Inside The Perimeter

Just in time for me to shelve it for four months, during which everything will once again unfamiliar.

Nothing Like Seeing An Unsettling Scene Upon Departure
I am a bit paranoid about my house catching on fire while I am away. I know that I shouldn’t be, but I am.

Yesterday as I drove away from my house I saw the house at the end of my block smoking. It was the beginning of a house fire. Talk about screwing with an already-fucked up mind…

I was not the first person at the scene, and the people there had already called 911. Being a mere four blocks from a fire house you’d think that they would have been there in no time. However, it took them a few more minutes than that.

As I drove away I saw no fewer than five fire trucks in addition to some other official fire vehicles and police headed to my neighborhood. Hopefully they were able to get the fire put out before the house became engulfed.

I thought about staying and documenting the action with photos (I really wanted to), but the thought of missing my flight overrode this desire.

ITP Flickr Pic
I saw this truck parked in the Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes parking lot.

If this is the sort of automotive finishes they sell, then I think they have an effective product.

One Of The Best Flights Ever
Raleigh is about a one-hour flight from Atlanta and the airlines offer multiple flights each business day, so each flight is somewhat empty. I flew in a re-purposed Song plane therefore I had Dish Network television at my disposal. I was also able to change my assigned seat to an exit row which I possessed alone. I can only hope my returned flight is as enjoyable.

I Am Still Waiting To See A Reward
I keep checking into this hotel chain with my “Elite Gold” status and nothing is happening. I am going to log on to my account at the end of this stay to see what the heck is going on. Certainly I should have seen some benefit to this status.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - tired
Current Music - none
Website Of The Day - I’ve never considered tooling around Raleigh as a tourist. If I ever do I’ll certainly check out Raleigh’s Official Tourism Site.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - N/A

October Goal
1) Find happiness

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I am going to Raleigh today and of course the weather forecast is for rain tomorrow. I feel like I have become an honorary member of The Gruesome family from the Flintstones.

Rain is following me wherever I go. Just call me “Rain Man.” It would be nice to start catching a break soon, even if it’s just the weather.

Thanks To You All
I don’t say this enough, but it’s great to have a group of supportive friends. I appreciate you all, and when my travel schedule ends (which is thankfully very soon) I plan to attempt to spend more time with you all. I’ll try to shoo the rain cloud before I do however.

My DSL Was Annoyingly D-S-L-O-W
I know that my house is notorious for its faults, but I wish that I could occasionally pick it up and set it near a DSL Central Office. I swear that last night I was getting speeds slower than my old dialup days. I had to quit surfing the net for a while because the agonizingly slow speed was giving me a headache. As you may have picked up from yesterday’s post, my tolerance for bad shit in my life has been lowered to an all-time low.

If I didn’t fear packet-shaping being imposed by the major broadband suppliers I’d consider shifting companies. However, if this speed continues I will have to do something.

ITP Flickr Pic
One of the few shots I took in Miami that I really liked.

I’d plan to shoot in Raleigh, but if it rains then I don’t know what I will do.

The Deadbeat Dads Are Now As Bad As They Are Good
Because I played another team that had players who had career days this week, and because my players played lousy, I am now at two wins and two losses.

To make matters worse, this week I am scheduled to play the team who scored the most points last weekend. Crud! (Which was my favorite interjection in The Bad News Bears)

On a positive note, three of my offensive players scored points by making tackles.

CD Pick Of The Week
Welcome to Old Timers’ Day. Today we have releases from Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band, John Fogherty, Annie Lennox, Peabo Bryson, Robert Plant with Allison Krauss, and The Cult. Haven’t these people put enough money away for retirement? Could it be possible that their life savings were at NetBank? (btw- As an aside it took well over thirty minutes for me to speak with a “NetBank” representative yesterday.)

I say keep your money this week. Save your money for next week, when I will have a difficult time limiting my “Pick of the Week” to one.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - I have a headache. I never have a headache.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Pixies — “Alec Eiffel”
Website Of The Day - Maybe tonight I’ll watch some cooking videos at Cook Show, especially now that I have figured out how to do so in English.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

October Goal
1) Find happiness

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

If I told you that the best thing that happened to me in the past several days was that it cost me $50 to change my flight home on Saturday would you believe me?

What A Lousy Weekend
The Significant

• One of my aunts, one of my mother’s younger sisters, passed away on Saturday night and my mother is distraught.
• Alpharetta’s NetBank, my main bank, went out of business thus leaving me in financial upheaval. To make matters worse, I was trying to get my money out last Sunday but errantly answered the “security” question and got my account locked. On Monday I called to fix it but it couldn’t be handled that day (now I think I know why) and since I flew out of town for the rest of the week, I was going to handle it today. Now I have to change my direct deposit, and make sure that the money which is Federally Insured gets handled properly. This couldn’t have happened at a worse fucking time.

The Mildly Significant

• I may have lost a few thousand dollars this past week because of the NetBank fiasco.
• I got a $25 parking ticket at one of the universities at which I was recruiting. Full explanation when the appeal has been resolved.
• I missed the Rilo Kiley concert on Saturday night because I was spent.
• I didn’t hash on Sunday because I needed to get prepared for this week, therefore I missed time around being with friends.
• I have a shit-ton of work to do at the office and I fly out again for another recruiting effort tomorrow night.
• My car is in for an overdue oil change. I need to bring it in for routine service but I have had not time to do so

The Insignificant

• The Gators lost, at home, to Auburn (again!).
• I scored 92 out of a possible 253 points on my college pool picks. My total was next-to-last.
• The Mets completed their fall from grace by giving away a seven game lead since September 17th, thus missing the playoffs.

America Is Fat And Ugly
I chose to change my flight home to an earlier flight on Saturday. While I sat at the airport I continually noticed people who were disgustingly overweight and not attractive. While I complain about weight, I am svelt when compared to the majority of the people I saw on Saturday.

As For South Florida, You Can Keep It
My trip was hectic and wore me out. Not having planned for any activities because I was uncertain of my co-workers’ plans, I wound up spending more time in a hotel room than I had anticipated. On Friday night I considered driving to For Lauderdale to see The Apples In Stereo, but chose not to.

The one thing I did enjoy was the Cuban food and coffee.

This was my dinner on Friday evening

On Saturday morning I stopped in to the Airport Diner for breakfast before I decided to fill up the rental car and head to the airport.

ITP Flickr Pic
I’ll be in another one of these tomorrow.

At least I’ll be headed to a city in which I have friends this time.

Here We Go Again
Dear RealiTV producers…. If you continue to cast Christian bible thumpers who think that all is woe without their bible, talk that God has put them in their situation for a reason, and spew that God has given them a gift when something good happens, I will drop your show instantly.

Introducing, Leslie, the Christian talk radio host on Survivor: China. You may remember her from the first episode when she couldn’t remain in the Buddhist temple during their welcome ceremony, and then declared that she wasn’t a religious person because she couldn’t bow to another’s lord. On this week’s show she cried about getting sick and said that all would be alright if she just had her bible to read. Then she said that God had given her a blessing because Jamie chose her to get the first clue for the hidden immunity idol.

Jamie identified Leslie as the weakest link on the opposing tribe. Is it coincidence that they both live in South Carolina?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - like I am going to explode or that I am one step away from a breakdown
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Feist — “1-2-3-4″
Website Of The Day - I am going to look for some calming art at 20 x 200 — another concept for selling art.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car and the shuttle from the car dealership

October Goals
1) Find happiness

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]