They say turn it down

I say turn it up. Remember Jimmie the cab Driver(Tao of Steve guy, also male rosanne oppositte some lady and some young girl with big American breasts in "Grounded For Life"). For those of you with your heads up your ass there was this guy and he introduced videos for MTV. Coolio, Fantastic Voyage. Beastie's Sabotage. That was the era. I miss him. It was 1994. I think. Before the Internet "really". Now I walk through the halls and see everyone watching Terry Tate "office linebacker" and lament to the fact I can't pull up good ol Jimmie McBride on Quicktime.

Contigency

I don't really have too much to say today. I was here at 7am for a contingency plan. My phone didn't ring thank God. I had a bunch of funny bits I worked out on the train. Like why men are good at trivia and women are utterly terrible at it. It was funny but somewhat obnoxious. I will work on it maybe if I'm up to it on Friday. I suppose one of the reasons why I'm not too up to it is I just took a "Hobo" shower in the bathroom here at work. It was pretty fun, but the soap is disgusting. I usually enjoy being a slob, not today though. I suppose if I had some real hobo's in the bathroom playing some makeshift tunes I would have really got into it.
I had some pretty stupid observations about conversation and why most people are so inherently bad at it. Sometimes people throw out stuff that is so depressing you want to just throw a flag. I hate that. It happened to me this weekend. I was a 3 sheets to the wind and someone started belting out this insanely depressing story. I couldn't get out of bed the next day I was so depressed...Just kidding I was hungover.

Live From Salt Lake City

Hello all, now I know I am on vacation and somebody else posted an entry for me, but I have access to the net and I am not afraid to use it. I got up this morning at around 5:30 EST and headed to the airport. It was a rather uneventful flight, but that is a good thing.

There was an incident of sorts when we checked our bags. Basically we tried to check our bag with the skis in them and the nice attendant at the counter told us there would be a charge because they were sporting goods. We couldn't believe it and asked how much it was going to cost us. It took her a minute or two and she said the cost was eighty dollars per ski bag. It was ridiculous especially since the round trip flight for each of us came to $150 before taxes and fees. We asked if the fee covered the round trip and she said probably not and there would be another fee for the return trip. Bottom line, it costs more to send my skis round trip to Salt Lake and back then it does for me. In an effort to save money and our dignity we held up the line and put two pairs of skis in each bag and charged the $160 to a credit card. Can you believe that?

We did make it on the plane and successfully landed in Dallas and then in Salt Lake City. One more note in Dallas I was able to test out a tablet PC and it was tres cool. If I needed a new PC and was convinced that I could have a wireless internet connection most of the time I would definitely drop the $2000 for it but alas, I would like to move out and as soon as I get back that is my first priority. All of our luggage made it and we are now prepared to go skiing tomorrow bright and early.

Also as your guide to the world of Dave Matthews I would like to report that despite the apparent news story on CNN.com, which actually wasn't the real CNN, Dave is not dead. I repeat Dave is not dead. I have checked out the official site and they mention false information and say if anything were to happen they would have it up on there site. So have no fear, Dave is still hear.

Time to go to bed, it is 9:00 MST and I am quite tired, trying to hold out for a bit longer so I don't wake up too early. By the way it was 50 degrees here today, SO NICE!!!


I can't believe that we would
lie in our graves
Wondering if we had
spent our living days well
-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to Lie In Our Graves

new sheriff in town

As you all know. Keegan, Master of long commuter style entries is on vacation or sick or something. Point is he's not here. I am his co-worker and since He makes my job a hell of a lot easier when he is here I thought I would chime in and give you lj readers some glove love. Some of you may have met me or know me, but feel free to comment and poke fun, just like it was Keegan.
Now I might need some advice on how to post a picture or I might have time to do it later. If any of the lj savy ckysters etc want to give me advice on this I would appreciate it.
In the case that doesn't happen I look like a jewish version of Tom Hanks, which is odd cause I'm Italian, but I digress.
I didn't think I was going to quote a song, but I can't stand those silly DMB lyrics so I think I might. Stay tuned for tommorow's entry, I have to be here at 7 so I'm assuming I can come up with some good shit while eating my scone.

Back in the garage with my bullshit detector
Carbon monoxide making sure it's effective
People coming up making offers for my life
I just want to stay in the garage...all night
The Clash Garageland off of their UK debut.

Are you sure it wasn't in the 60's yesterday?

I went outside yesterday and it felt so warm, I thought it must be in the fifties or even higher. I was walking around without a jacket on thinking how all of the snow was going to melt. Boy did I get a surprise when the sign at the bank said it was only 27 degrees outside. Apparently it has been extremely cold, it would have to be to make 27 feel like 60. Why do banks have the temperature on their signs? Should we really rely on them as our public meteorological source? Just strikes me as odd.

Believe it or not I wasn't skiing yesterday, so for once I am going to tell you about my weekend day. I left Bethel on Saturday night, because the skiing was not so great. I got home and pretty much just went to bed. Sunday morning I woke up with the intention of watching some tv shows I had taped and just getting some rest for a change. I went downstairs to get some breakfast and came back upstairs and ate it in my room. Little did I know I apparently offended my family because I didn't say "Good Morning!!", my mother lectured me about it later. Yet another reason why I have to move out. About an hour later, my phone began to ring and within twenty minutes I was in the shower and then on my way to play some pond hockey down in Plymouth. So much for getting to the taped shows. I made it down in about an hour and twenty minutes and was skating on Long Pond by 12:15. We proceeded to skate and play hockey for the next four hours or so. I wasn't too happy with how I played, it brought back flashbacks of how bad I really am at hockey, especially on ice skates. I ended up with a couple bumps and bruises, but it was a great time. The exhaustion I felt has surely inspired me to get back on the treadmill and to start working out again.

After leaving Long Pond around six I headed back to The 'Bury to attend a small Super Bowl party at my house. I was hoping for a ton of yummy food, but unfortunately there was only small crap and my stomach was not really in a great mood. So I had some chili, mozzarella sticks, and Sprite and just made my tummy more upset. To be honest I didn't really watch much of the game because I was doing laundry and getting prepared for the big trip tomorrow. The good news is that my packing is done, but I am still unhappy about the bag situation. I have a duffel bag, ski bag and boot bag. Now I want to bring another bag for my laptop, as a carry on, but then I will have four bags and I think that is too much. I have less than twenty four hours to decide what I am going to do.

Maddox has updated his web page with some pretty clever thoughts on our amazing president. Check out his always interesting page George W. Bush readies for war

So this will be my last entry until I can get to a wired machine. I am scared at how many journals entries I will have to read once I get back. I might need an extra vacation day just to catch up on all you crazy LJ'ers, especially Ry with the novel length entries. Have a great week and I will talk to you all on the other side.

We're climbing two by two
To be sure these days continue
These things we cannot change
-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to Two Step

Yummy Hot Chocolate

Jeepers, I am at a loss for words. My commute was average so I don't have anything to say about it. Work just started and I haven't had any good questions yet. I did receive a ton of compliments yesterday for my Jean's Day program. There is a bunch of stuff I have to finish before the big trip to Utah next week, only two more days of work to finish the big project. Can it be done? Only time will tell.

Talk about writer's block, I can't think of anything. I know I have been in a funk, but it is beginning to go away and I should have something to say. Maybe my bad mood helps to provide me with better content for my LJ. I guess I would prefer being in a good mood to great LJ content anyway. Alright I am going to stop now, because I am wasting time, mine and yours. One more entry to go before my Utah trip and then a little vacation from the LJ :o( I will need to take another vacation when I get back just to catch up on all of my friend's LJ's. Have a great weekend everybody!!

I was just wondering if
you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head
won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's
what you want
-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to The Stone

Frozen Angry Commuters

The subject sounds like a cool band name, but really it is just what I saw this morning on the way to work. I arrived at Malden Center and stood there like normal, freezing my ass off. An announcement came of the PA about a disabled train coming through Malden Center. It arrived at the station and let some people off the train and hobbled off towards the yard. Another train finally arrived and we all piled on, and weren't able to pick people up because it was full. At Haymarket the we had to hang out while a medical emergency was tended too. It was the worst especially since it was sooooo cold.

At work yesterday we had a huge fiasco with the whole Jeans Friday thing. They were proposing we skip a week so the Jeans Day would always fall on a payday, so people could remember better. I think they would remember either way, if it stayed the same, we could just say, "Oh we don't get paid this week so it must be Jeans Day." So we ended up receiving two emails, one had an attachment of a Powerpoint presentation with a calendar showing the days. I decided to take it a step further and built a computer program for the group, so they can enter a date and it will tell them if the date is a valid Jean's Day. It is apparently a big hit, many people have sent back positive feedback about the button. Can you believe that?

Finally, I saw Chicago last night and I know Britt is dying to see what I thought. It was a great movie, a ton of fun with some great performances by all of the actors involved. The only thing I didn't like is the apparent voice over for all of the singing. I know the actors did the singing for all of the music, but it just doesn't sync sometimes, which made me question the singing. Besides that I thought the story was great and it wasn't too long. My favorite scene had to be when Billy Flynn(Richard Gere) and Roxie Hart(Renee Zellweger) did the ventriloquist act, to the tune of We Both Reached for the Gun. Check it out if you get a chance even if you aren't a typical movie goer, you are sure to like this one.

How did I come to this?
I dream myself a thousand times around the world,
But I can’t get out of this place

-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to Grey Street

Back to the Movies

I finally saw a movie last night for the first time in ages. The movie I saw was The Hours. Now it has been a while since I have done a review so cut me a little slack. The acting was great and the story though a bit confusing, once seen in its entirety was actually very good. I will admit it was a bit slow and at some points I was left questioning what the movie was actually about. I don't want to give away too much, but for once I think I figured out the central theme of a film. The story basically takes place in three different time periods and each time period revolves around a different woman, who is struggling with her situation. The women are eventually linked and their struggles are all shown to be similar, but with each woman's problem resolved in a different way. I would recommend this to any serious movie goers who want to see some Oscar worthy performances. I don't think the movie itself is worthy of a Best Picture nod, and from the way the Golden Globes turned out it looks like Chicago will probably take the Best Picture Oscar. I hope to see it tonight and see if it really lives up to the hype.

I believe that is all for today. It looks like the cold weather will be here through the end of the week, but look for a nice warm spell at the beginning of next week (highs expected to be in the mid 30's).

Okay one more story, from this morning. I was sitting at my desk tapping away at the keyboard, updating the journal and I received a phone call from somebody who needed help with some database. I told her I would look at it and went back to the journal, within five minutes she called back thanking me for taking care of her issue. The funny thing is that I didn't do a damn thing, gotta love that.

That's my blood on me
Seems poured from the hands of angels
And trickles into the ground
The warehouse so bare and empty
And my hearts numbered beats
Will echo in this empty room
You know and the fear wells in me
And nothing seems big enough to go
Oh I'm goin away
Though i'd love so much to stay

-David John Matthews - Warehouse

My new superhero name Tartar Man

I am glad to say I made it through my dentist's appointment, but there are certainly many things to talk about. First of all I arrived on time and the people at Boston Dental were very nice. I gave the receptionist my dental insurance card and she called me over to tell me my insurance would not cover any work done by them. So I had to decide whether to pay cash ($89) or leave and schedule my appointment somewhere else. I opted for the cash option, now before you say I am crazy, keep in mind that it took me two years to actually get back into a dentist's office. Now with that decision out of the way, I waited to be called on and was taken care of rather quickly. Let the games begin, so first my dental hygenist Beth said something about how my gums have receded and that I need to use a softer toothbrush and floss more often. Point well taken, more floss, softer toothbrush. Now for the torture ;o( The scraping of the plaque and tartar began and within ten minutes Beth had finished my top teeth. Fifteen minutes later, she finally finished the bottom teeth, after a bunch of build up on the back of the front bottom teeth. The poor girl was really getting in their and raking back and forth, I must have lost a pint of blood from the bleeding. Thank god for that little vaccuum thing, otherwise it would have been quite messy. The polishing was rather uneventful and afterwards she actually went back to the back of the front bottom teeth to get at the plaque and tartar still hangin on like barnacles. I think she finally conceded and began the search for cavities. Luckily for her she did not come up empty handed and found two one in each of my upper wisdom teeth. Her recommendation was to either have them pulled or get them filled as soon as possible. She sat me up and told me to rinse and I proceeded to spill listerine all over the floor because laying down for 45 minutes totally screwed with my motor skills. I thanked her for the patience and persistence with the plaque and tartar and headed back to work. Now I just have to find a dentist to pull those wisdom teeth, or at least one that is covered by my insurance.

Top 10 things I learned at the dentist today:
10) I need to find a dentist who accepts my dental plan or change my plan.
9) Get a softer tooth brush and floss.
8) When wisdom teeth get cavities they can be pulled or filled.
7) If the cavity in the wisdom teeth gets too bad when they take it out it could break.
6) The dentist vaccuum tube is the most important tool in the dentist's office.
5) I hate the stupid pick tool more than anything in the world.
4) If I went to the dentist more often they wouldn't have to use the stupid pick tool nearly as much.
3) After laying in the dentist chair for 45 minutes your motor skills are not so great.
2) I have made too much of this appointment.
1) I really need to make sure I go to the dentist every six months.

Do I need to point out that its cold

I don't have much time today to write, since I have my big dentist appointment at 10. Yep as you guess I did go skiing, bringing my total for the year to 27 days. One week until the big Utah ski trip, I can't wait.

Back to Friday, somebody decided to end there life by jumping in front of an Orange Line train. Why does this concern me you may ask? Well it meant I had to try and figure out what was going on and then determine the best way to get to Malden Center. The MBTA website wasn't too helpful, there wasn't one mention of the accident or the fact that they were busing between Back Bay and North Station. I wonder if there is a statistic on train jumpers, if my memory serves me correctly, we average at least two a year in Boston. If these people are going to commit suicide why don't they do it in a more sensational way. Jump off a building or do something to get some news coverage, while you are doing it, but please don't mess up everybody else's commute. Okay now I know this is terrible for me to say, I would certainly encourage people to avoid suicide at all costs, there has to be a better solution. So don't do it!!!

There was one odd note to the subway jumper. The news stations all had helicopters flying over Haymarket. Can somebody tell me why a helicopter would be useful in covering footage of an accident underground?

Maddox has a good strategy for all of the junk mail you probably recieve everyday. Check it out at Junk the Junk.

Alright that is all for now, look for a brief entry after I get back from the dentist.

Broken Bagel Buzzsaw

Sadly this morning the buzzsaw at Finagle A Bagel was busted, so my bagel had to be cut by hand. It felt very different in there without the saw or conveyor belt going, it didn't stop me from getting a sausage bagel sandwich. Yummm!

Last night was rather interesting, I left work around 4:30 and headed for Grafton, I decided to take Route 16 to the Mass Pike instead of driving through the city. I started on 16 and my mom called and told me she wasn't going to be able to go see Some Like It Hot. Now I decided to get on the phone and try to find somebody to take the tickets, and the only person I could think of was Nissa, so I called her and told me she would call back. While I was on the phone I lost track of Route 16 and had no idea where I was going. I knew I was heading Southwest, and eventually would cross 90 or 128, but I don't even know what town I was in. Eventually I made my way to the 128 and found the MassPike. Nissa called back and said she couldn't take the tickets, so unfortunately they just sat at the box office, oh well, you win some you lose some.

I do have a complaint today, they have to do something about the signage near the tolls on the MassPike. You pull up to them and not only do you question how much money you need, you also don't know which lane to go into. The signs are confusing and not ordered in anyway. It should be all FastLanesto the right followed by human toll takers and finally exact change tolls. They just kind of randomly assign the order and it is annoying especially when you are trying to change CD's and find change for the toll. In Maine, they have it set up this way and it is much easier to navigate the Maine Turnpike.

I was just wondering if
you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head
won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's
what you want
-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to The Stone.

People Watching

Bunch of stuff to get through today, last night BoCaNO was super fun because of some exceptional people watching. Let me preface this by saying we went to the Elephant and Castle and the entertainment for the night was a singer, who plays guitar and sings, but is supported by backup music, karaoke style. Okay so the first people were Rick and Tracy, they were singing with the entertainer after consuming what appeared to be more then a few pints of beer. They were hilarious, the singer kept referring to them and would let them take the mic and sing the chorus. I only wish I had the spycam, gotta get some batteries for that thing. The other people we watched were a guy and a girl who appeared to be on a date, it was interesting because the girl would not shut up. They were there for a good three hours and the ratio of her speaking to his was 90/10. I walked by and heard her voice, and believe me her voice was piercing. So we kept tabs on that making sure she was still talking up a storm. When they finally parted ways all the guy got for his attentiveness was a hug and then she just took off. I was stymied about what there relationship was, I am guessing an early date, but I couldn't believe he didn't walk outside with her. Oh well we were entertained.

Speaking of entertainment, I was pleasantly surprised last night to receive an email from the Dave Matthews Band announcement list. They announced a Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds acoustic tour. I haven't been to an acoustic show since my first show back on 1997.01.29. I am going to order tickets to two shows to hopefully ensure I get to go to at least one of them since I will be put into a lottery for the tickets. Check out the schedule Dave & Tim Tour Schedule

Finally, I was listening to the Howard Stern show and they were talking about a Fox show called Man vs. Beast. It was on last night, the basic premise of the show was that humans compete against animals. The events were a hot dog eating contest against a bear, a foot race against a giraffe and a zebra, tug of war with an orangutan, the final event was 44 little people against an elephant to see who could tow an airplane the furthest. It sounded hilarious check out the link above and grab yourself a new desktop picture. I will try to give you a head's up next time it is on, the whole thing is a riot.

I said too much again
To a date over dinner yesterday
-John Mayer
Complete lyrics to My Stupid Mouth

Always with the bagels

Finagle A Bagel was a little short on help this morning, but it didn't stop this guy from being selfish. When I arrived there was only one cashier and this guy apparently ordered three dozen bagels and had to hand pick each friggin bagel, wtf.

Here is the dialogue:
Annoying Guy: First I will have a baker's dozen of chocolate chip.
FAB worker: You have 26 more to go.
Annoying Guy: Okay now six plain and six honey grain.
Annoying Guy ponders his next selection.
Annoying Guy: How about five plain?
FAB worker: Fourteen to go.
Annoying Guy: Hmmm, five sesame seed.
FAB worker: Nine more.
Annoying guy ponders some more, since he has apparently used up the only varieties he has ever seen before.
Annoying Guy: Make the rest cinnamon raisin.

The line was now out the door and I was completely annoyed, seriously it is okay to get what you want, but plan ahead and write it down or even call them and order before you go. Just when I thought the annoyances were over, this other guy is sweet talking the girl who puts the cream cheese on the bagels, and trying to get her to give him a side of cream cheese, despite the fact he ordered and paid for just a plain bagel. Ahh you cheap son of a bitch, pay the extra cash and get cream cheese like everybody else. While I deal with a bunch of stupid people on a daily basis it is no comparison to what I used to deal with when I worked in retail, oh the stories I could tell.

Now for my life, lets see, I went home last night and just did nothing, which was kind of nice. I did talk to Nissa on my way home, it was nice to catch up and hear about her trip to Cleveland. I went over to Britt's to see if she was around, but she was at Jacq's and while my aunt told me to go down there, I decided to go home since I nearly fell asleep at the counter. So overall pretty boring, but looking forward to the upcoming long weekend.

Down from the doorway
and into the street
I hear the morning bell
over and over the pattern repeat
I hear the morning bell
and all the faces cold as stone
in the January chill
you have led me into worlds unknown
and I'm walking there still

-David Gray
Complete lryics to Everytime

Not much to say

I am quite proud of myself because I haven't forgotten my resolutions from yesterday. This morning I was quite productive and set up all my bill payments to hopefully finally grab hold of my financial situation. I need to know how much I can afford to spend on rent. I also called the dentist and scheduled an appointment for next week. It is kind of exciting because this dentist may not give me as much grief as my dentist in Amesbury. Yeah I care about my teeth and I brush everyday, but I don't need to feel guilty about not brushing ten times or day or flossing after every meal. I have this strange feeling I just started a debate about dental hygiene, I guess it is better than arguing about grammar.

On the apartment topic, I want to thank the people who sent apartment listings, answered my silly questions and posted suggestions for me. Also to clarify my reasons for wanting to move out go beyond it being lame, I just feel like it is time for me to be on my own. I understand that living at home is financially logical, but there are certain experiences and things I need to go through that I won't see while under the protection and close guidance of my parents. It is also very frustrating when my mom yells at me for being too loud and how I have to follow the house rules. It has its pros and cons, but the cons are beginning to exceed the pros.


BTW that is not my shower, just a random photo from the net
To stick with the today's subject, I will make this short. I was cleaning the bathroom last night, which is another reason for moving out, not the cleaning, because I know I will have to do that, but at least it will only be my filth and not four other people's filth. Anyway, while scrubbing the tub I wondered if people actually take baths anymore. WHY WOULD ANYBODY TAKE A BATH? It is completely disgusting, bathing in your own filth doesn't appeal to me, just sitting down in the same place where you stand barefoot perturbs me. I would love to hear people's thoughts on this subject.

I never did a single thing that did a single thing to
Change the ugly ways of the world
I didn’t know it felt so right inside
I didn’t know at all

-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to I Did It

Time for a change

Don't worry it is not a change to the journal, I think we finally have that situation resolved. The change is with my life, the other night I was complaining (believe it or not) about how I feel like I am not living up to my potentional and how it is lame that I live at home. The person I was complaining to said, "Only you can make yourself change." Which really struck me as being correct. I have no right to complain about certain aspects of my life since it is my own fault and while I guess technically I can complain to myself, but complaining to somebody else is just putting them in the middle between me and me. So I won't bore you with the details, but the bottom line is that I have decided it is time to move out ASAP (especially since my mom was giving me crap about how I commute to work T vs. Commuter Rail), learn some new computer skills (ie. J2EE and JSP stuff) to further my career at State Street (1 year 10 months til i am vested) and finally get a dental check up. So let the games begin, I am trying to figure out where I want to live, so if anybody has thoughts on where that should be post a comment. I am thinking Newburyport, a lot of you will say close to Boston, but aside from shortening my commute, I don't see any other reason for moving any close.

Changing gears, I was thinking today about how of all the people I know, I say my name the least. Think about it, the only time you say your own name is when introducing yourself or talking to yourself. Seems kind of weird, also on the same note, you probably look at yourself less than most people do (depending on your level of vanity), which is also strange. Think about it how often do you look in a mirror, getting ready in the morning, then every time you go to the bathroom and then when you clean up for the night. Now think about your coworker, they get to look at you for a good part of eight hours depending on how your seats are arranged. Just a thought I had.

If you thought your eyes were sore from staring at your monitor all day check out the links on the It Hurts Page. Check out my favorite screen.

To the LJsters out there, you guys have been busy, I came back from the weekend and had to read about 15 different entries. A couple more friends and I will be coming to work just to read LJs. It is fun reading them though, well except Ry's when he makes digs at Dave. So Ry now its my turn, I think Bjork's singing is similar to either scraping silverware on a plate or running fingernails down a chalkboard. Check out Celebrity Jeopardy with Bjork and Dave. We can both get a laugh out of it.

Mood System Explanation
I have stopped using the canned moods from the LJ and put in the new Keeg mIc/mac mood system. Basically how it works is the micro mood defines how you feel at the current moment on a scale of 1-10, for example if you are running late and are stuck in traffic, your micro mood would be low like a 2. The macro mood defines the basic average micro mood over the last few months and it is on a scale of 1-100. So while you may be having a bad day (low micro) the general state of your life could still by great (high macro). It is gaining support in many circles hopefully it will start a new LJ craze.

Isn't it strange
How we move our lives for another day
Like skipping a beat
-David John Matthews
Complete lyrics to Pig

The Longest Week

The calendar says its Friday, I just can't believe it is finally here. Work has been busy all week, I have worked enough this week to make up for the wasted December I had. The big project I have been working on came to an end yesterday, well I hope so, I ended up scraping data off the mainframe for a total of 100 hours using various computers around the office. There has to be a better way. Total number of records grabbed was over 1.3 million, the first time I tried to import the data, my c drive filled up and I had to delete mp3's, which was very frustrating and then import again. The final output I created turned out to be only 3,500 records. Bottom line is that I worked a ton of hours and gathered a ton of information and only used a fraction of the info in the end. It doesn't matter now though the weekend is almost here, WooHoo!!

It appears that the patrons of the Malden Center station must have read the journal and comments yesterday because everybody except one guy was actually walking up the escalator. Apparently the LJ has a few more readers than I thought, or I just got lucky, probably the latter. I don't think I have any other observations from the T today, it was actually a great commute. We did have another couple of inches of snow at home, it just doesn't stop.

A couple of weeks ago I added a link(Guiltless Grill) to Maddox's article about vegetarians and his always kind thoughts. Well PETA actually replied to his article and he has posted the response on the link below.
PETA Response to Maddox. I don't necessarily agree with his opinions, but find it to be rather amusing to read his commentary.

Have a great weekend everybody, and try to stay warm, it's gonna be wikkid cold.

One sweet world
Around a star is spinning
One sweet world
And in her breath I'm swimming
And here we will rest in peace
-David John Matthews One Sweet World
Complete Lyrics

Happy Birthday Dave!!

I don't have much time for an entry, but I do have a couple of things. First of all today is Dave Matthews birthday, he is now 36 years old. Second, BoCaNO was good last night, relatively typical turnout, good times. they changed the pizza at Boston Beer Works and I think it was better, but I really can't tell. It was nice to get a brief visit from Oscar, despite the fact that he is about as fed up with work as I am. E it was great to finally get to see you this year and tell you some of my boring stories, you have been missing out on in the mornings on the train.

Now for a question to you all. What is the purpose of the escalator? Is it to help us climb stairs faster or is it for us to avoid having to climb stairs? I noticed today at Malden Center that most people just stand there, but my understanding is that you should actually climb the escalator. It was especially frustrating because people were standing on both sides so there wasn't a clear path up for the non lazy people. So am I way off base on this thing, or are these people just doing it wrong?

So far today besides the escalator things are going well, we received another three inches of snow at the home, which btw doesn't haven't parents in it, I actually was able to play the guitar last night at 11PM. Woohoo!! The snow this morning was great for snowballs. I can't wait to have a rematch of the fight from a few weeks ago, I am not going to lose this time, because this time I will be prepared ;o)

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear David
Happy birthday to you

More Snow

After reading people's comments on Monday I have come to the conclusion that I am going to continue the journal in the method I find most satisfying to me. It seems to be the general consensus to do what I want to do and I thank you all for your support. I guess if I keep it how I want, it will actually be much more entertaining, that is how it all started, right.

Well the snow just keeps falling, the weather people are saying it has snowed something like 11 of the last 14 days. It doesn't bother me, I think it looks nice, despite the fact it causes people to drive too cautiously. Which reminds me of how I have changed my commute and didn't say anything about it. I know many of you don't take the commuter rail, but they doubled the cost of parking and in protest I have gone back to the Malden Center Orange Line commute. While the commute now generally takes less time it can be a bit more stressful, a perfect example would be my commute home on Monday. The early bird at the garage is $6, to qualify, you have to be in by 9AM and out by 7PM. I was giving Nissa a ride home from Boston and we were cutting it close and the train just stopped at Wellington, we finally got to Malden Center at 6:57, so I gave her my bag and ran for the station only to realize I left my keys in the bag. I got the keys and took off again and drove down the garage as fast as I could and luckily made it, because if I didn't the price would have tripled to $18. I don't know how they can get away with this, the pricing costs are just sick. Moral of the story is you can't win when it comes to parking.

Something else I just don't understand is work. Over the past couple of weeks, we have had to do these quick projects for the big bosses, involving large amounts of data and very tight deadlines. Now I actually enjoy doing these projects, because ironically I am not a big fan of planning at work, but we finished the projects as requested and we have since done the project over again three times using different methods each time. A major reason for this is because the results of the first version weren't 100% correct, now it was mostly due to the poor source of information we used and not because of our programming. The last couple of times they have requested we use different sources and it has just gotten absurd. I just laugh now when they make me run the same process again, when I know nothing has changed. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Well that is is for now. I hope y'all have a great day and enjoy the lovely snow.

He wakes up in the morning
Does his teeth bite to eat and he's rolling
Never changes a thing
The week ends the week begins
-David John Matthews

Ants Marching Lyrics

So Much To Say

Prepare yourself for one of the longest journal entries I have ever written. If you do read any of this make sure to read about my dilemma at the bottom. Sounds like a pretty scary thing especially since it is a Monday and nobody really has much extra time on those terrible Monday mornings. So here it goes...

New Year's eve started off great, I got out of work and met Sarah in Quincy and we headed up to Amesbury. Unfortunately the traffic was horrible, partly because of some guy in a Cadillac, whose car broke down in the middle lane of the South Station tunnel, how much does that suck? We finally made it to the "Bury" and then made it to Bethel, to add to the mass of seven people who ended up staying at the studio apartment. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, not so happy New Year. I have to agree with SomaKitty because the New Year is the biggest piece of shit holiday. What the hell is the point, some people come up with resolutions which they follow for about two seconds, plus with these resolutions come other expectations you set for yourself. My favorite quote would have to be, "This year will definitely be better than last year," come on now, if your life is that bad do you think the fact you have to buy a new calendar, means things will get better. So my New Year's wasn't exactly great, but they tend to be less than spectacular anyway. The skiing on the 1st was terrible and icy, plus we had a huge group of eight people skiing, which always tends to slow the day down to a crawl. The group thing did actually go well, but sometimes it can just be exhausting trying to get on the lift and counting heads to make sure everybody is there. Now, if you were in this group, don't get the wrong impression and think I hated skiing in the group, because I know damn well that if I wanted to I could have skiied on my own, I am just making an observation. After skiing, I was in a terrible mood, but once I got in the car to give Sarah a ride back to Amesbury, things got a lot better and by the time I returned to Bethel five and a half hours later, I was back to my normal chipper self.

The skiing improved and the number of people staying with us decreased until for about six hours on Friday, we didn't have any guests. Now once again for those of you who stayed up there, I don't care how many people stay with us as long as I have my bed to sleep in and I can go skiing it doesn't make a damn difference to me. It certainly is a bit more difficult with six guests, but generally the guests were considerate and didn't get in my way. Friday was when part two of my vacation began, we had a dinner party for some local folk, Kate was excited to bake using her new cookbook, so we headed to Norway (Maine) for some shopping. We had fish, which I can't stand, but did actually try some (new me), and it wasn't bad, I still don't like the texture though. Okay I am getting tired of writing now, so I will really summarize from here out.

Saturday - We had a giant snow storm which dumped a foot of snow, the skiing was amazing, the first couple hours were the best because it took a while for people to get up there, there is nothing like making first tracks. After a long and exhausting day of skiing, I ended up going to a great dinner at Legends Restaurant, for all you meat lovers I got a giant prime rib which was about a foot and a half across. It was yummy, but I still think I should have had the Curry Chicken. For once I actually had decent timing and as we got out of dinner, they began a fireworks show right on the mountain, it was cool.

Sunday - They groomed the mountain on Sunday and flattened out all of the powder from Saturday, but it didn't take long for it to get pushed around into a nice mess. My legs were exhausted as was my brain from a long week of spending time with a lot of different people. We decided to call it a day relatively early and actually began the trek home at about 2:30. I did end up visiting a friend at the mall on the way home, which was nice since I hadn't seen her in a while. Once I did make it home I was by myself and that was nice, people slowly began to get home and it was nice not to have everybody home all at once. I was psyched to see my mom and chat with her about my crazy weekend. The night ended with a bunch of phone calls, I was on the phone last night for a total of about two and a half hours, I talked so much my cell phone battery went dead, first time that ever happened. I finally went to bed at ten and put the long vacation to rest!!!

Just when you thought it was save to continue surfing the net, I keep going. Now for my complaint, I am considering writing an editorial and sending it to a real newspaper. They doubled the price of parking at the commuter rail station in Newburyport and it has thrown my commute back to Malden. I am not extremely happy about it, but it will save me a bunch of time. It is just annoying that for once I was doing something which was theoretically good for the environment and now I have to get back into my car by myself and pollute. It is kind of annoying plus I won't get to see my train friend E as much. Sorry E :o(

Take this interesting personality test from good old Maddox.


My Dilemma
It appears that there is a party system forming between the readers of this journal. One party which has been coined as the CKY kids, mainly the other LJ people and many of the people I have met through SomaKitty, ie. the college crowd. The other party is the BoCaNosters, who are all the members of BoCaNo and also part of the Bethel Weekend Warrior crew. The problem is that the CKY kids have made requests for shorter and briefer entries, with less lyrics. Now the BoCaNosters enjoy the lyrics and prefer entries where I use complete sentences and tell stories. I have come to understand why
there are two ideas, the CKYsters read several journals and really don't have the time to spend a half hour reading mine, plus they are of the internet age where acronyms, abbreviations and fragmented sentences are a necessity. Now it has caused a slight dilemma for me, do I cater to a particular audience or just keep doing what I want to do. Now what I would like to do is make the journal as honest as possible, though this method would increase my number of readers it may decrease the number of friends I have to write about in the journal. So what I am going to do is ask all of you readers to fight it out in the comments section and after some discussion I will create some sort of hybrid journal. You all stress me out, but not much I can do. So let the games begin, which of you is going to comment first huh, CKYsters or BoCaNosters.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Drive In, Drive Out

I hear more than I like to...
so I boil my head in a sense of humor...
I laugh at what I cannot change...
I throw it all on the pyre again...go then and do this
I'd do it for you...
when all that I want is so badly to be...
by myself again...
it's going to drive me right out of my brain

Drive in drive out I'm leaving
Drive in drive out
I'll come back again
Drive in drive out I'm leaving
Drive in drive out

I don't care if we all turn to waste...
so when I beg...you avoid me...because I smell of dirt... hungry,
hungry boy...you won't leave me all alone...the boy won't go

Sooner or later we're done
Sooner or later I'm gone
because, because
Sooner or later we're gone
Sooner away

Ooh, my head is pounding now...god has all but left me behind...
not a sense of worry...I'm going to drive in and drive out again
Drive in drive out I'm leavin
Drive in drive out I'll come
Drive in drive out I'm leavin
Drive in drive out

I'm over this arrangement...
around here...emptiness
sounded so good...I want to
drive you right into my world

Drive in drive out I'm leavin
Drive in drive out I'll come
Drive in drive out I'm leavin
Drive in drive out