Rant: Instead of having spring break, I worked a bunch and went into my internship to get more training. It seemed like a great idea until I realized that a) I don't get a break and b) I still have a 25 page research paper and an extensive local resource list of free and low-cost services due Monday. They are definitely not done, and I am definitely not being productive right now. Rave: At least it's not Sunday yet.
RAVE: Spoiler'd for those that don't want to read about gooey relationship sweetness. Spoiler Last night's black tie event was in honor of a 22 year old kid. When he was five, he came home to what he thought was an empty house. After he walked inside toward his mother's bedroom he was stabbed 17 times and left for dead. After he was rescued, it was discovered his mother had been murdered. The same sociopath that did this went free for 17 years because there was no evidence linking him to the murder and attempted murder. Finally, in 2009, DNA evidence pointed at the psycho. In 2012, the boyfriend tried the murder, got a conviction, and sent the fucker to prison for life plus 20. This kid is remarkable. Despite having lost his mother in such a horrific way and being attacked so savagely, he managed to survive and move past it (to the best of his ability knowing the murderer was still out there) to get a college degree and work with child advocacy groups. It's nothing short of amazing. During his speech last night (which was heartbreaking at points, especially when he talked about having to be cross-examined by this fucker b/c the dumbass decided to be his own attorney) he thanked the boyfriend and the DA's office for never letting the case go and making sure his mother's killer wound up in prison. The boyfriend squeezed my hand after the kid thanked him and the DA's office and said "Part of that thanks belongs to you. I never would've gotten through that trial if it wasn't for you." I'm pretty sure that's one of the best compliments I have ever received.
Rant: My Westie, who I've had since 8th grade, died two days ago on my 29th birthday. He'd been declining for a few years but had always had more good days than bad, and just when you'd think he was coming to the end you'd look outside and see him racing around chasing squirrels....but apparently had a string of really bad days in a row and got to the point that he had no idea where he was, and my mom ended up having to take him to the vet to be put to sleep. I'm in Afghanistan and it kills me that I couldn't even be there with him at the end. He had a very long, very happy life, and we did the right thing....but it still sucks. As much as it sucks that I couldn't be there for him I'm glad I'm here for a while longer, I'm not ready to go back to visit and have him not be there. My aunt's Westie/Cairn mix just passed away a week or so ago, so at least he'll have a friend up in doggie heaven. RIP Celtic Warrior (Celty), I'll miss you bud. See you on the other side. Spoiler
RAVE: Backstory: In 1985/6 my grandfather shot himself without any explanation. There are theories and ideas, some of which I've posted here before, but he never left a note. While going through her mom's house, my mom and her siblings found a journal. Starting 2 years before he died, he wrote down up to a few pages of what he was going through - physical symptoms, mental, emotions, everything. It's likely going to answer just about all of the questions around what happened. RAVE: And I'm officially no longer a cog in the vast, grinding machine that is one of the United States' largest restaurant conglomerates. Fuck that place. RANT: Somehow let my sleep schedule slowly creep out of whack. With the time change, it caught up with me and it looks like I'll be going until Monday night without any sleep to get a good reset.
Rave: One of the Mess attendants on the base I'm at for the next few weeks. Must be mid forties but by fuck I would hit that like a piñata full of hundred dollar bills. I can only imagine what she looked like in her twenties.
Rant - So I purchased my first handgun (beretta 92fs) and I seemed to notice a bit of surface rust during my first field strip and wipe down earlier (gun has not even been shot yet). I think it is because I left the gun in my closest for about two weeks without oiling it or putting dessicant in the case it came with . I learned that not wiping your gun down before putting it in storage is a bad idea ... fingerprints and oils are terrible on the finish. Also humidity levels, didn't think much about them till now. I subsequently purchased a bunch of silica gel, break free cleaner, and microfiber cloths to ensure proper cleaning.
Rant: I think I need to stop drinking. I generally have a fairly strong cocktail each night, and lately I cannot sleep through an entire night. I woke up last night at 3:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep at all. I'm thinking that my body is sobering up and can't remember how to sleep without alcohol in its system. That's a damn scary thought for me, and enough to make me cut out the alcohol for a while.
Rant: My little sister's last day of work here at my office was Friday. The whole thing is bittersweet. I'm glad she'll be moving on to bigger and (much) better things, but I'm going to miss having her around. She'd come in my office and rant with me about work bullshit and co-workers and it was nice to always have someone on my side. We were close before I got her a job here, but we became much closer because of it. Today kinda sucks. It also sucks because all her shitty administrative work is back on me now. Rant for her: Fiance went out bra shopping yesterday and decided to get remeasured since she's been working out a lot and has lost a decent amount of weight. I get an upset call from her that she's no longer a DD, but rather a DDD. On the one hand, I feel bad because she's been working really hard to lose weight, and an increase in cup size just makes her feel like she's not losing as much as she thought. Lots of, "I hate my tits" sentiment yesterday. I told her that the increase was probably due, in part, to the fact that she has been working out and she's got more muscle on her chest now, but it didn't help. On the other hand, DDD--nice (and there's no way I'll ever convince her to post them here, so save the reps).
Rave: My brother got engaged. I'm happy for him. Rave: Last man standing! Got a bachelor party to plan too...
Part rant, part rave: Due to continuing maintenance work in the building, the building was closed today so I got to work from home. That's the rave. Normally, that would have meant getting to sleep in a little late since the commute would just be across the house from the bedroom to my office. However, the wife and kids went back to NJ today for the week to visit with her folks, so I had to drive them to the airport. AT 5:15 THIS MORNING! Which meant I had to get my ass out of bed at 4:45. I think I hear my bed calling.
RAVE: 2.5 km, 500 m of which were butterfly, in about an hour. Toughest swim I've done since high school!
Rave: Bit of a shopping spree. Ni No Kuni, Record of Agarest War Zero, Radiant Historia and Shadow Hearts: From the New World. Come at me bro.
Rant $700 scubapro dive computer with a dead battery that can only replaced at the factory with a 2-3 week turnaround. Rave still going diving for 2 days at Catalina and lobster season is still on and my spear gun wants to kill, fuck a bunch of computers I have some guages.
Rant: I slept on my shoulder wrong and woke up with it in pain. So I thought I'd use something called Stopain, which is basically a spray pump Ben Gay. It actually works rather well. Except it's somewhat awkward trying to spray your shoulder/back looking in the mirror. I ended up spraying the right side of my face, which is now burning and numb. Not surprisingly, it doesn't wash off all that well. I must have got some in my eye as well as that is watering also. But hey, not thinking about my shoulder anymore!
Re: Rant & Rave Thread RANT: Woke up last night and my pillow was soaked, look in the mirror and my face is caked in coagulated blood. Fuck random nose bleeds.
RAVE: I bought a wee little bag of weed last week. Waited until the night I was doing my sleep reset and got stoned. As par for the course with this shit, I ended up thinking horribly self-loathing shit, though not as severely as in the past. The rave here is that I was able to confront it head-on, filtering out some of the negativity and evaluating myself from a different perspective, realized a lot of things about myself I usually don't, and make notes/plans to fix them. As a result of this, today I felt more confident and calm than I have in months. RANT: I'll end up buying more in a few weeks, get the same strain Crown gets, and end up even more cynical and prone to clever, typo-filled wall-of-text rants about shitty people/places/things.