RANT: My cousin just moved to Vancouver, only a few blocks from where I live. We haven't really been in touch a lot in the last few years and after seeing her last night I'm not sure she's doing all that great. I think she's an alcoholic... at least that's what I got from her semi-coherent rant/confession that her parents think she's been dry for 6 months. She was very drunk and yet kind of functional at the same time, like that was normal for her. She's also a drop dead gorgeous 29 year old, which I think is working against her in this case. Being beautiful makes it a lot easier to convince people that you don't have a problem and everything is fine. I'm kind of jumping to conclusions here though, so hopefully it isn't as bad as I'm afraid it might be. We'll see.
??? We might be staying for an additional year while el husband works a contractor job, could be very lucrative and maybe allow him to make a lateral move within that company back on the mainland somewhere. It's scary because this is a brand new option and shakes it all up. Not even sure if it is a firm option...his friend/coworker is a contractor and in charge of making hiring decisions. We are supposed to be moving in a month so whatever happens is going to happen really fast.
Rave: I had an interview at the place I did my internship for a job I'm already pretty familiar with. I was a little nervous and didn't think it went all that well, but two previous employers have called (excitedly) to say that the agency called them for references, so that has to be good. Also Rave: It is no long 1,00,000 degrees outside, and so my scarves and boots have become fair game again. Oh, cute ankle boots with unreasonably high heels, I have missed you so!!
Rant: I keep seeing a big white rabbit in my yard, and the local (Dallas) rabbit rescue is full to capacity. Some dumb fuck probably got tired of it and thought, "shit, it's a rabbit, it will be fine" and let it go. I want to catch it and get it to a shelter before a bobcat, great horned owl or motor vehicle gets to it. Rave: Texas Silver Star whiskey. Made right up the road from me, and damn if it's not good.
Rant: If you don't want to hear bitching, do not come forth or ye enter. My job finally broke me. Literally. I am a manager at a box retail store. A $5 billion a year company. I am, most weeks, severely understaffed, not to mention underpaid. This causes me to haul my ass around from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. like a madman. Just pushing myself to exhaustion, mentally and physically. I actually clock out for lunch and work for free for 30 minutes just to get shit done. Tonight my back is so fucked I am hunched over at almost a 90 degree angle. I fell over at work twice, unable to get back up until the spasms stopped. I've been in pain for a solid month, and this past week sent me over the edge because my boss likes to bicker over $50 in man hours. It feels like someone is shoving a rod up my buttock into my back. The worst part is I feel like a failure. I can't get all my work done, I'm hobbling around like a pathetic cripple, and I feel like I should be able to push through it, shut up, and just do your fucking job. So I gave them 3 weeks notice. Something came up that allowed me to get out of there for at least a year, so I took it. And I still feel like I let them down, because the store isn't where *I* want it to be. Rave: This year's Paulaner Oktoberfest is outstanding. Better than I've ever had.
RANT, I GUESS?: I'm in NJ for a long weekend. My father generously paid for the flight home and I plan to attend the Rutgers game with my brother tomorrow to watch my alma mater retire Eric LeGrand's jersey, a first in my university's history. I don't know if I'm suffering from a bout of depression or what, but, for the first time since I've moved away from here, this place feels foreign. It doesn't feel like home. I don't feel like I belong here and I don't feel like I'd ever want to move back. It's strange, because whenever things get too shitty in Georgia, I always think I have Jersey as my safety net - I can always go home. My friends are thrilled I'm home with the usual "Please, you need to move back." I find myself replying "No! I don't want to!" instead of my stock "Hey, someday I might get tired of being a southern belle." They're confused. I'm confused. I don't understand what brought this on. RAVE: I can't argue with the weather right now; 60 degrees on a clear near fall evening. Tomorrow it'll be around 73 and sunny for the game. Lemme tell ya, after marinating in sweaty clothing the last two weekends in Auburn, this is a goddamn relief. I miss having four seasons living down south.
Rant: Meet day is finally here and as I am wont to do for any competition I am antsy as all hell. Slept fitfully and woke up about a half hour before my alarm went off. Just stared at the ceiling for a while. Rave: If my MO holds true, I'll get super calm about a half hour before game time. Regardless of the competition previously (football, BJJ, etc.) it's the same damn thing. I get close to freaking out, I get super calm, and then I perform. I'm not someone who gets really fired up when the curtain rises, but I retreat deep inside until I have to lift, get on the mat, whatever. It's always happened, but I always worry whether it's going to happen. Ah well, c'est la vie.
RAVE: Just signed a purchase agreement on a house (contingent upon the flood insurance - because EVERYTHING in Louisiana is in a flood zone). The initial quotes for insurance are looking affordable so far. RAVE: The wife just switched jobs. Instead of working every Saturday it will be every other one at worst, but maybe only one a month. RAVE?: I interviewed for a job I think I am not quite qualified for. The interview went as well as any I've ever had and the interviewer did seem genuinely impressed. RANT: If I get said job, I will have to commute 1.5 hours each way for the training for it, for 6 months. RANTish: This will be going on as I am trying to buy this house...And move. RAVE: ALL of the above is a RAVE because if you had asked me, "how's it going?" a month ago, I might have just grumbled about my great dislike for my current job...and where I live now...and my wife's crappy previous job. Fuck it, even if my new job doesn't pan out and we don't get the house, things are still looking up and A LOT better than they were. Rave: Saturday night in Death Valley. There is nothing like it.
RAVE: Helped out with a stunt today where my buddy did a gainer off a 40-foot cliff while engulfed in fire. RANT: Ran out of fire retardant so I didn't have a chance to be on fire. RAVE: Did a double backflip off a 40-foot cliff today. Stomped the shit out of it.
Rave: I am a football coach and teacher. I switched schools this year from a suburban school that chronically underperformed to a school in the SWATS (SouthWestAtlantaTooStrong). The facilities are worse. The neighborhood is full of abandoned apartment buildings and dope boys. The teaching is bogged down with twice as much paperwork. Why is this a rave? Because the kids on the football team CARE. They bought into the system that me and the rest of the coaching staff put in place.They all want to win, and they don't tolerate bullshit from anybody who doesn't. Tonight we beat the reigning region champions 38-26 in a game called "The Inner City Classic". I'm so damn proud of my team because they played hard as hell from the beginning of the game to the end, because we pulled off a win in a game where we were picked to lose by 20, because this puts us in a GREAT position to get a high seed in the playoffs, and because anybody who watched that game knew that we were the better team. because it describes how I feel tonight perfectly: "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." Vince Lombardi
Rave: Got the job offer! Rant: I now have to negotiate to get them to come up in their salary offer, since I'm pretty sure they lowballed me.
Rave: I don't have arthritis! Rant: I still can't make a fist in the morning and now I don't know why. Rant: I have 79 unread emails and I've already weeded out the crap. This is going to be a long week of catch-up. Rave: Just bought Animaniacs vol 1-4 on DVD. Fucking eh.
Rave Two days in, and I'm positive that I'm going to enjoy this job a lot. The company is insanely laid back and easy-going. Basically, as long as I get my shit done, they don't care what I do otherwise.
Rant: My husband is downstairs so I took a picture of my butt and texted it to him asking if he wanted to get it on tonight. His response? "Are we sexting now?" Rave: All is not lost as I believe we made plans for a nooner tomorrow. Ahhhh, spontaneity, gotta love it.
Rant- The new owners of my company are starting to crack the whip since this near impossible study has gone to shit. The worst project manager that could be assigned a project like this was put on it. We've sent out thousands of faxes and called through the client list multiple times trying to get ahold of doctors in two separate towns that isn't our city. We've gotten exactly one successful response in god knows how many man hours on the project. I have a feeling all of the work they dumped on me last night was not completed to their satisfaction. Im dreading a call or just walking in today. I can see why half the country is on Xanax or Zoloft for stupid fucking cubicle work.