RANT: My dad just died. I'll be spending the next 20 hours travelling back to be with my mom and family. Fuck. I'm going to need some distraction for the next little while, so you fuckers better deliver.
Rant: Saw my cat playing with a shoelace under the kitchen table this morning. Then the shoelace slithered away on its own. Luckily it slithered into a folded up piece of paper on the floor for easy removal outside (I won't kill a snake, especially the harmless kinds). Rave: I lost my job yesterday - well, technically it was "eliminated". I had people saying they were so sorry, etc. I'm not. I hated that job, and only was reluctant to leave because of the month vacation and because I liked my co-workers. The best part was the two VPs (one of whom had a phenomenal ass) gathering me and the other 3 layoffs into a meeting dungeon and giving us the sugar-coated, kid gloves routing for something that I've said I'd bend over and blow myself if it ever happened. So now I have 45 days - paid, mind you - to find a new job. And at the end of those days I get my severance, plus unused vacation and personal time. Long as I'm being paid I figure I'll finish my book. Rant: Goddamn Allstate drafted my payment today even though I was told when I changed the due date that the next payment would be Oct. 15. And despite being a loyal customer for years they won't do anything about it - say I have to go to the office where I changed the due date and then maybe they'll refund my money Time to switch companies.
Rant: Now I remember the reason why the car I posted about last week sat in my garage for 5 years between starts - a simple fix which would've taken 20 minutes on a reasonable car took 2.5 hours and four trips to the hardware store because Pontiac Fiero. This fucking car. Rant/Rave? I just realized today that I've had this car for 20 years this fall.
Rave: Good sex with cute 26 year old. Friday had a big case finally go through after 3 months. Wife home soon to relax. For the moment at least, life is pretty good.
Spoiler: Sports Rants. I just needed to vent. This weekend just passed has to be the single worst sports weekend of my life. Only ONE of the teams I follow a bit won - England in their RWC2015 opener. Sharks lost away to the Lions 26-18. South Africa lost to fucking JAPAN. At the Rugby World Cup. Jesus Christ. REALLY?! The biggest upset in World Cup history right there. I remember when the Japanese were beaten in 1995 by nearly 100 points (that is huge). I think that says more about the appalling lack of quality in the South African side that Heyneke Meyer picked and his awful tactics rather than the skill of the Japanese, who were tireless and played well. Arsenal got fucked over by Chelsea and the referee, Mike Dean. Diego Costa should have been sent off for pawing/slapping at Laurent Koscielny's face THREE times in less than 10 seconds (raised arms are generally frowned up and hitting a player in the face is almost always an automatic red card if the aggressor was shown to know the other player was there through video evidence). Costa fell to the floor theatrically and then pushed Koscielny over with his chest (also a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct). Gabriel came to separate the two players and got a yellow card, along with one for Costa. The argument continued going back to the halfway line for the goal kick to be taken (both Costa and Gabriel speak Portuguese, as both are ethnic Brazilians). Gabriel then had his back to Costa (I think Gabriel thought Costa had moved off, but he hadn't) and lifted his leg and hit Costa in the shin with his studs in what Mike Dean construed as a stamp but Costa and the Chelsea players surrounded the referee and Dean sent off Gabriel for the offence as a result (quite harsh by the referee, who had completely failed to control the situation, which is his fucking job. Costa still remained on the pitch on just a yellow card despite inciting a fracas. Costa hit Seamus Coleman of Everton in the face just last week and managed to escape punishment again, so it's not like he hasn't done it before. The F.A. will likely not do anything about Costa's behaviour, which repeatedly brings the game into disrepute and sets a bad example for any children watching the match (Clubs make a special effort to accommodate young fans with separate enclosures and facilities, so Costa's actions must be taken with a dim view). Chelsea fans were chanting Diego Costa's name when he was substituted off in the second half (also disgraceful but expected from Chelsea fans, who are mostly awful people - the National Front still recruits there. That's right, the U.K. fascists. Enough said.). Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, of course defended Diego Costa - he is the first to moan and bitch when things don't go his way. An utterly contemptible man. Chelsea won 2-0 through a dodgy free kick (thanks again Mike Dean, you gaping, festering cunt) that was headed in by Zouma and a goal late on by Eden Hazard. I thought the two yellow cards accrued by Santi Cazorla in separate incidents were a little harsh, but that happens sometimes. Oh, Francis Coquelin was also injured during the match and will miss at least 2 weeks of the season, so that's at least 3 players that Arsenal will be missing in their next league match. In other football events, Manchester United and Spurs won. The only results that went Arsenal's way was the Manchester City loss (1st time that's happened in the Premier League this season) and Liverpool getting a home draw vs. Norwich. Arsenal have to play Spurs in the League Cup on Wednesday in the first North London Derby of the season - for those who don't know, a distance of about a mile separates the two clubs, so it's a serious rivalry. Vettel won for Ferrari in Singapore. Hamilton's car expired (I was rooting for Ricciardo, but he got 2nd). At least Kimi got 3rd. Eddie Jordan was a cunt as always in the post-race interview for the drivers, especially to Kimi Raikkonen - Jordan told Raikkonen he was "lying" about his practice starts on the simulator. What the fuck Eddie?! You weren't there. You were a good team owner and manager but an awful pundit. Please fuck off already. TL/DR: Fuck this past weekend.
Rave: Wonderful honeymoon with the lady. New Zealand was amazing with awesome people that inhabit it. Highly recommended to anyone thinking of going. Rant: Holy fucking jet lag.
RAVE: Headed to Vegas for a bachelor party tonight. Really good guys going, all single minded on having an awesome time. Pool partys with cabanas, steak dinners, bottle service with DJ Snake performing, can't fucking wait. RANT: One of my best friends was going out a night early with me (tonight, as 90% are arriving tomorrow)...and cancelled at 11AM because of some spurious work reasons. Same friend has been pretty unavailable and is moving out of state in a few weeks. Was gonna be a nice catch up and pseudo-last hang before I transitioned into seeing him 2-3 times a year max. RANT: This stock market is a complete clusterfuck. I never truly got pissed about algorithmic trading until I started trading shorter term options. What a fucking joke. Making the right plays and still losing. RAVE: Im still going to fucking Vegas. If there is one place I'm fine spending hours by myself, its in a casino. This is going to be a great weekend.
Rave: At Mother in Law's. Had to get out of the city due to the Popacalypse (pronounced 'poh - pah - cah - lips'). I haven't slept this well in ages. The dog is with us and doing well. Rave: Loving the new car. What a pleasure to drive. Rave: 4 days in a row off. Very relaxing. Just reading, watching tv, going for walks. I needed this. Rant: Only one tv, so I can't play video games as much as I'd like. Boo.
Rave: got a custom made cabinet drawer for our kitchen reno, came as a blank, perfect fit, perfect match to what we currently have. My wife decided to stain it while I was at work so all I'd have to do when I got home was install it. Rant: she didn't test the stain before she did the entire thing. The stain she bought was the wrong shade. Not even close. Rave: I got new tools to make my job of stripping the old stain easier. Rant: it was still a bitch of a job, and of course there were all these intricate and tiny crevaces where the old stain got in that I had to sand out. Rave: The new stain matches perfectly, and now I have a better random orbital sander and shop vac (old one took a crap).
Rant/Rave: We have been interested in a dog we found through a small local nonprofit here. To even meet her, we had to fill out an application. Now there is a picture of me, el husband, and us with the dogs on facebook on their organization page saying how we are adopting this dog. I want her, but we live in my parents' rental house (I manage the other property on the street). We already have a dog and it shouldn't be a big deal, but my parents are weird about shit. I feel like I am being rushed. I already emailed the lady to let her know that this is still pending a talk, but I am trying to downplay it because we ARE very interested and I don't want to mess it up. I have a little ball of dread in my stomach. Big decisions are stressful to me regardless, and now I feel like I am being rushed. Why can't people just keep their mouths shut about shit until it is finalized? Spoiler: Edit: I have to include a picture of the cutie at least She was found by a homeless man with a chain embedded all the way around her neck. The skin had grown over the whole thing...
Rave: My sister is in town and I got to see her and my baby nephew last night. Both are doing very well. He's starting to laugh and it's adorable. Rant/Rave: They got rear-ended by some drunken fuckstick weaving his motorcycle through traffic last night. The rave is neither my sister nor my nephew have any injuries, her car is fine, and fuckstick went to jail after totally wrecking his bike.
Rave: New work truck, 2015 Chev 2500 2wd. Rant: Holy fuck is it high, just as high as the 4wd. At least 4" higher then our old 08 F250 2wd. And one of the foreman has a 2014 F450 4x4 and says the Chev noticeably higher.
Rant: How the fuck does someone get away with ransacking several bicycle seat bags in the garage of a building housing a federal law enforcement agency? Taking my frame pump and multi-tool I get, but who the fuck steals bike innertubes?
RANT: As someone who follows the market for both interest and investing reasons, we need another catastrophic flash crash to both punish algorithmic trading that has ruined this market and propped up unreasonable valuations, as well as to punish this incompetent Fed led by that bridge troll Yellen who has no fucking clue what they are doing and keeps a market in limbo in perpetuity, allowing corrupt nonsense to push it in whatever direction feels nice that morning.
Rant: Being in love with someone who lives on the other side of the world. Rave: The feelings are returned and if everything goes well we should be able to catch up soon. Uncertain: Five months until I head to the Middle East.