Rave: Maxed out the glute machine (it's like a donkey kick) today at the gym on 10 reps. Stack is 140, plus another 7.5 lbs of adjustable weight on top. Got up to 280 lbs for 10 reps X 3 sets on the leg press, and I did the same 10 X 3 at 220 lbs for calf raise. Pretty good considering about six weeks ago I had never willingly attended a gym in my life. Rant: Upper body strength is still a work in progress. I'm focusing on my back, core and shoulders primarily though, and wanna build up a really solid base there before I start focusing more on chest, arms, neck, that kinda thing. Cardio isn't what it can be, but I used to be really into long distance (brain tumor stopped all that) and my endurance has always been pretty solid -- I can still keep a 7:30 pace for 3 miles even now -- so I'll get more into endurance once everything else evens out. I only have an hour or so to spend at the gym each day, and I'm grateful for that. If I had more time to devote, I'd be able to make more gains quicker.
RAVE: Just got back from a 5 day fishing trip in the mountains of BC. Awesome weather, not many fish, lots of great food and drink. (I brought my portable sous-vide fishing... so we had killer beef tenderloin with a brandy black pepper sauce, prime rib, stuffed pork roast, etc., etc. Needless to say the guys I go fishing with like it when I do the cooking for the trip. I had to turn down many a marriage proposal and blow-job offer... it would have just been awkward since I already knew all of their wives. RAVE: Tons of work done to the house over the last couple of days. The arborist came in and cleaned up a few big trees, and wiped out a ton of 12+ year old shitty shrubbery and other landscaping crap. They come back early next week with the stump grinder, which should be fun. Also had the old water heater preemptively replaced after 15 years of service. Despite the talks around here about the new breed of plastic tanks, opted for a gas-fired on-demand system. It. Fucking. Rocks. RANT: When the plumbers are here removing your old hot water heater, you may not want to keep your box of 1000 peat seedling starters on the floor anywhere near it, because odds are the tank may leak a shit-ton of water and that water may, just may, mind you, get soaked up into the peat seedling box which will then blow up as the seedling pods expand as they absorb up all the water. Muddiest. Desiccant. Ever.
Ugh: Wedding is in a week. So many stupid little shit things to do. So many other peoples’ opinions and expectations I don’t care about but have to manage. Rave? Almost over. Rave: dragging our closest friends/family to the woods with 25 cases of beer and 10 cases of wine for the weekend. I think it will be fun.
RAVE: Get to go to Tokyo for 2 weeks on business... it'll be a fair bit of work, but lots of time for some sightseeing and happy fun time.... on the company dime. Looking forward to it. RANT: Japan is starting into the stupid hot and crazy humid weather season... not looking forward to that.
Rave: All the stress and anxiety with work over the last 6 weeks finally paid off. I’m going to sleep for a week. Rave: My mom doesn’t have cancer after all.
Rant: In the last month I've heard from two mates they have stage 4 bowel cancer. Rant: This year has been course after course after trip and I need a break, hopefully the awesome trip at the end of the year cleared WW2 explosives in the Pacific goes ahead.
Rant: Whoever designed the backup camera in the Chevy SS is a fucking retard, who can't keep up with life in the big city. If this person has imposter syndrome, they're the one who's actually right about it, and should commit suicide. #shiticantpostundermyrealname
Rave: I don't know if I mentioned it before, but about three weeks ago I got a permanent bus route. It's a special ed ( short ) bus, so less kids and I have an aide every day. Which means most days I can focus on my job, driving, instead of having to watch kids while driving and hope I don't get in a crash. Plus, it's less kids, so quieter. And really, the kids are pretty good. Even when they're having an off day it's not nearly as bad as having 60 out of control kids to deal with. It came with a slight pay raise as well. Rave: Just a few more days and I'm off for the Summer. I've got to make a list of shit to get done around here so I'm not sitting around watching TV. I have a book I've been working on, and finished the first draft back in September. It needs to be edited, some rewrites done, and I plan to get that finally finished.
Rant: It's been all heart burn and violent shitting all week. Fuck, man. It's weird too because I haven't felt sick in any other way. I guess my diet hasn't been great, but that's not really unusual. Rant: I think I'm going to have to switch jobs again. I just... can't stand working for someone who acts like an asshole all the time. Like today, he lost something I gave him, so I had to redo something for the third fucking time, and then he finds a way to bitch at me and imply I'm an idiot because something else took slightly longer than he expected. The reason was the fucking detour because of what he fucked up. It's like this every day now, and I feel like our deteriorating relationship is partly my fault, but in all seriousness every coworker I have hates the motherfucker. There's something so cowardly and shitty too about being a belittling asshole towards people that clearly aren't in the position to speak back frankly. I really would rather just stay in one place long term, but I think if this goes on much longer I'm going to start blowing up at him and get fired that way. Rant: I hate, hate, hate looking for jobs. And having to wiggle out excuses to escape for interviews constantly during our busiest season is going to suck. You can only have so many dental appointments. Fuck it, maybe I'll just make up a health issue or something. Rant: This whole week has sucked. Hard. Rave: I'm in a shitty mood and want to find the bright side somewhere. I don't know... 4th of July coming up? Yay?
Rave: I had a job interview today. I had pretty much put a halt on job hunting this year due to loads of vacation coming up. But weirdly, my wife and I were walking around downtown chicago about a week ago and we randomly bump into an old boss of mine. We chatted for a bit and then the next day she sends me a message on Linkedin about an open position in her group. I let her know that aside from some locked in travel, I would have no issues coming in. I figure, what's the harm? Any interview experience is good and if they are willing to work with me on my vacation, then what's the downside? The interview went well, the only potential hiccup could be pay. My current job is a dead end, but it pays well relative to what I do. Accounting salaries always seem like throwing a dart at a dart board and seeing what sticks. Rant?/Rave?: My wife was put up for a "Revaluation of Position" aka promotion recently. That's the rave part. The rant part is that this was months ago, but since she works for the city (she's a librarian) they are taking their sweet fucking time processing it.
Rave: Had our union meeting yesterday to discuss the contract and what was being offered. We got a 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3%, 3.5% raises, starting from last April and that will take us through until April 2022. Provided that everyone voted yes, which i am sure is happening.
RANT: Had to put Rocky to sleep today. I had him since he was 8 weeks old and he just turned 13 June 5. First time I’ve cried in ten years.
Rant: My stripper roommate has twice left the refrigerator door open overnight in the last week. I think that I am going to have to defrost it and see if that will fix the problem of not keeping everything inside cold enough now. She has mostly been pleasant to live with and has never even had anybody over, which I appreciate, but between this and a couple of bad episodes that she has had I am really getting annoyed with her. She is the fourth female roommate in a row that I have had, and I told myself that I never again wanted a straight male roommate since we are lonelier and home much more often, but I may need to rethink that for whenever she moves out. Rant: I have been working a full time and a part time job for nearly 3 years now, and it has really started to catch up with me these last few months. I only work at the day job on Fridays, and it has gotten to the point where I almost always have to take a nap when I get home on Friday evenings. I feel like my production has gone down at my day job as well since I'm so tired all the time, but luckily we have been shifting gears in the projects that we are doing so often that I don't think that it has been an issue. I have been taking some Udemy courses to try to increase my job skills, but I still don't know if it will do any good. I have been rejected in job interviews from pretty much every company in the city that does work in my field. The last few interviews that I have had I really felt have gone better, but I still can't seem to get offers. I'm really ready to move and try to start over fresh, but I doubt that that would yield better results. Rave: Concert calendar through the end of the year: The Rolling Stones, Third Eye Blind and Jimmy Eat World, Korn and Alice in Chains, Blink 182, Noel Gallagher and The Smashing Pumpkins, Mary J. Blige and Nas, Angels & Airwaves, Jenny Lewis, Ingrid Michaelson, and Big Thief!
RAVE: Last month the wife dropped her business card in one of those jars where the restaurant picks one card each month for a free appetizer, dessert or whatever small dish. She gets an email that says she won but instead of an appetizer, she won FOUR entrees. Us and another couple cruise in last night, tell the server and she says we're good to go. My brother and I figure that since the food is free that we're going to order a dinners worth of drinks. We get the bill and the server didn't take the entrees off. My wife sees the manager, approaches him and says "We know we'll need to pay for the drinks but we were supposed to get the four entrees free." He looks it over, tells us to tip the server well and have a nice night. The bill before tip was $175.75 Personal RAVE: This is the restaurant that the wife and I had our first date in so that's always cool. RANT: New York Strip did not sit well and I almost shat myself before I made it home. Might've rolled a few stop signs and exceeded the speed limit on the way home....
Rant: Dad spent the week in the hospital under going tests; still awaiting additional results, but more than likely he has multiple myeloma, a form of cancer of plasma cells. Double Rant: It's one of the more treatable cancers, however his age and overall health diminishes the chance for a favorable recovery.
RANT: We've been getting heavy, localized thunderstorms down here, and I got who knows how many inches of rain in a short period at my shop. Did I mention my shop floods? Because it does. For some reason, my grandfather (I still have control of this place, even after my dad's death) chose to build his farm shop on the lowest point on the property, a judgement error I will never forgive him for. Two inches of rain in one hour will get water all over the floor; 8+ inches (like I got) means I will be dealing with muddy water for days. How bad is it? Take a look for yourself: Spoiler Spoiler That's Jungle Julia's Firebird; needless to say, her LS swap will be on hold for the next week or so. At least it's off the ground. What's even worse is that they're forecasting MORE rain for next week. That's the way rain usually comes in the Valley; we are dry as a bone for most of the year, with crops drying, and then we get slammed with way more water than we can possibly handle. This is one of the many reasons why I call this the asshole of Texas.
Rant: Pacific Pride and Petrocard can die in a fire. While we're at it toss that shell station in the heap too. Fuck em all. Fuck fuck fuck. This must be how that guy felt in Office Space about the copy machine. I'd love to take a sledge hammer and get to it.
Rant: My face blew up over the weekend. I looked like a Puffer fish on one side. Got into a dentist today and they had to do two emergency extractions. Rave: I got it addressed before it was a huge problem and had to be referred to an oral surgeon, and it turns out I have amazing dental insurance so I'll be able to have a partial put in with very little out of pocket. Minor Rave; My dentist was legitimately hot.
Rant: Fuck Tropical Cyclones, Depressions, Storms, and Hurricanes, right? I mean, for fucks sake, we just moved back to our home from The Great Flood of 2016*... now I'm sweating out this storm that's taking aim at us and supposed to dump massive amounts of rain. We've had reports from anywhere from 7"-10" up to 23" (in the early reports) for my area, just east of Baton Rouge. This thing may make landfall as a healthy Cat. 1. Oh, did I mention the Mississippi River has spent a record amount of days above flood stage and is still very high? So nobody knows exactly how storm surge is going to affect the already high river that's trying to dump all it's water into the gulf. They have mandatory evacuations for areas south of New Orleans. Bigger Rant: I spent the hours after work making several runs to get sandbags for both my house and my sister's house...to try to keep out any flash flooding. If we get river or backwater flooding, we'll just get screwed again. Biggest Rant: Now the wife wants us to prep the house like we are going to get water. Elevate what furniture we can, move valuables to the tops of closets or put them in the vehicles in case we need to bug out. ???: I swear on all that is holy, if we do get flooded again, we're moving. I'll find a different part of the country with a different set of natural disasters I'm more comfortable with..or just too dumb to realize how bad they can really be. *everything has to have a name, right?
Rant: You ignore all the flashing clocks in the house from the last power failure. Finally get sick of the flashing lights and reset them all and then the bloody power goes out for just long enough so they start flashing again.