Author: sean

8-2. What do you remember from 1982?

Not much. I remember my mother being pregnant with my brother. For the Millenials in the audience, here’s the Wikipedia rundown:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982

I think I hit on this one after riding back to my MIL’s house over a bridge I remember a trip over as a young kid. I was riding in the backseat of one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_LTD_II

My great aunts in the front seat taking me home after my brother had been in surgery nearby.

I remember a couple of things from 1983. When my ada was still alive, one of the ships we were working on was one he’d dealt with when he was on active duty.

He said something to the effect that he’d loaded ammunition on that ship in Egypt in `983. With a convoy of Russian trucks….

My memory really starts to kicks in about 1984 or 1985. I think that memory of the ride with my great aunts would have been probably early 1985.

I’m curious about the research on memory retention.

1. It’s always kind of odd when a month starts on the last day of the week. That aside, what are you doing this weekend? What would you rather be doing?

Well, relaxing after the infusion yesterday

Purportedly, things get better after I’ve had a few. Th only thing I’m noticing is that I’m hungry. After years of nausea, that’s a fun change.

My wife is making bangers and mash for dinner.

So, what would I rather be doing? Gluttony.

Yes, it’s one of the seven deadly sins, but there’s always penance.

.30. What has you on edge?

This one is really one where I wrote the prompt while I was thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow. It could kill me.

But, then, so could crossing the street.
I have to be better about thinking about probabilities.

Yes, I know this makes me a lousy Dateline viewer; sorry, NBC. It also makes me a really bad sekurity mastar. And why did Apple foist the pox that is autocorrect system-wide on OS X? sigh

But, back to what’s worrying me; what can I say? This is scary stuff. Not that I haven’t done dangerous things in my life, but, I am a bit unnerved (again, no pun intended).

So, what else is up? I’m still very unhappy with my professional situation. There’s not a lot that can be done to remedy that, unfortunately.

I’m excited to see my wife this evening.

twenty-seven. Write about a really expensive restaurant bill you’ve had. Where was it? How many people were in the party? What was really good? What was not-so-good? Do you at all regret it?

I’m trying to think of why, exactly, I came up with this prompt, but…

I’m not going to say, exactly, what my most expensive ever was.

I still haven’t hit the month’s rent in my college apartment yet, so…. Though I was in a party here (lediplomatedc.com), where the entire bill four four people exceeded….but we were all eating, and at least three of us were drinking, so….

There have been some other expensive romps. Normally in DC. Normally with big parties. Normally with plenty of alcohol.

I’m okay with this.

It’s not like we do it often – maybe once a year.

Even so, I feel like restauranteurs are a fuckton more honest than a lot of HR types. seethe

twenty-seven. Write about a really expensive restaurant bill you’ve had. Where was it? How many people were in the party? What was really good? What was not-so-good? Do you at all regret it?

I’m trying to think of why, exactly, I came up with this prompt, but…

I’m not going to say, exactly, what my most expensive ever was.

I still haven’t hit the month’s rent in my college apartment yet, so…. Though I was in a party here (lediplomatedc.com), where the entire bill four four people exceeded….but we were all eating, and at least three of us were drinking, so….

There have been some other expensive romps. Normally in DC. Normally with big parties. Normally with plenty of alcohol.

I’m okay with this.

It’s not like we do it often – maybe once a year.

Even so, I feel like restauranteurs are a fuckton more honest than a lot of HR types. seethe

.26. Describe your work situation. Are you happy with it? Will it change soon?

So, my current work situation is happenstance, and it’s probably not going to happen much longer. Either because I quit, or because it comes to an end.

I’m really hoping for the former, rather than the latter. I’ll spare the particulars of government contracting, but, let’s just say, that despite ressurance from the low-level customer, there hasn’t been anything official published.

Without that official publication, I’m out of a job sometime late next month.

I’m okay that it’s almost done, one way or the other, because I’m incredibly unhappy.

Physically, the job has taken a toll on me. I work in an eighth of a cubicle, and have no way in or out of the facility without someone giving me a ride. As a “reasonable accommodation,” I’m now given a lockbox where I can store my phone, but it really doesn’t do me any good, because I can’t even get a taxi to the work site.

You know, I could write extensively about how bad this has all been, but I’m not going to. It won’t change anything.

So, so much for writing volumnously about this; I don’t want to talk about it.

On to other thing…..

.25. Five months until Christmas. Have you started shopping? What do you think it might be like this year?

No, no shopping yet that I can think of, though I’m sure there’s gifts stowed away for someone already. nods at wife

I really have no idea at all what it’ll be like. It’ll really depend on my work situation, honestly.

If I’m unemployed: Uhh, yeah, I haven’t had a Christmas, yet, as a member of the wonderful Jim Webb-inspired Tidewater economy, but I’d imagine it probably won’t be terribly merry. Scraping by even absent the holidays isn’t exactly easy, but I’d imagine it be easier than if I didn’t where the next month’s bills were coming from. (And, I hope you’re enjoying your cell in Federal Pound-Me-In-The-Ass prison, the guy who recommended me to the four-letter company, setting my salary back to 2007…..)
If I’m still in my own prison, rather like the last two years. In other words, rather meager.
If I’ve signed on to a halfway-decent job, it’ll be some much-needsd time off.
If I stumble back into the job I want, it could be busy, but I think I’ll be happy.

24. It’s the weekend; what are your plans?

Well, tonight, my wife and I are going to Doumar’s. http://www.doumars.com

Barbecue, Cherry Coke, and ice cream. I totally want those. I guess it’s also “National Hot Dog Day,” so I might have one of those there.

Otherwise, it’ll be pretty much the same as things have been since I’ve been in this situation. Resting, running whatever errands I must, and preparing for another week in lockup. I need a haircut.

But, really, it’s about spending time with my wife. I’m relaxed. I sleep better when she’s there.

Who knows what next weekend might be, as I’ll have just had my first Tysabri infusion.

For this, I still need to find writing prompts. I’m tempted to recycle some from NoJoMos of the past, but that seems like a bit of a cop-out.

Maybe inspiration will strike.

Still, the act of writing is important to me. It’s also about getting on a schedule with something other than dragging myself into work……

.23. Nobody liked you, but write a bit about you, when you were 23.

Me at 23?

Hmmm.

Well, things in the world were really upside down after September 11th.
I was still in radio, even though I’d finished college, and should have been digging hard to get into law school.

But, after undergrad school, I was tired.

I’d been going balls-to-the-wall for at least four years, living in a state of perpetual jetlag. I wanted to break free, but I was stuck.

I was also broke. I paid more in Federal Income Tax for 2009 than I grossed in 2002 or 2003. Note that i said, “Federal Income Tax.” That’s not “payroll taxes,” Democrats. That’s actual evil rich guy income tax.

I was also lonely. Living in the middle of the night a lot of the time helped add to the isolation. I had no idea that I’d meet someone who’d make me happy, and I was really starting to get to the point of giving up on it.

The summer I turned 23, and the fall after, I think I spent a lot of my nights off fishing.

In a lot of ways, though, it seems like a completely different life. I was a different person.

1. Why isn’t this Pi day in Europe? What other stupid Internet celebrations do you fail to understand?

I don’t know, and I’m trying to remember my acquaintance who got really upset about my contention that July 22nd is Pi Day.

Wikipedia says that 7/22 is also Pi Day, and that’s on the Internet, so it must be true.

There’s a day for everything, except, maybe, Tony Romo’s Super Bowl victory parade…..

I fell asleep right after I got back to my home-awwy-from-home last night, and ended up sleeping way too long. As a result, I’ve woken up way early this morning.

It happens.

Work is plodding along; I think I just need to trust my instincts a bit more as I go along. I don’t have a lot of productive work years left. If I’m going to be spending them for somebody else, it needs to be the right situation.

This isn’t it.