rew | ff

Friday, April 16, 2004

I had a really funny exchange with one of the mechanics at work today. He's one of the nicer guys, and I was sort of watching him work on a truck while it was a bit slow. Across the street a woman with huge boobs walked by, and we both saw her at about the same time. He said something like, "Whoa, look at that," and I waited for the crude or sexist comment I was sure would follow. Then, completely seriously and sort of offhandedly, he was like, "I'm not all that into breast implants myself, but for some women it's really just a self-esteem issue, and if it makes them feel better about themselves, then that's all that matters. And if whoever they're with likes it, too, so much the better." He was being 100% genuine, and I wanted to pump my fist like he'd just homered off of Mariano Rivera. It was hilarious and awesome.

At school we struggled through 6 hours on electrical wiring, which I can sum up here in one sentence: there are wires, and electricity flows through them. Don't touch them, and don't get them wet (ok, two sentences). I had possibly the most extreme telephone reversal of my life when a call I thought was from the IRS turned out to be from Keely. As nice as it was to hear from her, I suppose it doesn't rule out the possibility that the IRS will in fact be calling me sometime soon.

While we were in class the parents arrived. And not just mine and Sean's... Dane's dad came down, too. Just coincidence that it's the same weekend. Sean and I went straight to their hotel after school and then out to a late dinner. I coughed the whole time and probably spread my die-hard virus to half of Phoenix. It was good to see the 'rents, and too bad they couldn't bring the crazy dog down with them.

Hopefully you filed your taxes by now, April 15, 2004

Sorry to be redundant here, but I'm still too sick to do much with the 'ol blog. I think I have what I call "new york sickness," since the last time I got it was in New York. On the plus side, having the new york sickness, a fever, and a brain-rattling cough all at once makes it easier to confuse Phoenix with Brooklyn. On the minus side, the last time I had this it took over two weeks to cure itself. And it semi-ruined my New York visit, while it is poised to do the same here to my parents' visit to Phoenix (as if any trip to Phoenix weren't ruined already).

Speaking of plus and minus sides, does it bother anyone else that in cars electricity is designated as flowing from positive to negative, while in the real world anyone who took high school physics or chemistry knows it actually flows from negative to positive? Seeing as how electrons, and hence electricity, are negatively charged and all? Anyone?

Side note: I heard on NPR the other day that there have been extensive studies that prove that neither Vitamin C nor echinacea do a goddamn thing to help with anything, let alone a cold. My mom and Anna will both be upset to read this, but this is NPR we're talking about here. What they say goes. Even if my co-workers do make fun of me for listening to it (God forbid I would want to be informed about the world around me rather than listen to horrendous pop music that makes me want to go on a killing spree). Still, I will continue to drink orange juice when I'm sick, if for no other reason than that ingesting gallons of acidic liquid must have some kind of negative effect on all the cells in your body, viruses included.

Hey, look at that, three paragraphs. Maybe I'm not so sick after all. What's wrong with Pedro Martinez, by the way? Can we blame this on Grady Little too? I mean honestly, there are film students at Hampshire College who would have known to pull him out of that game. WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!!!!

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Once again I'm not feeling too well, but I did get my taxes sent in. Or so the internet is telling me. I remember the good 'ol days when I would be pissed that the post office didn't have the form as of January 1st so I could file immediately and get my refund... maybe in a couple of years.

With this cold it's hard to function on the 5 hours or so of sleep we get each night. I'm just hoping Sean and Dane don't catch it, but with me coughing almost constantly they probably will.

Goddamn that Kobe Bryant. Goddamn him straight to hell.

Since I'm not really up to writing too much right now, here are some funny pictures of me and Sean. Dane was already asleep, or I'd have one of him up, too. Sean was trying to cook some chicken and it got a wee bit burned.

Dave and Sean. So hot right now.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Too sick to write tonight... blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Must... file....taxes.... (cough).

Monday, April 12, 2004

Today Sean and I took my car for our mini-carpool to work and school, and it did fine. I am trying to judge how many of the little puddles of transmission fluid that show up on the ground every time I park the car will eventually add up to 2 quarts. That's when I'll know it's out. Probably should add some before then. I met a guy at work (driving him home after he dropped his car off) who was a Marine in WWII. He had a Chrysler minivan like the one made famous in the hit film "Death Seat." It seems like someone who survived WWII deserves better. I had to resist the urge to tell him that back in Portland Ken and I used to fix cars just like his for free, but it's probably for the best that I didn't.

Sean was telling me a funny story about someone he works with the other day... apparently this guy's friend asked him to come look at his car, which had begun making a disturbing knocking noise from the bottom end of the engine. The guy went over there, got under the car and listened to it, and it sounded terrible. First thing being first, he decided to check the oil. It was bone dry. He said to his friend something to the effect of "Holy shit, it's completely out of oil!" His friend responded, "Yeah, but it never made this noise before when it ran out of oil!" Poor car.

After work and school we tested my car on the freeway, and as long as the leaky 4-speed is in there, I think I'd like to avoid it for the time being. I managed to talk to Mark, Vicky and my parents all before my first game of basketball. I've got food to make and a lot of emails to write, so I'll be on my way.

Sunday, April 11th, 2004

"Let me tell you how it will be / There's one for you, nineteen for me / Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman." - The Beatles. Why were the Beatles complaining about taxes, anyway?

First thing was first today - I did my taxes. I ended up owing around $500 total, state and federal. It speaks volumes about my financial situation and recent dealings with the IRS that I was thrilled to discover this. It pales in comparison to the almost $4000 I owed last year and is far less than I anticipated. I'm still in horrendous finanical condition, but it's a little bit better than I'd figured on at this point.

Awww, puppies and kittens!

I've been meaning to get one of those windshield shades for my car now that it's running, and when Dane and I were at K-mart today I grabbed the cheapest one without really looking at it. It wasn't until we got home and I was unwrapping it that I realized that it has a giant cutsie picture of a golden retriever puppy and a kitten kissing each other on it. I thought, "I'll just flip it around," but on the other side it says "NEED HELP CALL POLICE" in giant red letters. This is a good lesson in how you can take thrifty spending habits a little bit too far. I should have ponied up the extra couple of bucks for a milar one that just reflects the sunlight and has no picture on it whatsoever.

I'm definitely getting sick, but hopefully it'll just be a cold and will be over with by the time Sean's and my parents get here next weekend. I finally found some medicine I could afford and have been fighting a headache and sore throat all day. We took it easy today, going folfing at a new course over in Scottsdale. Then just typical stuff like laundry, TV, etc. I feel like crap so I'm going to get to bed.

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Today we all three had to work from around 7am to around 4pm. I got to drive my own car to work for the first time in probably more than a year (I rode the bus to work when I was in Portland). I have to admit that I'm not hating my job quite as much these days... I still can't stand my tweaker boss, but now that I've developed some new strategies for dealing with him (ignoring him, glaring at him and making him feel stupid, etc.), I feel more sorry for him than anything. It's hard to keep hating someone so ridiculous, especially when everyone else hates him too. This is not to say that I wouldn't still be pleased to hear that he had been abducted by aliens, espeailly the kind who use lots of probes, but I'm not letting him get to me quite as much.

After work I realized that I'm getting sick. Sean and I slipped on our Kevlar vests and went to Albertsons to get some medicine, only to discover that medicine is way too expensive for guys like us, so I bought some orange juice instead. We all bummed around the house watching baseball and napping until it was time to go out, at which point we decided to say fuck it and just rented Rushmore and stayed in. After the movie Dane went to bed and Sean and I stayed up late talking about such varied topics as baseball, girls and Wes Anderson. Even so, we were both in bed before 1am and got some desperately needed sleep.

© Long Shot Films 2004