"Why can't we not be sober?"

So last Wednesday I attended a wine signing event in Henderson. I got two bottles signed by Maynard James Keenan, from Tool, and winemaker Eric Glomski. They've been doing these events a lot lately, mostly around Arizona and nearby cities.

I drove clear across Vegas to get to the Whole Foods store in Henderson which I managed to locate without much trouble. On a side note, Henderson is a pretty rich looking city. At least the area I was in. I didn't see any graffiti anywhere and the shopping center I was in seemed pretty high end. There was even a charming, antiquated looking carousel that was in operation right beside the store!

Anyway, upon arriving there was already a long line of people going from the entrance of the store all the way around to the back. I got my place way in the back and worried that I hadn't gotten there earlier. I was relieved to hear event staff tell us that there was plenty of time and plenty of bottles for everyone to get. Alright, now a couple hundred Tool fans/wine enthusiasts and I just had to wait about an hour outside in the chilly November night. They should've popped open some bottles and let us sample them out!

There were seven wines available; some from Arizona Stronghold Vineyard and some from Maynard's own Caduceus Cellars. I made my choices and watched as the line grew longer and longer. By the time I was near the front of the line, people were still getting in line and the event was still scheduled for another hour and a half.

Due to the large number of people, event staff was moving everything along at a fast pace. No cameras were allowed and everyone met Eric and Maynard one at a time. No opportunity for questions. When it was my turn, Eric did most of the talking. He said thanks for being here and passed the bottles on to Maynard who said a simple hello and "enjoy the wine" before I left. Not a big deal; everyone was being passed through and they had a lot of bottles to sign before the event was over. Other than that, I noticed Maynard was wearing a cool orange Puscifer jacket.

I got one bottle of Arizona Stronghold Tazi White. Now, I'm not a big wine drinker but I do like the taste of Riesling wine which makes up 33% of the Tazi according to the description. I'll probably pop this one open some day. Here you can see Eric Glomski's signature on the top of the bottle.


I also purchased one bottle of Merkin Chupacabra, a red wine. The description of it reads:

Our mystery red blend. Think forest, not trees. Think weather, not rain. Stare and the Chupacabra, who dwells in your heart and not in your head, will vanish.

Probably hold on to this one for a while. I should've expected a description like this; it is Maynard.

Maynard's signature:


Now I just gotta learn how to store this wine right. Then open them up for a good reason. Sounds like this wine would go well on a nice trip. :)

Caller number 10

Seeing as how many consider this election to be a historic moment, a lot of us will have personal stories that we'll remember for years. "Do you remember what you were doing the day the US elected Barack Obama as President?" As for me, I wasn't at the voting booths; I took care of that on Halloween. I wasn't watching the news networks keeping up with up-to-the-minute coverage of the election in anticipation of the results. Not because I didn't care; actually, this election day was pretty cool and I'm glad it didn't take long to determine who the winner turned out to be. No, I was standing by the radio with a phone in each hand while I felt my heart beat faster and faster in my chest. There's floor tickets for Nine Inch Nails at stake! I've been at it all day and there's only a few more chances left to win them. Gotta keep trying and think positive!

Crickets and moonlight

I heard crickets.
It was this year but for a moment it was 1999. I couldn't explain it. I recognized the place I was in, the people I was with. Then I realized I didn't know any of them. I was not home, yet for a moment it felt like home. A home. My possible home.
Where am I?
I was in the moment. Completely in the moment. Dangerously in the moment. For I quickly discarded what happened only minutes ago. Then I remembered. But it didn't matter because I was in the moment.
And the moment happened quickly and slowly all at once. Very slowly.
The sound of crickets returned. Brought me back into the moment.
Now, night and dark was all I saw. The ground was a wave at 40, one which I could control yet at any moment lose it all like a wild horse that obeyed not rider. Beware, I thought, of the the lights. They are dangerous.
I treaded lightly as I could back to safety. Relief came over me as I lay down. Wide awake yet not seeing what was in front of me. Moonlight was all I saw and the moment was all that mattered.

Make my way back home and learn to fly

Oh, internet. It doesn't seize to amaze me.

There I was, for two weeks searching stores for a Wii. Sold out everywhere. No word on when they would get more. None at Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Gamestop, ToysRUs, or even Wal-Mart. Not any of these stores in Las Vegas had any in stock! It's crazy that these things are still selling out everywhere.

Since I wasn't about to pay $400.00 or more for it on Craigslist, I thought there has to be someone out there who has done the work for me. I googled "finding a wii" and came up with this result near the top. Okay, so these tips are a start. Hopefully this can lead to somewhere.

So last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings I woke up early to search stores for it with no luck. Then Sunday, the 24th, I decided to take a rest. At 2pm I eventually came across this Amazon forum thread: Wii at Target, Sunday February 24. First, I did not believe it. Perhaps in other cities but so far everywhere I looked has been sold out. Second, I considered that even if they did have Wiis in stock, it was already 2pm, so they would have probably been sold out. Twenty minutes before I had to leave to work I decide to just give it a shot.

I called the nearest Target and the lady on the other end confirmed that they did in fact receive a shipment of Wiis that morning.

"You did?! Do you have any right now?"
"Yeah, we still have a couple more."
"Thanks."

Alright, internets! You paid off! I then raced to Target as the minutes counted down before I had to be at work. A thought crossed my mind as I was driving. What if they sold out by the time I got there? What if they only had like one left?

Relieve, I actually found myself standing in front of a display case with 12 Wiis just sitting there like nothing! It was as if I was the only one that knew they were in stock. I mean, I thought these sold like hotcakes the minute the doors to the store opened.

Ah, well, what matters is that I picked one up along with a copy of Mario Galaxy and then sped off to start my day at work. Thanks again, interwebs. Not only for stupid videos and pirated music but also for being creatively useful and helpful.

Late nights

Tonight is one of the few times I've actually seen a lunar eclipse occurring. I think the last time I did was when I was a child. Watching something like this makes me realize the sheer massiveness of our planet and the galaxy. I mean, it's a shadow being cast by Earth onto the moon! Watching such a cosmic event happening is just cool!

Anyway, what I wanted to write about was nighttime. While I was watching the rabbit on the moon I recalled many nights spent up late. I've been quite a night owl since I started college. I always wanted to stay up late as a kid as well. My current job schedule fits perfectly into this lifestyle. I work the night shift from 4pm to midnight!

There's a quality to the night that makes me feel comfortable. The twilight hours always feel calm and I enjoy watching the way the sky changes at those moments. Maybe its the moonlight or the glow of city lights that brings on a serene mood.

Of course, staying up late isn't without its downside. It does knock my circadian rhythm off track and if I'm not careful, I end up feeling tired during the day. Not many places are open if you get the urge to eat a good meal after midnight. Plus, I remember I read somewhere that people who work late into the night tend to be more susceptible to certain diseases. Really, it's not the healthiest lifestyle to maintain.

I suppose it all depends on maintaining a balance. It certainly does feel more refreshing to get a full nights sleep and wake up ready than to stay up real late and spend the day sleepy. Let's just say that sometimes, watching the stars and just being in the atmosphere of the night hours can be very relaxing every now and then.

Signals and voices

You ever feel that life is telling you to do something? That signs appear telling you to take a chance and accomplish a dream that you've held onto for a long time? That message hit me today when I least expected it.

Actually, I believe I've been seeing these signs more often lately. It's a constant yet subtle voice pushing me towards a certain path. An inner compass of sorts directing me towards a road I've always wanted to travel but for whatever reason I haven't. Every time I hear it, I feel the onset of an adrenaline rush. Maybe this voice has been speaking all along, I've just recently began paying more attention to it.

It's just that today, that voice seemed to be shouting at me. Revealing the elusive obvious. "If you ever want to reach this goal, chase it down now, not later." Now, its midnight and my mind is racing. Fireflies appear and I have to catch them now or watch them drift off into the dark. Again, the phrase "now or never" comes up.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of metaphors. But then again, this really happened to me. I know I'm not a lunatic but sometimes life insists on a crazy risk. I understand this may all seem a little cryptic to you but I've decided to keep this vague. At least for now. I'll explain it a different way.

Imagine you're a writer. Maybe you have a newspaper column or you write book reviews. You're good at what you do and you get paid well to do it. You enjoy your job and practice your craft to get better. This is the path you're on; the one you have prepared for.

Of course, like anyone else, you enjoy other activities. On weekends you like to go hiking. It's your hobby, it's your thing. You're pretty knowledgeable about the outdoors and know good hiking spots.

One day you're driving from work. A large semi passes you on the freeway and on its side is an advertisement that catches your eye. But it's not the product you pay attention to; the advertisement is a photo capturing a giant rock face rising up out of the woods. It's bold and majestic and it's staring at you right in the face. You know, because it's on the side of a large semi. You think about that picture the rest of the day. Because you want to be a rock climber.

This is a desire you've held for a long time, you realize. In fact, you've done it once before and wanted to do it again. You realize that your hikes have provided great views of impressive rock walls towering above the land. You also remember that rock climbing in general has seeped into your writing for some time now. The words "mountain", "challenge", "adventure", and others related to rock climbing have appeared in your articles.

The hiking has been a subconscious attempt to get you closer to your goal of being a rock climber. In fact, you now have a stronger desire to be a professional rock climber. Despite the fact that it would be a radical career change and something that you are not sure you are quite prepared for, you want to do it.

Now we arrive to the point where the path splits into two. On one side you have the path you know and understand continuing on. It's familiar and you can kind of see where it goes. It feels safe. Choosing this path would be perfectly acceptable.

On the other side you have a different path altogether. You don't know where it leads to. You don't feel ready to head in there. Strange yet amazing things can just barely be glimpsed further down this path. It's a little reminder of a place you've always wanted to go to. "What if?" It's enticing but seems to be a somewhat dangerous road. Still, it sounds like a fun risk.

I suppose everyone goes through this feeling as well. Perhaps more than once. It's as if the cosmos are aligning to direct your compass. But how many people do we know actually follow this guide? I want to know whats down the second path.

The image up top comes from this Wikipedia article.

Who taught you to drive?!

I've been doing a lot more driving around lately. This includes trips to and from the Strip. I really have to plan my commute because traffic can get annoying. First of all, local drivers here aren't the best. These idiots switch lanes without looking or signaling and generally behave like brainless monkeys behind the wheel driving over curbs and sidewalks. It's not possible that the DMV gave these morons a license!

To further add to this, we have the tourists aimlessly driving down Las Vegas Boulevard. Look, I understand that this may be your first time in the glitzy lights of downtown but when the light turns green, move your stupid car! I don't care if you block the intersection; you have to in order to get anywhere through the Strip. Quit being a wuss and drive! These timid drivers make it frustrating for others to drive around here. And don't give me dirty looks when I honk the horn at you; move your stupid car, you idiot. I'm late for work.

Finally, some of these taxi drivers are also morons. Most are pretty skilled at maneuvering through the maze of traffic and I learned by watching them. But don't get mad at me if you're trying to get in my lane without signaling. And every time you honk at me to hurry up when I obviously can't move an inch forward I'll purposely drive slower.

So for those that drive sanely, thanks. You other idiots shouldn't be allowed to sit in a motor vehicle. You know how many people get killed in traffic accidents here in Vegas? Learn to drive!

"Traviesa!"

Ever since I moved to Vegas I've been doing a lot more driving than when I was in school. I've recently been hearing the radio advertising Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up going on Friday and Saturday. He's not the best comedian out there but these excerpts did make me laugh:

"Having a two year old is like having a blender in the house, only you can't find the top for it."

Small children are very messy but it's not like you can be a mean jerk to them. I took a quick nap today on the couch and a small hand slapped my face with strawberry jam. Then when I got up I stepped in more jam mixed with saltine crackers on the floor. If your roommate did this, you could punch him/her in the nose for being an idiot. Certainly can't do that to a two year old. In fact, she won't even care if you yell at her. She'll just slap more jam on your jeans. I just washed those!

"Why would you want someone in your house...who craps in their pants...while they're looking you RIGHT IN THE EYES?!"

I kid you not, this actually happened to me a couple days ago. When a baby stares at you with a serious look on their face and they're just standing there and you know they're taking a huge poop, you can't help but crack out with a gut-busting laugh! At least that's what I did. I laughed HARDCORE.

In different area codes...

This article on Virgin Mobile got me thinking about my account. Now, the story isn't that great but it does point out the frustrations people have in dealing with customer service issues. To summarize, a woman's stepsister passed away and her Virgin Mobile account has remained active for six months. There's really not much to worry about since it is a prepaid account and therefore the stepsister is not gathering up bills after death. The point is that that Virgin Mobile just can't seem to manually close the account. They act like it's a chore to get stuff done.

Again, this is just an inconvenience and at least she's not being charged for a phone that no one is using. But it bothers me to hear stories like this. I mean, think if there was a bigger issue here. Everyone has dealt with companies who are just incompetent when it comes to dealing with customer issues. Sometimes it's like the logic and reasoning behind the actions of a company only make sense to potheads.

I've had a Virgin Mobile prepaid phone since 2004. I haven't signed a contract with another phone company because of my horror story with one in 2003. Virgin Mobile doesn't have the glamorous phones that other companies do but I have what I need: a cell phone.

And I've run into their lame customer service department as well. Last year I moved from Seattle to Vegas and had to change my number. Shouldn't be too hard, I thought, so I called in and made the request. After getting through all the account verification stuff the rep asks me my new location and enters the info to give me my shiny new Vegas number. As I get my pen ready to write it down, I think of all the annoying calls I will have to make to update people on my new contact info.

The rep tells me the digits but the problem is that it begins with 206. The area code for Vegas is 702; Seattle is 206. I ask him to repeat the number. Yeah, I heard right. It starts with 206. So I tell the rep that I've actually moved to Vegas. In the state of Nevada. I don't need another Seattle number. He tells me that's the info he entered and thats my new number.

I explain that this must be wrong because 206 is the area code for Seattle. I need a number local to Vegas. The rep re-enters the information and tells me that he will retrieve another number. This one will be for Vegas and I'll be ready to go. I'll point out that during this part of the conversation both the rep and I have been polite to each other and there's been no "tone".

My new number is ready: 2...0...6...

Now I'm rubbing my eyes in frustration. Look, I tell him, this can't be right. That is the area code for Seattle, I explain, I need a number for Las Vegas. Here's where his attitude kicks in. Maybe he was having a bad day and this pushed him over the edge. Mr. Rep raises his voice and says, "this is your new local number for Las Vegas and it begins with the 206 area code".

Once again, I explain to this guy that this is not the area code for Vegas. Why would I want a 206 number if I already had one. There would be no point for me to call. While I'm talking, I start to imagine that I've lost my old number only to get another which is useless to me in this city. People would have to call long distance to reach me. I make sure I'm not insane and verify that my parents home phone number does indeed begin in 702. "Why are we even arguing. The problem must be on your end because Las Vegas numbers begin with 702."

And that's when he says this: "Sir, this is the number that the system has given you. I'm looking at Las Vegas businesses online and their telephone numbers have the 206 area code."

Does this guy think I'm some kind of idiot? Does he just want to get me off the phone? Luckily, I too have access to the Internets. I happen to have my laptop in front of me and I do a quick Google search for "las vegas businesses". The results show phone numbers beginning in 702 but, oh my gosh! None begin with 206. I quickly inform Mr. All-Knowing-Omnipotent-Customer-Service-Representative that I am also looking at a listing of the same information he should have in front of him and the area code is indeed 702.

Over the phone I hear fingers clicking over a keyboard and then a short pause. And then: "Oh".

You lying sack of cagada. Of course, I didn't say that. I didn't need to; he knew he got caught lying. Yeah, that must be a flawless system they have over at Virgin Mobile. It must be better than Skynet.

Anyway, I get put on hold for a few more minutes and a supervisor returns on the line. His vague explanation is that an error occurred on their end and that I was correct. I get my 702 number and, for laughs, I ask him why I was lied to, and treated poorly. I get the standard "sorry for the inconvenience" excuse and let it go.

So I hope you learn a lesson from reading this. Make sure no company punks try to get away with lying to you. Especially when you know you're right.

My gut demon

So it was about 11:00 pm last Sunday and I was feeling fine. By fine, I mean healthy. Throughout the day I had eaten a strudel, some leftover chicken from El Pollo Loco, pop, mashed potatoes, and then three carne asada tacos. No sign of what was to happen later on.

Sometime around 11:30 I decided I was still hungry enough to eat two bowls of cereal (Rice Krispies) and a banana. Afterwards, I was full but still feeling alright. SWAT (the movie) happened to be on so, wanting to wait out my big meal, I stayed up to watch it. At 12:30 it was over and it was time for me to sleep.

I stood up and felt an uncomfortable growling in my stomach. I did eat a lot so I guess my body wants to poop something out. After a trip to the bathroom, I changed and lay me down to sleep. The long growl in the pit of my stomach was the second sign something was wrong. I stayed there staring at the streetlamp light filtering through the window. No matter how hard I concentrated to fall asleep the movements in my panza continued. Then the demon inside got angry and I squeezed myself into the fetal position. It wanted to force itself out of my throat.

At that point I calmly got up and walked to the bathroom. Once I got a hold of the sink, I blew chunks everywhere. Rice Krispies, milk, and some meaty matter splashed onto the bowl. It felt good. But the relief didn't last. No.

It was 3:30 when I lay back down. That was all I needed. Just had to vomit and now I can go to sleep. But it wasn't the end, was it? I couldn't shut my eyes. When you can't sleep you just lay there like a zombie. My gut demon was still angry and I could feel my innards moving. Trying to deal with whatever was torturing me. I rolled around hoping that gravity would help my guts process this faster.

It was 6:30 and I was back at the sink. The puke was pink now with bits of digested food floating in it. Like an unholy soup. I still hadn't slept and now walking was a pain. I dragged myself downstairs to drink water. Hoping that it was out of my system. Again, I tried to get some precious R.E.M. sleep before the rising sun looks into the window.

The demon continued to hate my guts and now I had to deal with sleep deprivation. At 8:00 am, I make my way back to the bathroom and become a vomit dragon one more time. This time nothing but a yellow bile burns my throat. My teeth get stained with its taste and my stomach tries to push itself out. Everything I ate the previous day is now down the drain. This has to be it. I dry heave some more and rub the side of my head. I don't care if it's daylight now, I want to sleep.

I had spent all night vomiting. It was like the aftereffects of a party but I never went to one. My gut demon laughed at me and spent the remainder of the day resting in my belly. Monday was spent lying in bed and having only two glasses of water to "eat". I wake up during odd hours of the night again and Tuesday morning I awake light-headed and wanting to eat and vomit at the same time. My body feels purged of my gut demon and I can finally walk upright during the day. With a light meal, I recover from my sickness although dazed and feeling slightly zombified.

The rest of my family feels these symptoms at different degrees of intensity. But none of us could figure out exactly where these gut demons come from. Our biggest suspicion is that the chicken from El Pollo Loco was not properly cooked. I now can't eat there again. And that's the story of my gut demon who forced me to empty out my tripas and hated that I slept at night.

Up late

New Late Night tonight. Strike beards are a good way to support the strike. At least Conan is still helping out his writers. I wonder how the show is going to do without writers for a while. But with tonights show, it doesn't look like it'll be too bad. They are relying on segments and guests to take up more time on the show, though.

In other news, I began 2008 broke, in debt, and sending out resumes. Hey, at least I partied into the year and I'm in good health, right. As Jim Carey said in Dumb and Dumber, "we're in hole, we'll just have to dig our way out." :)

Early, but...

Another year!

"Hello! Please give me all your money."

I really don't like talking to telemarketers. Whenever I do end up talking to one after I answer a call, I'll come up with some absurd story or comment or change my voice to throw them off. It's funny to me.

For a time, though, I used to be on the other end of the line. I spent about two weeks during the summer of 2003 at a small call center conducting surveys to businesses in the US. I felt like some kind of irritating insect talking to small business owners in an attempt to harvest marketing data. Every time I heard the line ring on my headset, I hoped for any reason to not have to talk to anyone. But most of the time someone answered and I'd have to go straight into reciting a scripted greeting trying to get that person to answer a series of questions.

It all would have been a little less mind-numbing if one was allowed to go at his/her own pace dialing each person. But, as anyone who has worked these sorts of jobs knows, telemarketers are hooked up to an automatic dialer. Companies want continuous outcalls.

So here I am repeating the same lines until they start becoming meaningless to me. This goes on for about four hours, then lunch, then four more hours. Monotony, day after day.

After that job, I somehow ended up at another similar position working for a company that is designed to "build credit" by giving people with bad credit scores a high limit credit card. Hmm. Anyway, it was another automatic dialer job repeating the same script to people although in an inbound call center. I got more varied responses ranging from people yelling at me for sending them an activated card in their name (its not activated) to people joking that they wanted this card to pay for another card (I bet they weren't joking). I talked to some of the strangest people during that job. These were usually the highlight of the day as any response out of the ordinary snaps me out of my zombified state repeating scripts all day. Some were just downright stupid. Every time I argued with someone on the phone I had to laugh. That didn't help my relationships with the supervisors but it was either that or I was going to snap from the frustration and scream my head off. Yep, it's real fulfilling to perform a job you hate day after day.

The last call center gig I had was at a company that managed the collections department for a telecommunications corporation. I won't tell you which one. But it was, and still is, a major telecommunications corp. Now, this job wasn't like the last two I talk about above. You see, there's a difference between a customer service department and a collections department. Customer service wants to (or at least they should want to) help you. When you call the customer service department of a company, they are supposed to solve your problems. They are supposed to treat you well and keep you satisfied so that you keep your business with the company. That's why they have the power to make offers to keep you as a customer.
The collections department is not customer service. You owe the company money and they need you to pay it. My job was to collect. That's not to say that I was a jerk to customers or that I treated them badly. The point is that bills had to be paid.

See, when someone falls past due on their cell phone bill they received from this company, their service is shut off. The only number that can be dialed on the cell phone now is the one that leads directly to the collections department. Mostly everyone that I talked to was three or more months past due. So, they do have some leeway in terms of how long they have service if they don't pay up on time. But after three months, I need to get a credit card payment.

A lot of people deny being that far behind on payments. But collections operators have access to a client's information including including their payment history. That made this job different from the two jobs I had before because the main goal was to collect. I didn't have to persuade someone to buy something or listen to a survey. If they didn't pay up, they didn't get their phone turned back on and eventually their delinquent account is reported to the three major credit bureaus. After being told this, people's attitudes change from rude and belligerent to accepting and calmed down. At that point, almost everyone comes up with the dough. I learned to be unwavering in the pursuit of collecting money. I mean, when you think about it, a cell phone is a luxury. Sob stories didn't work and neither did yelling, cussing, lying, or death threats. It wasn't the most glamorous job but hey, I called the shots this time.

After four short months, word comes down to the cubicles that our services will no longer be needed. All of the collections operators had done a swell job of harvesting the clients' money. But the corporation found people who would do what we did for a lot less. Yep, our positions were outsourced to Panama and India. But, hey, what did I care. I was starting my junior year in college two weeks from then. I got an end of term bonus and learned an important lesson. I never want to work in a call center again.

Phone sales

This lady kept calling trying to sell some water thing. The third time she called I spoke slowly and dramatically then said some nonsense at the end to scare her off. That'll teach her to call my house again!

Roberto: Hello?
Telemarketer: Hello, I'm calling from (water purification company). Can I speak with the homeowner?
Roberto: Yes.
(silence)
Telemarketer: Are you the homeowner?
(silence)
Roberto: Yes.
Telemarketer: You are the homeowner?
Roberto: Yeah!
Telemarketer: Okay, sir! My name is (blank) and I'd like to tell you about an offer we have going on this month. How long have you lived at your address?
Roberto: ...hm...I don't know, it's been a while. We just moved in this month.
Telemarketer: Okay. Well, what our company does is install water purification systems into homes so that the water coming from your sinks is safer to drink. As you may know, the water that currently comes out of your sink has many minerals in it which is why it tastes different that drinking water. Do you currently buy drinking water for your home?
Roberto: Buy water? What?
Telemarketer: You don't purchase water by the gallon at a grocery store?
Roberto: Oh yeah, I do that. I purchase water.
Telemarketer: Well, sir, with our system installed you wouldn't have to buy water anymore because it would take out the impurities from the water that you currently get at home making it taste better.
Roberto: Okay. I like tasty water.
Telemarketer: Uh, okay, well, like I mentioned earlier we have an offer going on this month for new homeowners. Your address is (she tells me my address). Is this correct?
Roberto: Lets see. (I repeat the address very slowly). Yes that's my address!
Telemarketer: Good, okay sir, well, our offer is that we can install our system in your home and you can try it out for 30 days. If you like it you'll be assessed the installation fee and our monthly rate. If you don't like it you can call us before the 30 days and we will uninstall it. So how does tomorrow morning at 10:00 work for you?
Roberto: Oh, no, tomorrow at 10:00 doesn't work.
Telemarketer: Okay, will an afternoon time work? I can have an installation rep be there as late as 4:00 pm?
Roberto: No, 4:00 pm won't work either.
Telemarketer: Is there a time that would work for you this week. I can see if we can schedule you in.
Roberto: No, actually no times work. (whispers) My doctor said I can't have visitors.
Telemarketer: (laughs out loud then quickly stops herself) I'm sorry. Is there someone else with you who makes these decisions?
Roberto: Oh no.
Telemarketer: Do you have a caretaker or someone who helps you?
Roberto: No, I take care of myself.
Telemarketer: Uh...
Roberto: (whispers) I'm working on a secret project!
Telemarketer: (sounding worried) Um, okay, sir. Thank you for your time.
Roberto: OKAY!
Telemarketer: Okay, you have a nice day.
Roberto: YEAH!! I'M GOING TO HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
Telemarketer: Okay, sir, bye-bye.
Roberto: Bye, now.

Quick post

Collective sightings so far:

• Harrison Ford (or a doppleganger) in a scruffed up suit asking for $5.00 at a Smith's parking lot.
• John "Jigsaw" Kramer entering a Home Depot. Probably a Tobin Bell look-alike.
  

Slightly good news: While I was doing laundry I found $3.00 in one of my jeans. I now have $16.00 total in my pocket. Yay!

No money but...

I purchased "The Distant Future" by Flight of the Conchords on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble. The only reason I decided to get it is because it was $6. All of these big stores like B&N and Tower Records sell CDs for way too much. I mean, Metallica's Kill 'Em All for $19.99? C'mon, that album came out in the 80s, they should just give it to me free.
When you're low on cash, you end up looking for any deals you can and keep yourself from buying stuff you don't need. That's why I can't stay at Best Buy or Target or Gamestop for too long or I'll want to buy something. In fact, today I had to put down a $8.99 copy of Silent Hill once I reconsidered the purchase. It's a good movie, yeah, but I should just wait on it.
Interesting note on my trip to Best Buy though. They've been selling out of Wiis every Sunday!! According to one Best Buy employee, they get a shipment of approximately 20-some Wii units every Sunday and they sell them all soon after the store opens at 10:00am. Hijole! People are lining up for this already? And it's not even November yet.

The 16-bit BRAWL!

This is freakin awesome! Finally, Mario and Sonic can battle it out! Now I really want a Wii.

Also, why do people here think I'm older, married, and have kids?! I'm 23, you weirdo. People that I've talked to here constantly assume that about me. Maybe I'm somehow projecting that image to others. Ah, well whatever. At least I get referred to as "sir" everywhere I go now!

"...and still kicking"

Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm still around. I haven't updated this dumb thing in almost a year now so I've decided to hit restart and pick up from where I am now. A ver que. Hopefully I can discipline myself to update regularly. Part of the reason I wanted to jump back into this thing (which some call a blog) is this video from ze frank. He makes a very good point.

Like others, I tend to get very bogged down trying to learn every single detail about some new idea that I'm tackling. Afterwards, I end up learning a lot but not doing much. Thus, I don't learn much at all. So for this site, my new approach is to just start posting and learn as I go. That should be fun I guess.

Anyway, I'm on only a few hours of sleep so I'll write later.