Stupid Hurts

I’m sitting in one of my favorite lunch spots that the bank execs and help desk guys go to during the day for milk shakes and chicken nuggets. It is the only fast food fast place I know of that they open the door for you and refills your soda at the table. I normally don’t eat there because of the crowd during the short time they are are open, but I had a meeting downtown today. This is one of the best places to eavesdrop during the day. You get to hear gems like; “I didn’t find out it was illegal till later, I have to worry about internal spooks now” and, “do you think she just does coke to fit into those dresses?”

I was also riding the high this morning from getting my name in the paper without breaking any laws or dying a horrible death. This picture was published in the “Seen“ section of the Birmingham Weekly.

[image:1442:c]

And lastly I managed to bluff my way into a job as a poker dealer. Now if I only knew anything about poker.

I was thinking to myself. After having another pleasant night ruined by a seizure.

I have a boss who will not schedule because he thinks I am not medically fit to my job, and a doctor who agrees with him. Isn’t that the very definition of being disabled. I really need to follow up with someone on that on that Monday.

With the biggest smile on his face Stryder broke my glasses the night before last. Unfortunately just earlier that day during an impulse purchase I spent all of my money on an industrial sewing machine, and getting my current sewing machine tuned up. Thanks to the buyers remorse coupled with the fact I can’t exactly see, I haven’t really felt like finishing up any of my current sewing sewing projects.

Since glasses are one of only my real vanities I am putting them off until I can get exactly the pair I want. Which means I will need $400-600 dollars. (Which is unfortunate, because the parts I need to get my road bike street worth again will cost me just about that much.) Originally the eye Dr. was trying take the cost effective route and fit me for a pair of contacts that didn’t compensate for my astigmatism, but when we realized I couldn’t read. I vetoed that option fairly quickly and got the more expensive lenses. I wanted to avoid a post to my site that involved me plowing my bike into a car……Again.

I had just gotten my [tag]lucky[/tag] [tag]socks[/tag] on and was tossing stuff into my [tag]backpack[/tag] in an effort to get ready for [tag]work[/tag], and I thought to myself, “I haven’t taken my [tag]camera[/tag] anywhere in a bit.” Well, tonight I am glad I did. (And before anyone even bothers to ask, I really do have a pair of lucky socks, I wonder if my life would be different had I taken them to [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] with me?)
I decided to head into work early. Partly because of the fact I am sick and I wasn’t sure if I was physically capable or getting to work or staying at work, and partly because I wasn’t sure if I even had a job anymore.

Friday night I choose to start celebrating [tag]Halloween[/tag] a little early and went to the 4th annual Witches ball instead of going to work. A bunch of my friends went with me and we even managed to talk my mom into going and having a little fun.[newline]
[thumb:696:c][newline]
I got to see a lot of interesting costumes and well thought out costumes, and a lot of people who were well..just running around half [tag]naked[/tag].
[newline]
[thumb:700:r][thumb:699:l][newline]
It was really worth skipping out of work for.

So I went into work tonight and found out due to a scandal that had nothing to do with me directly. No one noticed that I didn’t show up to fill my post last night. I decided there was no real reason for me to point that fact out for anyone.

On the note of upgrading Stupidhurts.org I decided it was best to let well enough be. I looked over the documentation and over the back end code. As my buddy Jake pointed out to me a bit back, this site is held together by spit and love. So if it ain’t broke I really shouldn’t be trying to fix it. Plus I would lose several rarely used but very awesome features like the Stupidhurts map and voicecasting.

Not that I have forgotten about [tag]StupidHurts[/tag] lately or anything, but I have been battling with a massive case of writer’s block coupled with a foolishly [tag]busy[/tag] schedule. Most of my time [tag]online[/tag] lately has been doing research and planning for my trip to [tag]Europe[/tag] as well as studying the things I need to know for my job at the bike shop. On a really cool note I recently found out about a discount airline operating out of [tag]Canada[/tag] which might pose and interesting option for crossing the pond really cheaply. Plus it would be an excuse to hang out in [tag]Toronto[/tag] for a few days. I have been a bit curious about the [tag]bicycling[/tag] [tag]culture[/tag] there for some time.

Lastly after four months and lots of people telling me I should give up, I finally finished [tag]Steinbeck[/tag]’s novel “[tag]The Grapes of Wrath[/tag]” I hadn’t realized until the end just how much of an emotional toll that book can take on you. Even if you are an outside and casual observer of the events in the beginning, by the end you feel like you should have been there shovel in hand fighting the flood waters along with everyone else. It isn’t to often you can have a book abuse you and feel better for it afterward.

Oh and my camera finally took its final shit on me, so no new pictures for a bit

I am stressed and I am really pissed right now. Any day I don’t have to work with my supervisor I love my job. But any day we are sent out into the field together I hate it. HE frustrates me and he stresses me out. He moves too slowly and complains that I move too quickly, and when I attempt to match his pace he complains I am not doing anything. He asked my why I ask so many questions, and I told him, because I need better answers and do not intend to have to come back later to ask about the same issue. He pisses and moans about the number of tools I carry, but is constantly asking to borrow my stuff.

I am stressed to the point my OCD is giving me issues. I left home this morning on time and got around the corner before having to return home to push the button to my alarm clock to make sure it was off. I ended up pushing the button thirteen times before I could make it to the front door and to work. At work four brackets on a desk didn’t have the same number of screws in them, and I wasn’t allowed to even them out. and my boss wouldn’t tell me which set was right and which set was wrong so I could correct it. I actually almost got angry enough to hit him over it. I just threatened to quit instead. I don’t think he took me seriously. Later I was building cubicles and the set I was doing, didn’t match the set across from me. Nor are my brackets laid out neatly enough for me, and my boss won’t let me go back and make it right. I told him, they don’t match. And he told me not to worry. I don’t think he understands I can’t let it go.

I may sneak in early tomorrow and fix it

“That thing weighs 24,000 pounds, don’t let it fall on you now.” Said the manager of the [tag]plant[/tag] I was visiting. I couldn’t help but thinking my life takes me interesting places sometimes. A few days ago my job had me performing an install at a Paper [tag]recycling[/tag] mill so I got to take a quick [tag]tour[/tag] once we were done. I got to see huge rolls of paper the size of small cars being prepared for shipping. From there they are sent out to become milk cartons and paper cups.

Unfortunately I was unable to run in the Be & K 5k [tag]run[/tag] this weekend. Because I was called in on an emergency project at work that several other people didn’t even bother to show up for. It is kinda funny, I have managed to take 3 days off of work and still managed to pull a 40 hour week in the space of 3 days.

And lastly I got kicked out fo a [tag]Subway[/tag] [tag]restaurant[/tag] this morning.I walked in the front door and two people were standing in the lobby talking and no one was behind the counter. So I turned to the girl standing closest to me and ask her if they were serving food. The other girl pipes in asking me to read the door. It was 7am and honestly I just wanted a yes or no answer. I tell her I read the door but there is no one behind the counter and they were both standing there with their hands in their pockets. She asked me why would I say something like that. And I pointed out it looked un porfessional, and she asked me to leave.

So much for service with a smile

After two weeks off my bike I finally managed to make the time needed to get it back together and ride a few miles on the new tires. My first errand was to retrieve my car from a parking lot because the battery decided to die on my way home from work this morning.

While packing up my freshly charged battery I realized it was sad that I own enough backpacks to have the thought, “this isn’t going in my good messenger bag, which of my others bags should I take.”

I honestly think I have managed to find the most hardcore workout ever. Attacking hills for several miles with a 25 pound battery strapped to my back was enough to leave me dizzy and close to vomiting on the side of the road.

Yeah it was fun.

So after getting my battery installed I broke down my bike and drove home. I actually stayed inside long enough to change into more cycling friendly clothing before running out to do a few more miles.

Today has been an amazing day. Well aside from car breaking down or course. I had a great time talking to a friend online for a few hours. I got a call offering a job installing networks and traveling. I saw one of my favorite responsible adults and she imparted wisdom. I got to ride a few miles and get my heart pounding. And most importantly I got a HEAVILY discounted ticket reserved for Rome this summer.

Now if I just can get some sleep finally.

As I am sure you can tell, the general site design and layout has changed once again. I am pretty happy with the overall presentation for now so I may stick with it for a bit. If anyone thinks they have a better idea or another way i could try things please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

Well my first day at the water park turned out interesting enough aside from making sure no one killed themselves I got to watch my trainer go out of his way to harass every single person that came through our line. He even managed to get two Canadian girls to invite us both out to dinner with them. He didn’t go because his girlfriend takes him home from work, and I neglected to go because I am both shy and a prude. Luckily the day went fairly quickly. Which is mainly what I was hoping for when I took the job. Since I only plan on being there for 20-25 more days. I doubt I will have a chance to get bored with the job.

As far as plotting for my cross country trip, I have changed my mind about riding cross country on a bicycle with a carbon-fiber frame after reading a number of reports of catastrophic frame failure after being subjected to impact. Unfortunately since I am very hard on essentially everything I own, and prone to spectacular crashes I can realistically see myself in tears on the side of the road after breaking a 1000 plus dollar bicycle in half. So after four hours of looking and two bike shops later I ended up with this a Motobecane Vent Noir

I will get pics of mine up later when it is light out, I took the chance to ride tonight so it was dark by the time I settled in.

Post ride report
miles:30 or so according to my map (i need a new cycle computer)
number of loaves of bread eaten: 1
number of items dropped: 2 (i miss my little blinky light already, and I don’t need no stinkin map)

I think the culture shock from landing in Florida is finally starting to wear off. When I first got here, this place seemed a lot more alien than Germany did at first. Unfortunately for me I live in the tourist sector of town, which means everything has mouse ears on it, and I am miles away from anything useful like a library. Sadly it means I also pay tourist prices for food, if you want to get laughed at go to a McDonald’s here and ask to see the dollar menu. My buddy Cherry and I have been hitting the free breakfasts at the local hotels for the past two weeks to help keep cost down, as well as crashing hotel hot tubs just because they are there.

Sad part is, in the short time I have been here I am already getting really antsy to start traveling again. I don’t think I am burned out on my job yet, but the voices that are telling me to pack up and hit the road again are getting really loud. I have had to talk myself out of hitchhiking out of town a few times already. Unfortunately if i want to continue eating everyday on the next leg of my trip I need to wait five more weeks before I head out. Granted I could possibly leave sooner if I decided to work double shifts, but since I feel half dead right now from a 9 hour day preceded by a 14 hour day. It just doesn’t seem very realistic.

At this point I am pretty much committed to cycling across country solo next, I buy my bike next week and I already have a route semi-plotted out. I just need to sit down and double check it before I end up with an unpleasant reminder that stupid hurts.