Category: Summer Writing

Was it a very good year when you were seventeen?

I’m trying to really think back and remember. Good things? I graduated high school. I had my first really long-term girlfriend. What else, hmmmm…..I started doing radio stuff some, which was something I’d dreamed about since i was very young. I remember hiding under the covers with my AM He-Man radio to listen to Royals’ games.

I’m not sure what else to say. Not going to go all Frank Sinatra, and say “it was a very good year.” It was just things happening, really. Due course, etc. I chose where I was going to go to college.

It does seem like a bit of a blur (says the guy with permanently-blurry vision, but….).

I wasn’t writing then. Maybe if I’d written then I might remember more now. Who knows?

So, for tomorrow, because I’m tired, and a bit miffed about losing my Fitbit, it’s open write day. I’m happy so far that I’ve been able to stick with this this long. I can rattle on when I need to, even if I have trouble reading what I wrote.

Answers in italics are unchanged.

1. What’s your height? 6’0″
2. Do you have a pool at your house? I live in an apartment. No.
3. Do you own a gun? One that blows bubbles, yes.
4. Favorite color? Blue
5. Do you get nervous before a doctor’s appointment? Not really as much as I used to. Just one of those things at this point.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Yes, please.
7. What’s your favorite Christmas song? Last couple of years I’ve been partial to Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water. Sorry, General Ripper, sir.
9. Can you do push ups? I haven’t tried.
10. What would you name your daughter if you were about to have one? Marie. I’m a Cajun. It’s kind of a requirement. If, in the very unlikely event we have a kid, I’d like to give him/her a French first name to go along with my French surname. But the chances of fathering a daughter aren’t great; out of 20 kids in the past three generations, there’s only two girls.
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding band.
12. Favorite magazine: Reason
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? This is a joke, right?
14. Favorite candy? I really don’t know at this point. Candy hasn’t been big on my menu as of late. If I have to choose, it’s normally something like Peanut M&Ms.
15. Three adjectives to describe yourself? Old. Pedantic. Numb.
16. Middle Name? Matthew.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? 1. I’m tired. 2. But not terribly sleepy. 3. Why come I have no fantasy football invites yet?
18. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Soda. Gin. Beer.. Although bourbon and rye have probably surpassed Gin. As has coffee. And, for whatever reason, hot weather makes iced tea actually tolerable. I used to hate it when I was a kid.
19. What is your favorite cartoon? Beavis and Butthead.
20. Do you recycle? When it’s not a hassle to do so.
21. Current worry? Getting to the office in the morning.
22. Best thing in the WHOLE WORLD? my wife.
23. Favorite place to be? At home with my wife, something good-smelling cooking, and no work the next day.
24. What do you think of this statement: There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t like cats, dogs and children? Stereotypes are often wrong. But, yes, those cats would eat you; they’re just not big enough.
25. Where would you like to go? There.
26. Do you own slippers? Yes. My wife really doesn’t like me to walk around in the stairwell barefoot. (That doesn’t mean I don’t when I’m just doing something like taking out the trash….)
27. What color shirt are you wearing? White.
28. Do you burn or tan? Tan. Mostly.
29. What color is your couch? Black.
30. Would you be a pirate? No.
31. Give a plug for your favorite cause… MS sucks. Find out what triggers it, then figure out how to cure it.
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? N/A.
33. Do you like to go camping? Probably not, these days. I’ve grown kind of attached to indoor plumbing.
34. Who is the most physically beautiful person you know? I have no idea, really.
35. Funniest movie ever? Dr. Strangelove.
36. Best bed sheets as a child? Transformers
37. Worst physical pain you’ve ever had? Didn’t I just write about this? Bad tooth + airplane == zomgpain.
38. Do you think Tyra Banks is fat? Fat? No. Possibly a Grey? Yes.
39. How many TVs do you have in your house? Two. Only one is hooked up. I would like one in the bedroom again.
40. Who would you like to spend the day with today if you could? My wife.
41. Who would you like to spend the night with tonight if you could? My wife. Duh. Though she may be up late watching the olympics.
42. Do you consider yourself a nosy person? Not really.
43. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Vanilla. This has been a source of marital discord recently. Vanilla is a flavor, damnit! In fact, it’s the finest of them.
44. What is your favorite book? I really don’t know at this point.
45. What is your favorite chocolate? Belgian.
46. Favorite alcoholic beverage? Sazerac.
47. What song do you want played at your funeral? I don’t’ have anything in particular I want.
48. What were you doing at 12AM last night? Sleeping..
49. On a scale of 1-10 how wonderful do you think you are? I think my actions warrant at least a hearty 6.5.

Tomorrow is seventeen, which was a very good year. Was it a very good year when you were seventeen?

Mistakes. Name your biggest ones

1. That, though visually-stunning, a mistake
2. As I’ve said a few times, not angling for more money from the four-letter company
3. That trip this morning

I’ll write a bit about number three.  I told the scheduler I needed to be at my work site by 7:30 in the morning.  They scheduled me for a ride between 6:45 and 7:15.  Unless they picked me up at the very end of that time, I’d have made it in by 7:30.

They picked me up at 7:08.  Then there were two pickups, and a drop-off before they took me in.

I didn’t get to the office until 8:15.  So, yes, I spent more than an hour in the car for a trip that takes twenty minutes.

Ummm….

Life would be a lot simpler if I could still drive.

I’m going to recycle for tomorrow.

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yawn survey – 11/11/2011

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1. What’s your height? 6‘0”
2. Do you have a pool at your house? I live in an apartment. No.
3. Do you own a gun? One that blows bubbles, yes.
4. Favorite color? Blue
5. Do you get nervous before a doctor’s appointment? Not as much as I used to, but with all the fucked up things docs have done to me the past two years, I’ve got good reason.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Serve their purpose
7. What’s your favorite Christmas song? “Santa’s got a mullet.”
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Something cold for pills. Coffee later.
9. Can you do push ups? No idea. My eyes get weird when I exercise.
10. What would you name your daughter if you were about to have one? Marie. I’m a Cajun. It’s kind of a requirement. If, in the very unlikely event we have a kid, I’d like to give him/her a French first name to go along with my French surname. But the chances of fathering a daughter aren’t great; out of 20 kids in the past three generations, there’s only two girls.
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding band.
12. Favorite magazine: Reason
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? This is a joke, right?
14. Favorite candy? Caramel. Or taffy.
15. Three adjectives to describe yourself? Old. Pedantic. Numb.
16. Middle Name? Matthew.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? 1. I’m losing interest in this survey. 2. I care absolutely nothing about what’s on TV right now. 3. I’m getting sleepy.
18. Name the last 3 things you have bought: Sushi, Beer, Pizza. And that all dates back to Wednesday night. I didn’t leave my apartment between about 10p Wednesday, and 6p tonight.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Soda. Gin. Beer.
20. What is your favorite cartoon? Beavis and Butthead.
21. Do you recycle? Yes.
22. Current worry? Christmas presents.
23. Best thing in the WHOLE WORLD? my wife.
24. Favorite place to be? At home with my wife, something good-smelling cooking, and no work the next day.
25. What do you think of this statement: There’s something wrong with a person who doesn’t like cats, dogs and children?
Stereotypes are often wrong. But, yes, those cats would eat you; they’re just not big enough.
26. Where would you like to go? Chemically-induced coma.
27. Do you own slippers ?Nope.
28. What color shirt are you wearing? Blue.
29. Do you burn or tan? Tan. My pale wife and mother hate me for it.
30. What color is your couch? Black.
31. Would you be a pirate? No.
32. Give a plug for your favorite cause… MS sucks. Find out what triggers it, then figure out how to cure it.
33. What songs do you sing in the shower? N/A.
34. Do you like to go camping? Probably not, these days. I’ve grown kind of attached to indoor plumbing.
35. Who is the most physically beautiful person you know? I have no idea, really.
36. Funniest movie ever? Dr. Strangelove.
37. Best bed sheets as a child? Transformers
38. Worst physical pain you’ve ever had? Bruised kidney. Painful, and you get to pee blood!
39. Do you think Tyra Banks is fat? Fat? No. Possibly a Grey? Yes.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? Just one right now. In the bedroom, there’s a cable box attached to a computer monitor. It works.
41. Who would you like to spend the day with today if you could? My wife. And I’ve done just that, even though I worked eight hours.
42. Who would you like to spend the night with tonight if you could? My wife. Duh.
43. Do you consider yourself a nosy person? Sometimes. Not so much for personal gossip.
44. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Vanilla.
45. What is your favorite book? I really don’t know at this poit.
46. What is your favorite chocolate? Belgian.
47. Favorite alcoholic beverage? Gin Martini.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I don’t’ have anything in particular I want.
49. What were you doing at 12AM last night? Trying to fall asleep.
50. On a scale of 1-10 how wonderful do you think you are? I think my actions warrant at least a hearty 6.5.

Up way early again. Maybe I can fall asleep again now that I’ve taken my morning pills, etc..

So, onto the prompt…

Mistakes. Name your biggest ones.

I’ve touched on it a bit, but the answer, without question, is taking the job I took in February 2013. The only bright spot are a few of the people I met there.

It’s incredible how strongly these old businesses are trying to stick to whatever magical system they spent twenty years creating, even though there’s much cheaper, just as effective ways of operating.

At the same time, those shirts with the white collars, suspenders cost lots of money.

This pre-packaged news item just used the phrase, “intellectual property.” Shaking my damn head. But the guy with twenty-six store-bought certs, and the white collared shirts probably thinks that’s a real neat thing.

Time to deal with the prompt for the final Monday….What do you have planned for this week? Yes, it’s a cop-out, but I’m trying to run through my list.

Yesterday, I forgot to give a prompt for today.

My mistake.

This is one of the things that happens when you’re sleep-deprived, maybe. I didn’t write prompts for this month. I will need to make sure I do that for November.

For tomorrow: Mistakes. Name your biggest ones.

I’ve also discovering something I never knew about before with my TV service(s). When I was young, the TV-on-demand stuff was always pay-per-episode stuff. Consequently, I didn’t ever even venture towards those offerings. I’d see my wife go through the on-demand offerings on our cable service with trepidation about what was going to show up on my next sky-high bill.

They didn’t show up.

Something new she’s showed me. Like that pirogues (last night’s dinner) can be good. Living in South-Central PA for a year in high school, they were one of the local specialties. I wasn’t impressed. I also wasn’t interested in eating scrapple.

Back to the On-Demand, this has been good for me catching up with stuff like Silicon Valley.

The next two days, though, it’s supposed to be intolerably-hot here again. The fall can’t get here soon enough. I’m excited to get back to being in the office regularly, being able to walk outside without collapsing.

As I was digging through archives trying to find something to write about, I decided to dig back to when I left radio. This is what I wrote:

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Sometimes it is about the money – 10/27/2005

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I went and interviewed for the new job this morning. He wrote an offer letter on the spot.

It’s double what I’m making now.

I went to the radio station to see if they could give me a raise….not match, but enough to keep me.

Nope.

I start November 10th.

My last day at the radio station is November 9th. Seven years and two days after I started working there.

I’m also selling off my stock in my side business, which in some ways pains me more than leaving radio, because I really wanted to make a go of it.

And money talks
I hate to listen
But lately it’s been screamin’ in my ear

I seriously need a drink.

Or twelve.

Early in the morning, because my body decided to wake me.

After I got it to settle, I couldn’t fall back asleep. This is one of the things I have to deal with. Honestly, it’s the sort of thing I’ve dealt with for a long time, but, normally I fall into a rhythm. There’s no way for me to go get hopped up on caffeine and nicotine at Waffle House, so I will probably be dragging come midday.

Onto the survey….

1. Kirk or Picard?
Kirk. For a variety of reasons. When I was 22, and originally took this, I made some comments about Picard. I probably wouldn’t talk bad about him today, but he does lack leadership qualities I find important; he doesn’t inspire. Yes, Kirk is reckless. At the same time, that seat-of-the-pants decision-making inspires confidence in the crew. Plus, they actually like him.

All that said, age has taught me that Benjamin Sisko.
2. What’s your favorite Jello flavor?
Lime
3. What’s your opinion of voicemail/answering machines.
I really don’t miss using them. Telephony is one of those things Carly Fiorina helped kill.
4. Chevy or Ford?
If I could still drive, I still wouldn’t buy a Chevy after what they did with the bankruptcy in 2009. I did own a Ford for something like six years. I liked that car a lot. It was fun.
5. Billy, you like movies about Gladiators?
Not really.
6. Mac or Win?
I’m writing this on a Mac, so I guess that says something. At the same time, Microsoft has really done a lot to make Windows suck less. Using my Windows 10 work computer doesn’t really bother me. Same goes for my wife’s school computer. I’m honestly a bit lost with Linux these days; count me as a system hater, maybe.
7. What do you think about Dr. John Gray?
I honestly don’t remember, and am too lazy to STFW. Was he the one who wrote Men are from Mars, or whatever? My lack of knowledge should say that I don’t have a strong opinion.
8. What are your vices?
I’ve tried to be better about them lately. No need to enumerate.
9. What do you think of Jerry Springer?
Old news. I’m sure the citizens of Cincinnati don’t miss him.
10. What do you think of the OD?
I miss it, certainly. I’m really happy I found my archive. There’s a lot of fluff, for sure, but there’s also a lot of memories there. I have friends I’ve kept. There’s a few people I wonder about from time to time, but… It did help fill this odd desire I have to write.

Prompt for today:    Have you ever been to see an NFL training camp? 

As promised yesterday., the entry from back then.  I didn’t write a ton about it.

What to do when you’re bored – 8/9/2002

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Me? Oh, I drove six hours one-way to watch a 45 minute football practice, then drove home. 😀

Went up to Carlisle to see Redskins training camp. It was really fucking surreal to be back in Carlisle. I guess seven years is a long time, but….

It might be that already, everything from that year is sort of a blur. You go someplace for just one year, and things don’t seem to fit together after awhile.

Biggest thing I’ll remember about Carlisle is my waist size. Ain’t gettin’ into those pants anytime soon….

My hip seriously hurts after the trip.

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What do I remember the most? Meeting Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews. Seeing the punters try to land punts right between the “1,” and the “0” on the ten-yard line.

A lot of it was really running through the speed of the vaunted “Fun ‘n Gun” offense. I didn’t see the morning practice where they taped their #1 pick, Patrick Ramsey, to the goal post.

Maybe that had the potential to be a good team. Marvin Lewis, now of Bengals’ fame, was the Assistant Head Coach. While Spurrier had made his name in college, he’d played (niners, Bucs), and coached (Tampa Bay Bandits) in the pros previously. Watching the offense, I was able to pick out the difference between the passing progressions and anything I’d done before.

Now, what for tomorrow. Actually, it’s a bit of a cop-out, but I’m going to write about water. From General Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove to the covered roadway I saw on the way to work this morning. What are the most clear memories you have of water?

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What job would you never take?

Another with the four-letter company where I worked.  What a disaster.

Backstory this criminal recommended me following a contract changeover. I’d butted heads with him several times, trying to get him to provide some justification for whatever hairbrained drop-in solution the vendor who’d picked up his bar tab was hocking….

And, so I took the job. For 77% of what i’d been earning.

But the overall experience was bad. The shitty compensation only exacerbated things. Because I wasn’t in a sunny mood all the time, and continued to call people on their bullshit….. I’m going to stop there, because it’s not all that interesting. (And I had to just delete more snark about it….)

So, that’s an easy answer to that question.

I had a dream last night I was back in radio. Who the hell knows where that came from. I really am not in shape to be doing air work, would have trouble doing some of the techie work, and would never do sales….I don’t know.

Writing early in the morning today because I woke up way early. I’m still in pain. Pfft.

So, what to write about tomorrow? Hmmmm….

The Hall of Fame game got cancelled because the logo painted on the field made the surface too hard to play on. I’m looking forward to Hard Knocks. Have you ever been to see an NFL training camp? One of my three high schools was in Carlisle, PA, which is home to Dickinson College, where the Redskins trained for years.

After the tumult following Jack Kent Cooke’s death, The Dan saw that Norval moved camp back to Virginia, after a couple of years in Maryland (Frostburg?). Either Schottenheimer or Spurrier decided it needed to head back to Carlisle.

I had a Tuesday off, and decided to head up to see camp. Going to go through my old OD archive to see if I can find what I wrote then, and whatever else I can add.

What’s the biggest thing on tap for you in the next two weeks?

Unfortunately, I’m doing medical stuff more than I’d like.  Not as much as the past few weeks, but that’s what I’m doing.  Along with trying to make sure I’m doing at work.

Still having lots of thoughts about what I should be doing going forward.  Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time since they  figured out what the hell was wrong with me.

Physically, I think I’m feeling better than I have in several years.  So, what can I do get back up-to-speed professionally?

Lots of things to think about.

But it does bring me to a quite appropriate prompt from NoJoMo 2013….

What job would you never take?

Other than another one with the four-letter company….?  Let me ponder….

I joined up to “my friend in the digital age” (who really aren’t my friends, seeing as how they cost me a job in 1998, and I hold a grudge) ‘s I could get HBO to watch Hard Knocks.  As I’ve managed to get my sleep schedule all out of sorts this week, I’ve been playing around with things like HBO Go.

Silicon Valley is not a good choice when you’re trying to get back to sleep.

But it does touch on what I dribbled out the other day.  Yes, I recognize that physically I can’t hang like I used to, but I marvel at people working for something, not just trying to check boxes.

As I told one of my counterparts this morning, trying to make sure the gears mesh seems like it’s such a big part of what I’m doing.  Do I like what I’m doing?  A bit, sure.  Do I like the folks I’m working with?  Yep, though some of their dining choices I question.  Is it where I ought to be?  Who knows?  Is it closer than the cesspool where I was prior to that?  Oh, fuck yes.  There, there was even less novel thought, and more spot-patching a wheezing mess to have it continue on.  If we throw enough money at this pile of shit, it’ll be great.

Ummmmmm.

How about starting with understanding what it’s supposed to do, and why it’s supposed to do it?

Well, that’s not the way it’s always been done, and we’ve been doing this a long time.

So, prompt.  I have no idea what I’d like to write about tomorrow.  Brett Favre is going into the NFL Hall of Fame, and there’s actually football being played.

I like this.

Speaking of Six, I really am starting to miss Empire Little Bar Bistro.  Humph.

Write an entry from the point of view of your pet(s).

Since all my pets have gone on to their rewards…….there’s not much to write on this. I miss the dogs a lot. sigh Eventually, we’ll move to a place where we can have one.

I miss having dogs.  What more can I say about it?

This is still true.  I don’t live in a place where I can have a dog.  Physically, there’s a bit of a question about whether I could do the things that it’s important for a pet owner to be able to do.  (See:  why we’re not having kids….)

But there’s many things that I admire about dogs.  Cats, in addition to making me itchy as hell, hate people.

So, if I had a dog, his/her perspective would be one of whether the master has the motivation to get up, and walk he two blocks to the dog park.

Prompt for tomorrow:  What’s the biggest thing on tap for you in the next two weeks?