I will right now. See y'all soon. And I'm off...

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Oh Deer.

What's the plural for deer? It's deer isn't it? I think so. Well, that's what I almost hit. Deer. Three of 'em. It was the strangest thing. Now on some of our late trips to and from NOLA I have seen a few deer on the side of the road. But always at night, and usually only when it is cold. But never really up close (which is a good thing). Until today.

It's 12:30 in the afternoon and I was returning from gorging myself on a Pizza Buffet. The main entrance to the complex I work at has a really cool bridge / Dead Man's Curve. It has 15mph signs marking the curve in a lightly wooded area. Basically you go onto a one lane road heading North (12 o'clock) then it curves to the right, goes straight for a few feet then another sharp right so you end up heading West (9 o'clock) going on an overpass crossing the highway you were just on by the time you're done. (It's a blast on the bike. I actually had a Miata trying to ride my ass and pass me in the curve one morning. All I can say is "I love when I hit that power band". That guy was pissed when I nailed it, but he was pissed way back there.)

So anyway, I was just coming out of the first curve (doing 15mph of course) and a freakin deer ran right in front of me. I mean he was about 2 feet from my front bumper. I hit the brakes to slow down and didn't hit him. Once I noticed he was across the road I let off the brake (I was still going about 5-10mph) and I had to immediately hit it again as 2 more deer ran across my path. They were even closer. I came to a full stop and thought "Wow, that was pretty cool". Once I saw there were no more deer I hit the gas. I came around the second curve just in time to have all 3 deer run right in front of me again. I thought "Wow, not so cool the second time I almost hit these bastards".

I do feel a little bit bad for them. Apparently a few years ago the road to my job was a 2 lane street, now it's a 4 lane highway in each direction with 3 lane feeder roads (Frontage Rd.). The area these deer were running from is being bulldozed to build a strip mall. It seriously reminds me of the SouthPark Rainforest Episode. Looking the direction these deer came from I saw trees maybe 10 deep, then bulldozers and construction workers. It was almost sad (However not as sad as I would have been running into a deer, that can't be good for your car). (Oh yeah, by the way, I was in the truck, not on the bike. Probably an important piece of info there.)

Well, other than that, nothing too exciting going on today. Happy Valentines Day everyone. And for everyone out there who says it's just a commercial holiday I say "Who cares? Don't be a cheap ass! Splurge $5 on a freakin card and try to make someone who loves you happy!"

This is like a dream...

I think I know what they mean about having strange dreams. This is after the "quit smoking" medication. W1 and I have been waking up throughout the night and having strange dreams. The down side is, I can never remember my dreams. But I made a conscious effort last night to see exactly what the Hell is going on. And it may have worked.

I woke up at 2:27 this morning. Out of nowhere, just awake. And what was I thinking. Apparently I was dreaming and whatever I was doing I had finished. It was either buying cigarettes or throwing away the last pack, or something. I definitely remember it involving cigarettes. But the main thing was, I had just finished doing whatever it was. Like my body said "Ok, story's done, you can wake up now". I eventually went back to sleep trying to remember as much as I could.

Once again, I woke up at 4:22. This one I remember a little more. I had just finished the last cigarette in my last pack. Then immediately, wide awake. So now I am trying to remember my previous dream and the one I just had. All while I'm trying to figure out why I'm waking up every 2 hours or so. But once again I fell back asleep. 6:22 AM, and I woke up again. This time I have no idea what I was dreaming but I am quite sure I had just finished that particular dream. I immediately tried to recall the 2 previous dreams, which is why I couldn't remember the last one.

So the 2 things I am noticing are, I wake up immediately after my dream has ended, and all the dreams seem to be about cigarettes or smoking. Oh well, life goes on. This too shall pass...

Monday, February 12, 2007

Look out weekend cause here I come....

Well, not much happened last weekend. Pretty relaxing, hanging out at home, smoking as much as we could before the weekend was over. Today is the day. Quitting smoking today. How is that working out for ya? Not too well. LOL.

I thought it would be fairly easy since the medicine seems to cut the cravings. But it really isn't. I like to smoke. I enjoy it. And I want to keep doing it. Ot's okay though, I just have to set it in my mind that I'm not going to smoke any more.

Work is dragging along as usual. Installing a copy of Windows 2000 to test with. And this is usually the time I would go smoke because it takes forever to install. And this is on some really fast machines. A lot better than Windows 2000 was designed for. Actually, I think most of the time is wasted formatting the drive. But I'm not going to get into all that.

It probably doesn't help that I slept like crap last night. I don't know what was up. I just kept waking up all night, and couldn't get comfortable. The cat, on the other hand didn't look like she had any trouble getting comfortable. She was all sprawled out on the counch during one of my many walks through the apartment at all hours of the morning. I think it's the medicine that we are taking. I've been having weird dreams (listed as a side effect), I just can't remember any of them. Maybe I should have written them down when I woke up. If I even remembered then.

Exactly a week away from the Crawfish boil. I can't wait. I'll make that 6 hour each way drive every weekend for a Crawfish boil. (Hint Hint). I'm just saying. LOL. It should be a really good time though. I think my friend will enjoy it too.

I can't believe S1+o (Ha ha, you'll have to use the acronyms from Life on the (L)edge and do some translations to figure that one out. Ha ha. "If a train leaves Boston at 6:23 AM traveling at 34mph..." Okay, it's Sister one and only. Gosh!) misplaced her cute pink iPod. We are going to have to track it down. I have a bunch more music I went through over the weekend.

Okay, I guess that's it for now.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Snickers, it satifies?

You're damn right it does!!! Indeed, it seems that Snickers has gotten their selves in trouble with this years Super Bowl Ad. But do you know what? Homophobic or not, it doesn't make Snickers any less delicious. Trust me, I know. All the hype had me thinking about (and more importantly craving) this delicious treat. So I bought one. Apparently advertising works. Who would have thought?

This country has become way too Politically Correct. It's disgusting. Where did our rights go? I understand people think this commercial is homophobic. And they are probably right. But who cares? In America, you're allowed to have your own opinions. And the Snickers marketing team is paid to poke fun at the "in" thing. I am in no way anti-gay or homophobic. I have gay friends. I even have friends who are furries. Try that on for size. But who am I to judge? I have no right. My philosophy has always been "Live and let live". People are more than welcome to be scared of, or hate, or love whomever they want. Just leave me alone.

Politically Incorrect? Snickers? Sure. Whatever makes you sleep better at night. Boycott them. But while you're at it, why don't you ban your kids from watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. You want politically incorrect? Google "Tokio Jokio" (A nice 1943 Warner Brothers cartoon). Or even "Scrub me mama with a boogie beat" (A Walter Lantz 1941 cartoon). Now let the boycott begin. No Saturday Morning Cartoons! Get out and get some exercise.

People need to quit judging other people! If 2 guys or 2 women marry each other, what effect does it have on you? What effect does it have on me? Absolutely none. They're not going to quit doing what they are doing because they can't get married. Right? Yes, I went to Catholic School growing up and I understand, as per the church, that it is wrong. But once again, on that mindset, they're going to Hell. So you won't see them when you're in Heaven. That means you win, right? Now check this out. Sorry, but I got a laugh out of it.

The bottom line is, quit getting offended! Sometimes you have to sit back and laugh. People are going to do what they are going to do. And that's their right. Gotta love The Constitution. A homophobic commercial, a violent cartoon, a racist cartoon; These things happen. People are going to get offended. And guess what? That's their right too. But it still doesn't make my Snickers any less delicious.

Phony...

Okay, yeah. That last post was a little phony. But that's okay. It had to be done. Ha Ha. W1 sent me a video (Mac commercial) that describes my "Are you sure" post from earlier. Check it out here when you get a chance. They hit the nail on the head with this one.

So yesterday morning I'm heading to my truck. I glance over at my bike as I passed it. Then I glanced up at the sky. I stopped in my tracks, turned around, went inside and grabbed my helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, and bike key. It was just too gorgeous of a day to be in a "cage". And it was a great ride. Too and from work. And I even got to ride it to lunch. Bonus!

From what I hear (and have responded to via email) there's gonna be a Crawfish Boil on Lundi Gras. I can't wait. As I was quoted on "Taunt Society" as saying, "I am going to kill somebody if we don't have a crawfish boil soon." (In the "Land of the free" post). Looks like my voice has been heard. Ok, actually I think it was H2's voice, but I still get to reap the benefits. And that's what counts, right?

I ran out and picked up some cheap headphones today. I'm just tired of listening to my coworkers whine so I thought maybe some music would drown them out. And the cord was way too short on my old headphones. The new ones have a 16' cord. I don't think I'll have any problems with that.

Windows Vista came out this week. I've been testing it for a while at work. I have to admit, there are a few cute "bells and whistles" and there are also bad points (see video linked earlier in the post). I had to laugh though. Yesterday morning before work I went on weather.com to see if it was a riding day. They had an ad for Windows Vista on the main page. I decided to click on it and show W1 a few of the features. I clicked the walkthrough (or whatever the Hell it was) and can you guess what happened? Yep, you guessed it. It locked up my browser. The rest of the machine worked fine, but the browser was locked up. No closing with the big red X, no right click and close, no back, nothing. Now, if the "ad" showing off the features locked up the browser on my brand new "Vista Ready" laptop, do you think I'm gonna rush right out and buy a copy? I think not.

Talk about boring huh? Sorry folks, that's what I gots today! And I'm at work which pretty much equals boring. So, until next time...

Monday, February 05, 2007

Valentines Day...

Everybody's getting Chinese Food.

Confused yet?

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Folks in Hazzard County.....

So I'm heading home from work the other day. And I saw a car driving on the highway with their hazard lights on. They were weaving through traffic doing about 200mph. Ok, that was a little exaggeration, but they were hauling ass. They were definitely being a hazard to everyone around them. I'm not sure if that's what the hazard lights are for, but I guess they worked.

A few miles up the road there was another car driving with Hazard Lights on. Only they were going about 40mph. But they were changing lanes randomly too. Again, a hazard to anyone on the road. Although maybe that car just had both blinkers on because they weren't sure which lane they would be randomly changing into.

Okay, that story was more interesting when I was thinking about it. I may have forgotten some of the details that made it interesting over the last few days. Sorry about that.

I've been missing my bike like crazy, so Friday when it wasn't raining I decided to go for it. It was around 48 degrees. I opened the front door and thought "Oh, that's a little chilly" (at 0mph with no wind chill). So then I decided I'd be okay with a work shirt, a flannel, and my mesh jacket. I have winter riding gloves but if it isn't cold enough they make my hands sweat. So, to top off my super warm outfit I put on my riding gloves with the air vents on the top. They really help blow cool air on the top of your hands.

I did not quite realize the error of my ways until I was about half way to work. That was about the time I felt the frostbite burning on my thighs. Never again will I make that mistake (yeah right). I just kept thinking "It was below freezing at Deal's Gap" and we survived that. But I was also wearing a tee shirt, 2 flannels, a sweatshirt, A mask, a neck warmer, 2 pairs of jeans, and 2 pairs of socks. And only going about 30mph.

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday so I guess I'll be watching the game. We are going to a party near my work. Hopefully it's fun. Until next time (which I will try to make sooner than this one)...