News From The Tree Fort

2012-01-26T14:16:00.002-05:00

So I was able to go by Gator's and got to hang with Darren (boyfriend of one of the waitresses there) and I asked him about Chelsea, unfortunately she has a boyfriend. But on the lighter side Darren says he's a schlub. So, I might have an opening there. I was thinking of asking her out for a cup of coffee and even if she says she has a boyfriend I'm thinking I should give her my number anyway. Plant a little seed in her brain and see what grows.

Directions

2012-01-23T14:44:00.002-05:00

I should be posting more, but I'm thinking I need a direction or a theme to narrow my focus some. I think that would help me post more and I look back to some of my posts where I felt I was writing well and I think those subjects were about girls and my experience with dating. Which leads me to a situation I was in yesterday. Down at my favorite hang out, the sports bar Gator's, watching the Pats V Ravens and I feel like I had a couple of possible shots but I didn't make a move on either one of them. I think it was the nerves or emotional rollercoaster that the game was that had me off of my "girl game" which is a pretty shaky game anyway. Danielle, a cute sweet little blonde that was sitting with a guy friend and through conversation I found out she has a kid but no ring on her finger...interesting. And then there's Chelsea, a cool, spunky, little waitress that was working her morning shift and returned later in the night to hang for a bit. We connected eyes a couple of times and she came up and gave me a hug before she left saying it was good to see me today. I wanted to ask one of the other girls that work there what her story is, but I didn't for some reason. Now I'm thinking today I should drop in after work and screw up some courage to ask about her story and see if there is something there. There is nothing worse than over thinking these things. Hopefully, there will be some interesting stories to tell in the near future. Wish me luck...

Selfishness

2012-01-02T23:46:00.002-05:00

" Prayers needed!! Things are good, but could always be better, and I'm hoping to make them better VERY soon! Thanks bub for your positive words & actions!"

In case you weren't sure what it looked like in print here is an ex's facebook post. Yep, things are

good, but I need prayers because they could always be better. Frackin bitch. Got lucky not sticking

with that one.

2011-03-08T07:18:00.002-05:00

I wish I could get through this whole thing because I try to listen to multiple sides and try to have well rounded views on the world and people's opinions in order to have a greater understanding of what is going on around us. I got to about the 3:45 mark and just didn't understand the train of thought. Here is what I could understand: People advocating for green energy are bad, because if we start using green energy people in poor countries that do not have access to coal or oil have to burn what ever is around them and then they get smoke all up in their faces that shortens their lives and THAT smoke is a really environmental disaster (the CO2 we inhale everyday from cars....well....that's ok). He then suggests that we help develop ways for 3rd world countries to also burn coal and oil. Well, how about we help 3rd world countries develop ways to use wind and solar instead of burn coal and oil since YOU JUST ADMITTED THAT INHALING THAT SMOKE SHORTENS YOUR LIFE!!!! Is it just me or does this guy sound like a salesman for the coal and oil industry? "Gee guys you know, we are only raping Americans everyday and only turning billions of dollars of profit per quarter but if we could only figure out a way to start raping poor countries and stealing all of their wealth....then...then we'd be making some REAL bank!"

Anyways after that I had to go and puke and missed the rest of the vid. If anyone else can make it threw it and explain it to me I'd appreciate it. The oil companies need good press, too!

2011-02-16T16:34:00.002-05:00

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-the-middle-class-became-cnnm-2876148381.html

Fairly interesting article on the stagnant wages of the blue-collar non-union worker a group that I am a part of.

2011-02-09T15:56:00.002-05:00

As I approached the house I couldn't help but have some teenage flash backs and the exploring in the hills behind Merryknoll. There were some Bud Light and Natty Light cans on the ground, destroyed old car seats...looks like kids everywhere have their own version of the Juice Bowl.

I really wish I knew what this house use to look like, because I think the design is pretty awesome. Couple of floors, high ceilings, outdoor stairway leading to the back. I can't get the image of a swanky 70's party going down here. Just add a sunken living room and we are getting groovy baby!

2011-02-09T15:41:00.004-05:00

I don't know why but I have a fascination about some of the abandoned and broken down houses out here. This one sits up on a hill near the bike path. With a great view of Mt. Rainier.

I wonder what happened to the owners? Did they run into financial problems? When did they leave?

This is a little gate that guards the entrance to what use to be the driveway. There a lot of over growth and land pushed everywhere pretty much covering everything. Makes me wonder if there was a landslide or some other event that made the house unstable.

2011-02-02T23:25:00.003-05:00

so i'm sitting here in a cool little Seattle bar drinking some Mack & Jacks waiting for Groundhog Day to start (the 7 show was sold out so 930 it will be). sitting at a little table and enjoying the conversation going on around me. A 2 guy 2 girl table with one of the girls talking of moving to Austin because it's sunnier and people smile and 'get her' there, to the large table of people behind speaking random chinese to each other (they are white 20 somethings) while having some kind of reunion/house warming party. and although i am sitting alone i feel so surrounded. i enjoy these times and even imagine or project what our little circle of friends would be discussing in similar situations. this was a good night to take off :)

Have and have not

2011-01-11T15:15:00.003-05:00

An interesting situation at work as lead me to think about this particular conundrum. We recently had an HVAC worker come in to repair a couple of the small heaters in the warehouse. They needed repair basically because of their placement which I assume could not be helped. Anyway, after he was finished an email we sent out to the warehouse crew from our Operations manager telling us that the heaters are there to keep the pipes from freezing and they are to be left set at 40 degrees. Someone had turned one of them up to 60 and unless we want to pay the gas bill we should leave them alone. Follow that up with one of the inside salesman (A guy who receives phone calls all day and punches part numbers into a computer) left his check stub lying around and we discover that he's made close to $100,000 this year. Now the office space is very comfortable and warm, it feels warmer than my apartment which is usually around 65-68, now my question is do the office people pay for that heat? I would guess not. So here's the situation we have a crew of warehouse guys that haven't had any raises or cost of living increases in years being told that the warehouse is gonna be cold love it or leave it cause we obviously can afford to pay for it, yet the office workers get to sit in a Miami climate and make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The rich, wealthy, and powerful sit comfortable while the poor make little, get less, and are told love it or leave it.

2011-01-10T16:51:00.001-05:00

Interesting just as a follow up to the wtf moment in Arkansas

2011-01-04T04:07:00.002-05:00

One of the problems with being a publicly traded company, numbers are the only thing that matter. This is a box containing an aluminum wheel the stickers that you see are transfer labels. You can see on the top dated 11/29 (also there are 2 labels underneath that we could not peel of for fear of wrecking them) it went from Portland to Seattle, 12/15 Seattle to Portland, 12/16 Portland to Seattle, and 12/22 Seattle back to Portland. Now what does this have to do with being a publicly traded company? Interestingly enough Keystone set up the company where each warehouse is it's own individual "store" so each time this wheel travels I-5 it is considered a "sale". Seattle sold it to Portland and then Portland sold it back to Seattle etc. Is this right? Is this legal? I don't know, but I would bet not. But then again the company likes to pad it's numbers so they can put out memos saying how the company 'broke new sales records with over 2 billion dollars!' Of course no one has gotten a raise in 5 years, and all this random moving of parts isn't doing much stock-wise. A 52 week low of 17.29 and most recent close at 23.13, not exactly IBM. The best and funniest part is when our managers give us hell because the parts are damaged! Well maybe if we stopped sending them on rides up and down the west coast they'd be in better shape.

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WTF Arkansas? Dead birds and dead fish? Sounds like an X-File...call Scully and Mulder!

2011-01-01T23:07:00.002-05:00

what is it about hot bartenders that makes us think they want to have sex with us if we tip them enough?

2010-12-28T04:05:00.002-05:00

Wow, 2010 is almost over and what a year it was! From ending my relationship with Jen on NYE, to following through with my dream to move west, seeing Sara, Kelly and Karla, E & H's wedding... quite a full year indeed! What could 2011 do to top that? Well, there's 365 days to figure that out. But I have to say that looking back 2010 would have to be in my top 5 of all time favorite years. That makes me think....what were my favorite years? Definitely when the band was at it's high point...1992 or 1993. When the street sport scene was buzzing and seemed unending...1984 or 1985. I know I'm being wishy-washy here with years but this is all off the top of my head. A time I feel like I struck out on my own and found new parts of myself...1997, 2004..and I guess 2010 would fall into that category as well. And although some things have changed some things still remain the same. I'm glad I've gotten back into reading. Al is still alive and kicking! I let him run around the apartment on Christmas day. What should the goals for 2011 be? I don't feel like anything is pressing right now. Not like the west coast dream. Maybe some smaller goals to accomplish. Working out more. Maybe focusing more on my guitar and trying to write songs again. I feel like I need to find a rhythm. I don't know exactly what that is or means, but that's how I feel. Like I need a rhythm. We'll see where that takes us! The future is bright...no doubt!

2010-12-26T02:23:00.002-05:00

its christmas and im sitting in murphy's reading Survivor by Chuck P and have ended the affair with the cougar. I just could not continue it. I wonder if im destined to just be single? Maybe someday I'll get 'it'.

another saturday night

2010-12-19T02:11:00.002-05:00

i had the chance to see 'A child's christmas in wales' and my brain was so troubled. Karla (the cougar) stayed over friday night and we talked yet again about how we were only tempoary. the main problem with a tempoary relationship is you have to keep re-affirming that it is tempoary. she told me that she at least wants to be temp. threw the holidays. so when the options to see the play arose i was troubled with the thought of wanting to see it with Kelly and having to see it with Karla because she was here and i dont know how to hurt her worse then i already have. It's complicated but it seems that all my relationships are. regardless i'm going with the flow and seeing where the river goes.

new toy

2010-12-15T10:49:00.002-05:00

This is just a test run, but ive got to say my new toy (G2 android phone) is awesome! So beware, now i can blog from anywhere! Hopefully this will mean more posts, more often! sweet!

Conflicted

2010-12-08T17:04:00.002-05:00

The 2 week vaca was awesome! Time home with family and friends, and capped off with the beautiful wedding between Heather and Eric! The time out at night with my friends made me feel homesick as I was flying back to Seattle. So since then I've been doing some thinking as to what the future holds. My time here as been great and fulfilling, but the void of my closest friends was magnified over the vaca. Knowing that I won't see those people again for at least 6 months is hard right now. I haven't fully settled on a decision, but either way it'll be a tough one for sure.

2010-12-03T11:33:00.001-05:00

An added bonus to being at home for this vaca is being able to use my parents home gym (Which they use to hold laundry).

Whatauknowaboutthat?

2010-11-18T04:51:00.001-05:00

I have 679 page views....including one from Russia.

Also only 2 days left 'til the trip back east!

5 days and counting

2010-11-15T14:35:00.002-05:00

The East Coast tour will be kicking off soon, and I'm really looking forward to it! It's also making me think about what my future plan is. Am I here in Seattle until the end of May when my lease is up or is this going to last longer. The simple answer is, I don't know yet. The first month here was tough, the new warehouse was a mess and missing everyone back home, but since then I've found my groove and settled in and again talks of moving to a larger warehouse have come up. It's a tough decision and not one I'm taking lightly. But as for the immediate future at 9am west coast time on the 20th I'll be flying back east for 2 weeks which will include ThanksChristmas (that's what my family is calling it) and Eric & Heather's wedding! It'll be great to see everyone, and let's hope that I can survive 2 weeks with my parents!

Email from the boss

2010-11-05T04:22:00.002-04:00

On the latest 'container unload report' (how many containers of auto parts we have unloaded as opposed to how many we have waiting at port for us to unload, and also including how quickly we unload the ones we have) warehouse 032 Seattle was ranked number 1!!! From 9/29 - 10/31 we unloaded and put away 8 containers with "average actual unload days" at 1. Just as a comparison from 3/22 - 4/23 Seattle was ranked at 41 putting away 9 containers over that time span with "average actual unload days" at 10. And as a further comparison (although it's not fair considering the size difference between Seattle's 30,000 square feet and Taunton's 90,000 square feet) from 3/22 - 4/23 Taunton was ranked #54 and put away 36 containers and between 9/29 - 10/31 was ranked #32 putting away 37 containers. It's not fair how the larger warehouses are ranked because of the amount of freight that comes in from other distributors (Lights, radiators, steel bumpers etc.), but with the smaller Seattle location you can kind of control those rankings with a little number manipulation and proper crew motivation. I can tell you...those guys love seeing a high ranking. So tomorrow....we unload another container, and then this weekend we have a full wall-to-wall inventory. Oh and here's the emails I received after the container report came out, from Seattle's GM Rob: "Awwww Yeahhh....", "...(VP) doesn't think he ever saw any W5 Location as #1. Also mentioned that the next W5 Branch was Portland at #60."

Some quick hitters

2010-11-02T05:17:00.002-04:00

It was pretty disappointing that Kelly left the Deer Tick show early because her friend was leaving, even though I offered to give her a ride home. I'm thinking that road my have been run.

************

It's cool that Sara said she would go to Eric & Heather's wedding with me. Also pretty cool that she commented again on the pic of us dancing at Cape House and that she showed concern about who will take care of Al while i'm on East Coast time.

***********

Karla and I...well...geez...that's still confusing. We hung out all weekend long and had a pretty good time. But are we just 2 warm bodies keeping each other company..or is there something deeper? I am leaning toward the former, but everytime I think I find the latter it gets torpedoed. What a dilemma.

**********

Work is still going good. As a matter of fact I'm starting to feel that comfortable cockiness that can sometimes get me in trouble, but is SSSSOOOOO damn good to feel. Feeling like i can kick ass and take names again.

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Sox had a tough season, but the Pats are 6-1 even after trading Moss, and the Celts and Bruins are off to good starts.

And here is a good example as to why people think Boston fans are so sports smart. Of course luck would have it that Seguin would score his first home goal against the TML...just as the hockey gods planned it.

Deer Tick

2010-10-25T14:14:00.002-04:00

I can't really explain how awesome the Deer Tick show was last night, but suffice to say I'll be keeping an eye on their web site to make sure I don't miss another show!!!!

Weekend Re-cap

2010-10-19T04:14:00.002-04:00

Well the weekend didn't go quite as planned. Kelly and I got to hang out and walk her dog (Sunshine) around Alki Beach in the afternoon, and then we grabbed some lunch. I beginning to not know how I feel about her. I've been thinking that we could be friends and take our time and building something, but I don't know...recently I've been falling off of that. I mean don't get me wrong, Kelly is cool, active, sexy, we have a lot of stuff in common, and I feel really comfortable and at ease around her, but maybe it's just not going to work. And when she told me that she wasn't feeling well enough to attend the hockey game I began to wonder what I was going to do. Well, Karla's timing was perfect. She began texting me while I was driving home and I mentioned trying to go to the hockey game and she said she was up for it. So she came over and we went down to the ShoWare Center in Kent and watched a great game between the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Calgary Hitmen. I use to think that the WHL was a place where guys who couldn't make the NHL would go, but it seems like in the last 10 years or so more and more guys are using the WHL. The best example I can think of is current Bruin Milan Lucic who played for the Vancouver Giants from age 16-18. We ended up having a great time and we didn't come back here and have sex...she is puppy sitting our bosses dog so she had to get back to make sure he wasn't chewing up their house, but I only say that because that is what we would always do. Our 'relationship' is just basically having sex. So to have a night where we didn't was odd for us. Needless to say that was made up for yesterday when Karla came over and we had sex and then made dinner, watched some tv and had sex again. And now this week she is on vacation so there should be some pre-work fooling around going on...hopefully it doesn't drain me too much!

Continued...

2010-10-13T16:31:00.002-04:00

So we are pretty much that way the whole movie. By the way The Town...pretty good crime drama. One of the angles is a little hard to believe, but hey...it's a movie. Still good. So we walk out of the movie my arm over her shoulder and we kind of hug and hold each other, but as we get outside and start walking and talking there's no holding hands or any physical contact. No big deal..we were both pretty hungry and had a pretty quick walking pace which does make that stuff difficult. We go to dinner have some drinks and chow and laugh and talk like we pretty much always do when we are together. We get up to leave and I walk her back to her truck. And we embrace in this amazing hug and just sway together for a couple of minutes. Strange how hugs can feel passionate sometimes, but it felt like we were holding on to each other. Like we'd both fall if we let go. My brain is starting to think about asking if I could come over to her place when she breaks away and does her deep breathing 'calm down' thing that she does and runs to her door while saying bye. Later on she's sends me a text saying maybe we shouldn't see each other for while because this is all very confusing. I replied saying I'd rather see her and feel confused than not see her at all. She said she needs some time to figure out how she feels. And that has been pretty much that. I thought we were supposed to go to the Thuderbirds (WHL Seattle hockey team) game this Saturday, but that could be in jeopardy. No matter I'm going to the damn hockey game girl or no...hockey rules!

"Friends"

2010-10-11T16:17:00.003-04:00

So yesterday started off gray and kind of drizzly so I figured perfect movie day. The Town is playing right down the street at 3:40 so I have plenty of time to have a nice slow morning...walk to Starbucks and get a coffee and just chill until movie time. I thought about calling Kelly, but I was kind of feeling like maybe I shouldn't push her too much...just ease off the gas pedal and let's see what happens. So I posted my movie day idea on facebook and Kelly responded. Interesting I thought...maybe I should get in touch with her. On the other hand I was thinking what's the point. Maybe today would be a good hang with myself kind of day. So i don't respond (by this time I was down at Starbucks reading the Seattle Weekly). About 10 minutes later she sends me a text asking me about my movie day. So I tell her I'm thinking about going to see The Town...long story short we make plans to go to a theater near her where the movie is playing at 4 and then hit happy hours at Kate's Pub which is right down the street. At first I was a little annoyed with myself. Sometimes I feel like I've let women run relationships too much in my past, but at the same point going to a movie alone isn't always fun (it has it's good points) but going to a movie with a hot blonde and then to a pub that seems to have nothing but good points so it was up to the Wallingford neighborhood I go. We get into the movie and grab some seats and the whole time I'm thinking 'just be a friend'. So we are sitting and we both kind of shift around a little...I felt like I was getting the 'hold my hand' vibe, but hey we're just friends, right? So for a little while I ignored it, but that gets harder to do...especially when you're sitting in a dark theater and that's all I could think about. So at one point her hand is on her thigh and I reach over and she looks at me with this passionate beautiful look. God is this girl confusing to me. Well for the rest of the movie we are holding each other is many different ways. Nothing sexual (gutter minds!) but she's snuggled up to me, her head on my shoulder and hands are all interlocked...good stuff.

To be continued.....

Autumn

2010-10-05T16:47:00.003-04:00

Just a straight up gorgeous day in Seattle. High 50s, sun, just a slight breeze, and the leaves are turning.

Wow what a month and a half

2010-10-02T18:44:00.002-04:00

My last entry was just before The Hold Steady concert which was where I met Kelly...well I actually met her after the concert at a little bar I walked into because it was quiet and dark and seemed like a good place to wind down after a rockin show. So I'm just sitting there sipping a pint watching some Sportscenter when this pretty blonde girl starts talking to me. We have a really nice conversation and she has her friend there who does a pretty good job at asking me questions to make sure I'm not full of shit while her friend is hitting on me. She tells me she hates talking on the phone...she's a big fan of texting which works for me as I'm not a big phone talker either. I'd much rather talk in person. That might refer back to my insecurities of being ignored so when I'm talking to someone on the phone I feel sometimes that the other person isn't listening to me. Our first few dates we'd hang out and talk and end up making out for hours. She didn't want to go all the way too quick...she's been divorced for almost 3 years and hasn't really had a good relationship since so I can understand her being apprehensive. And you may be thinking "jeez that must be giving you some mighty blue balls!", and I'd say you are right except that I have been able to strike up a friend with favors relationship with the older woman I work with. Now of course with women having these types of relationships isn't easy and just when things seem to be going smoothly they start wanting more, and trying to explain that there isn't going to be anymore is always tough. Now I've told the woman I work with (Karla) about Kelly, but I haven't told Kelly about Karla. So you would think that since I'm being more honest with Karla that we could have a stronger base for a relationship, but I think it's just the opposite. I told Karla about Kelly because I have no fear of losing Karla. If the woman I just have sex with wants to stop having sex with me....that's fine...no big loss, but if Kelly isn't happy with what I'm doing and decided she didn't want to see me anymore I'd really be upset and sad about that. Relationships are funny things. So anyways Kelly and I had some really good dates and I ended up at her place until 5am one Friday night and I told her that there was no way I was trying to drive home (I told her about my inability to drive and sleep at the same time). She was still concerned about the sex thing and I said 'don't worry I can control myself.' and at the time I was so tired I might have suggested I sleep on her couch, but in the end I crawled into bed and slept next to her. We woke up after only a few hours and started making out again, and I think my lack of sleep helped me here, my hands started roaming on her and I think neither one of us could stop what we both have been wanting to do. So we end up having really good sex (now I can die saying I've been with a California blonde...Kelly was born in Cali YEEAAAHH!) and then we spent the rest of the day hanging out and walking around the ballard neighborhood. Since then Kelly has wanted to slow things down because she's really busy and doesn't want a full blown relationship...which is fine, I still have my friend with favors and Kelly and I are going out to dinner tomorrow night and then to a WHL hockey game (the Seattle Thunderbirds) in a couple of weeks. So overall things are good.

Yikes...that was quite a large entry and probably pretty confusing. I really have to be better about the blog! :) I'm thinking of putting together a video tour of TreeFort West Coast as well as some video of the neighborhoods.

More to come

2010-08-17T15:32:00.002-04:00

Something clicks in your brain when you are supposed to kiss

maybe that's the 'heart' or 'soul'

two faces move closer together

a blush of a cheek

a brush of a nose

lips connect and break

and you find yourself looking into a set of eyes

left

right

left

right

looking deeper for something

some understand

acceptance

Sure thing

2010-08-15T03:43:00.002-04:00

I thought tonight was a sure thing. This 49 year old that I have been flirting with at work gave me her number on Friday night and told me to call her. True she is 15 years older than me, but she's in pretty damn good shape. So I tortured myself all of last night and most of today trying to figure out whether or not I should call her. I knew I was going down to the local sports bar to see the first Seahawks pre-season game. She said she was turning on her phone Friday night ('turning on' her phone, yeah that's never a good sign) and that I should call her...ya know just to hang out as "friends". So I give her a buzz around 5ish but I get her voicemail which is full...so when I get to the bar I send her a text saying where I was but I never heard back from her. In all reality it's probably for best. I was having images of us sleeping together and then having a very awkward Monday, but the reality is she would probably be like all the other girls I've slept with and it wouldn't mean anything to her. I would be just another guy...in a long line of guys...and she would forget about me as soon as it was over. Just like Hilary, Sarah, Angie, Sara etc. So the mental craziness began...as awesome as a night of passion would be I didn't want a serious thing to start from it. But at the same time I was worried of the rejection I would feel when I got what I wanted in a not long term thing from this woman.

Also, at the same time I'm having a great interest in this strawberry/blonde redhead girl that works at my local Starbucks. Her name is Elizabeth...I've always had pretty good luck with Elizabeth's...updates to follow

Screen play

2010-07-31T16:53:00.003-04:00

So I'm closing in on the end of IT and my mind seems to race with all sorts of different thoughts. Just before and since the move I've been reading a lot more. Probably haven't read this much since high school, and I wonder if this move is helping me connect with another part of me that I might have forgotten about. Also I've been thinking a lot about when Vman, Fish, and I first started hanging out. Wherever we would go Vman had his radio with him playing Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime or Metallica's And Justice For All as I remember. I'm sure we had a good mix of others but those 2 seem to stand out in my mind. The early days of the study group and Sight Unseen. Hanging out underneath Back River Bridge, and Harborlight Mall. Also, I've been thinking about what a great movie IT would make if it had the right writers and director. Like how well Lord of the Rings turned out in the hands of Peter Jackson. So I think of me and V collaborating to write the perfect screen play (of course all of our friends helps us out along the way) and then there we are on a Hollywood movie set getting the actors into the characters of Stuttering Bill and Trashmouth Richie and Haystack Ben. I've never actually seen the full version of the made for TV movie IT, but I'm sure it couldn't be as good as my imagination. I picture it as a trilogy of movies. Capturing that perfect part between childhood and adulthood that King so masterfully wove in his book. I suppose that's what brings up these feelings. There was the group of us coming together at that magical age and forming a bond that somehow still lasts to this day no matter the distance that separates us.

Flashback

2010-07-23T13:43:00.003-04:00

So I'm reading IT which I haven't read in years, and I turn to page to find out how long it has been. A little slip of paper with a locker number and combo. Yeah 17 years or so is too long in between readings of IT. This book is still totally amazing.

2010-07-14T16:32:00.006-04:00

One of the interesting things I've noticed about Kent is that it's a growing little suburb. Not that I totally agree with 'how' it's growing, but it is definitely growing. It also makes me wonder about how this area looked like 10, 15, 20 years ago. Must have looked much different. This picture is one of my 'how's. This is a new set of houses most of which are still for sale, and there are quite a few housing developments like this around. These houses are fairly large and all built right on top of each other. Literally there might be ten feet between houses. No real backyards or frontyards. Seeing this actually makes me sad. If any of these houses have kids where are they going to play?

There are also a lot of empty houses and lots like this around. Low, long, ranch houses, run down and over grown. I wond

er what happened to these families. I wonder what their story sounds like. Theses are the 2 divides in this town. The new big on top of each other houses, and the old spread out ranch houses.

There are also signs like this. "Notice of Proposed Land Use Action". Which states a placing of 16 residential homes on 2.83 acres.

Another week down

2010-06-19T05:09:00.002-04:00

I'd like to conclude "the catch" at some point...I know that's not happening now, maybe later. What say you gentle reader? Would you like to hear about a couple of close nights of almost love? That time when you are on the brink of something beautiful and maybe you only feel that way because you both know that it won't last. You can see the end...the finish line...and that heightens the drama, the emotion. Everything is more intense and amplified when you can see the ending. Where I am now is a feeling of the girl was only there because of the amplified feeling. Maybe she never really felt anything true or solid at all. I only say this because I feel like she has pushed me away over the past weeks. I feel like she has moved on...which I do not hold against her. I believe I was leaning on her too much. After the move and the new environment, I think I was looking for someone to say it was all going to be alright. And many of my friends did... which I could never say 'thank you' enough. But I guess there was something in the comfort of those words coming from a person you had opened up to and been intimate with that make them carry more weight. My heart was looking for some security, but she wanted to see me swim in the deep end that I had chosen. And instead I splashed and flailed around, reaching out... to a hand that was telling me 'swim dummy swim!'. I guess I must have looked pathetic. Well, I have been sorting threw these feelings and over the past couple of days have begun to put them in there place. To put them aside with the idea of 'hey maybe someday, but don't think anything interesting or intense or building is going to happen anytime too soon'.

So again if anyone wants to hear of a couple of beautiful nights, let me know and I'll open them up with all due respect to those involved. If not...they will run threw my head along with of the other beautiful memories of passion and the edge of love where I seem to live. Maybe there's a step I'm missing...maybe someday I'll find that step.

A good weekend

2010-06-15T12:54:00.002-04:00

That has definitely helped! The weather was great and I was able to get out and ride my bike. Spent Friday and Saturday nights out exploring some of the cool neighborhoods. Got to hear some great jazz and a girl with her piano. Sunday I rode my bike around downtown Seattle which is helpful because I find exploring a city slowly (either walking or bike riding) really helps you to get to know all the little ins and outs, so then when you are driving it's easier to know where you are and how to get to where you want to go.

Then the rollercoaster took a little turn yesterday when the GM Rob came up to me and asked if I was doing ok and if I got out over the weekend. I appreciate his concern, but sometimes constantly bringing it up makes things harder instead of easier (a lesson I could learn myself). So I told him flat out "Well, I signed an apartment lease for a year so you'll have to deal with me for at least that long." Guess I'm kind of planting the seeds already that this isn't a long term thing. And I always knew it wouldn't be. I couldn't stand to be away from my close friends forever. Plus New England has a lot more and better character then here. Don't get me wrong Seattle and the NW has it's good points, but I feel like I like New England more. Never the less I am here and good times will be had!!!!

Manageable Goals

2010-06-08T00:31:00.002-04:00

So the top guys at work are really getting at giving me more responsibility, and honestly I've only been here for 5 days. Don't know if I'm ready for it. I feel like I have to get use to how these guys do things. Feeling a little overwhelmed so I'm trying to set myself some manageable goals. First ones revolve around days not being at work. 4th of July weekend, tickets to the Sox and Mariners on Saturday the 24th, Labor day weekend, E & H's wedding and time back home, and then after the turn of the year I'll probably have to start to figure out what I'm going to do. My lease on my apartment is up in May, so do I stay or do I go? I honestly think I'm going back home after a year. I never realized what it was like to be 'this' far away. This distance is a lot more difficult then I had counted on. I miss my friends, I miss the old familiar places, I miss my bike path, and hanging out on the Bristol docks.

First week

2010-06-06T11:18:00.002-04:00

Well I made it through the first week at the new warehouse, and honestly the place is a disaster. And for a place that's the same company they sure do things differently. What I don't want to do is crowbar in the things that were done in Taunton because that's what worked for Taunton...might not necessarily work for Seattle. Adjusting has been a bit of a rollercoaster. At times I feel good and other times (like right now) I feel wicked home sick. I wonder if this was a mistake. I surf the web for jobs back home. I wonder how to get out of my lease with the new landlords. Then I also think that I have to enjoy this opportunity. So why worry so much about things...? Sometimes it's hard to turn off my brain. I need to find my level and the middle and my place out here. Even still I'll probably be out here for the one year that my apartment lease has and then head back home. Barring anything HUGE happening...and right now...I don't see that coming down the road.

Careers

2010-05-31T17:07:00.002-04:00

I never really thought about my career. I always just thought about having a job. Now some people will say you have to go to college or when you have a job you have to be a 'go-getter' or a kiss ass to work your way up the ladder. Lord knows that is not my style. Some people (aka potential girlfriends) find that frustrating about me. They would say that I'm wasting my potential with just doing the warehouse work that I do. And I guess they could be right. I don't make a ton of cash and I guess in that aspect I would not make a good provider. But I do ok and I get by and I guess for me that's good enough. In my life going out to "make things happen" just never works for me. Whether I knowingly go to hit on a girl or have some clever attempt to get ahead in the workplace...it just never works out for me. I can't force things. They have to just happen in order to really work out. Which is funny about how the whole moving to Seattle thing happened. Now I knew that the company had two warehouse locations in the PacNW. One in the Seattle area and one in the Portland OR area...there's also one in Spokane, but seriously...who cares? Unless I'm going to Gonzaga University and need to work at the same time Spokane might as well be Mars. So I got the names of the people I need to contact in order to make a transfer and I just went with my gut and sent emails to Seattle first. Now that I am here and have talked to the guys in charge and heard about their plans of expansion it is seeming like coming here could be quite a good move for my career. Again nothing I had planned but maybe something I just happen to fall into. If I can quote Patrick Roy "I'd rather be lucky then good."

The Road

2010-05-25T00:09:00.003-04:00

It's starting to get long. It's been quite a roller coaster. The Tree Fort ended the way it started. My first night there I didn't have much...I slept on the futon and listened to the Red Sox on the radio. My last night, I slept on the futon with Al in his tank in the living room with the Red Sox on the radio. The last morning started early...around 5 am...packing up the futon and Al's house and all the little things that you never realize are in your place. Final good-byes were said to my awesome landlord Harry, his wife and grandkids. Then the wheels were spinning on the highway. From RI, to MA, to CT, to NY, and finally over the mountains of PA. That first leg was really tough. Thinking about all the good times, good friends, and new found possibilities that were being left behind. I thought about the fun nights in Bristol and Providence either with friends or solo, going to see the guys play out in bars, or just the random nights when friends would just gather to hang out. Those will have to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. A new chapter, a new adventure is about to begin. I am currently about 800 miles from the end of the journey. The fear has begun to subside, I'll still miss my friends, but visits will happen soon enough. And although the "Catch" saga will continue we have talked and concluded that we have a good spark...a good start but that we need to get to know each other better and then hope that the distance makes us better and not worse.

There's always a catch Part II

2010-05-22T21:31:00.002-04:00

The next time we met would be at the Beachcomber. A warm late Sunday afternoon. I was at my parents and she was driving back from CT. We sent some texts back and forth to set up our meeting. The sun was warm, the air was cool and the beers were cold. She wore a sexy little black sundress which showed off her pale skin and large breasts. We talked for a few hours. Exploring each other's head. It's one thing to feel a spark with someone...it's another thing to expand on that with great conversation. Some serious, some laughs. I half jokingly tried to convince her to come down to RI with me to see Pat and Colby. But being a Sunday night she had to get home and get ready for the start of the work week. My mind can be overly serious at times and my imagination can run free and loose from time to time, so this 'like' was growing and with the warm summer months approaching how could I stop my mind from thinking of us spending sunny Saturday afternoons down in Newport? Well, easily actually...when I would go home and start packing for the west coast journey.

Speaking of which, I've made to just about the half way point. Sparta WI. Hoping to make it threw South Dakota tomorrow.

First Leg of the Journey

2010-05-20T20:12:00.002-04:00

I'll get to the "The Catch" in another episode. Right now I've completed the first leg of my journey and made it to Wilkes-Barre PA. This is honestly the hardest thing I've done. I have a long drive ahead of me and I'm praying this isn't a mistake because doing all this again to drive back would be insane. I think I just have cold feet with such a long road ahead of me, but this is tough. And lonely. Compound that with "The Catch" and those feet are feeling MIGHTY cold.

There's always a catch Part I

2010-05-18T01:10:00.002-04:00

The move is beginning in a couple of days, and the past weekend was the last one to hang with friends and family. Saturday afternoon Eric came down and we had lunch at Aidan's and then walked around Newport for a while. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and a perfect day to be able to hang out with a great friend. Saturday night was hanging with my mom, dad, and sis at her house. It was good, she had some of her friends over that I've also known for quite a long time. There were well wishes and stories exchanged. I was a little shocked when my sister started to tear up as we were saying our good-byes. Not that we are distant, but we aren't super close either. We are family, but we are different people with not much in common. Don't get me wrong I love my sister, but when it comes to thought processes, likes/dislikes, and just living life in general we are pretty much night and day. Anyway it was about 10:30 and I had some tentative plans with someone I had met recently, Sara.

What do I say about Sara? I had met her at a Pawnshop show briefly, I don't think I left an impression, and I think we may have been out together in one of the large group gatherings. She is friends with Matt, Vman, Kevin, and Fil. We really met at the last gathering at Cape House. I had brought along "Women" by Bukowski and we talked about that, we chatted about music, and had some laughs. I felt a connection beginning, but why should I even acknowledge those feelings? I was moving to Seattle soon, and I had told her almost immediately. But still...there was something there. I think it was solidified when on Sunday morning when I just asked out loud to anyone listening "Who wants to walk to Dunkin' with me?" and she was the first and only one to say "Yes". After a bit of discussion we determined that my sense of distance is WAY off and we decided to drive. None the less we were talking and laughing and something was happening. Something I was having trouble ignoring. Something I was going to continue having trouble ignoring.

One week

2010-05-12T14:45:00.002-04:00

There's only one week left. Boxes are being packed. Book cases are being emptied. A lot of stuff I don't need is either being thrown away or recycled. It's cleansing in a way. The last weekend is on the horizon and plans are being made to see family and friends one last time before the drive begins. 2 nights of work left. I'm happy to go and begin a new adventure. I'll miss my friends, but I know they are happy for me and that makes me feel better. Still more packing to do...hope I don't forget anything!

My new boss

2010-05-08T18:06:00.001-04:00

Here's the most recent email from Rob the guy who is going to be my new boss

Ok Bill. I need a favor from you before you head West. Can you bring me 4 cases of Yuengling Lager beer to Seattle? I'll pay you back when you get here. Can you handle it?

I think this is the start of something really good!

Hilary Part III

2010-04-21T15:28:00.002-04:00

After a time we stopped. I don't remember that either of us said anything, we just stopped. Got dressed and realized it was almost 4am. "I think your friend's party is probably over." I said. She asked me to drive her home and I did. The whole way she was snuggled up to me. Even while I was shifting. That felt good. I got her to her parents house and we kissed some more, exchanged numbers, and said good night. I thought 'this is the beginning of something good!'. And for a spurts it was good. We had some fun over a few weekends together. We went to the Cable Car and saw "Sideways", hung out at the Custom House, saw a couple of shows at the Paradise. I distinctly remember one exchange while we were standing in the crowd waiting for the band to begin:

"When my band plays here will you come to see us?"

"I'll be the first in line." she said.

That was the sweetest thing she said to me.

Hilary Part II

2010-04-16T21:13:00.002-04:00

We got out of my truck and proceeded to walk along Barrington Beach. For the day after Thanksgiving and it being 1am it didn't feel cold. I wish I could remember any of that conversation. Whatever we were talking about at the time felt deep and (for me at least) felt like the beginning of a connection. We walked for a while, stop, turn around, and realized we've walked quite a ways so we head back. The water is to my right, Hilary and my truck to my left. We stop instead of turning to head back into my truck. We face each other and smile and that welling up feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time struck me...and I didn't know what to do. Do I kiss her? Is that too pushy? I lean in and (she is a pretty short girl...probably about 5'2" or 5'3") kiss her forehead as my arms are wrapping around her...before I can even pull all the way back she is pulling me towards her and we really start kissing. It was strong, passionate, drunken kissing. Everything felt amplified. Why did I feel so at ease with this girl? She was a total stranger. Something just felt so right in that moment. I think I use to believe that is what love was. But those passionate feelings fade. If love is like that, then does love fade? Or is there something more. A deeper connection. At some point the weather starts to get to us and we head back into my truck. I put the radio on and for some reason in my mind I still remember the R.E.M. song that was on. We keep kissing and begin touching each other. She gets me out of my jeans and honestly I was pretty shocked by the whole thing. She was wearing this odd/alt red corduroy shirt type thing with snap buttons, and as she working me she thrusts her chest into my face....a pretty good hint. It was around then I said "fuck it". I grabbed her shirt and ripped open those snaps exposing what I hadn't really noticed before....really big tits. Or to be more precise a bra barely holding really big tits. Now, it's not my fault for not noticing. Between a jacket and some layers her breasts were well hidden. Being a breast man I attack and spent what feels like all night playing with those mounds. As the drunken night wore on somehow our clothes came off, even tho I still heard that R.E.M. song in my head. "Put it in." she said. And somehow, somewhere responsibility yelled "NO!!". "I don't have...anything." I said. She understood and somehow we just messed around with each other without going all the way.

The R.E.M. song

Hilary

2010-04-02T23:04:00.003-04:00

I think I want to start with Hilary. She was the first girl I met after breaking up with Kim. I actually went to The Call (music venue in Providence) that night thinking I'd hook up with a girl I had talked to at the Custom House a few days earlier at an open mic. I met Todd (guy I was starting the band with) and we went inside. I immediately started looking around for that girl, but she wasn't there. I was caught between feeling desperate and confident, also known as a mess. Finding out that the girl wasn't there I turned my attention to enjoying the bands. You see the Pat McAloon Band and Water Street, 2 bands that I knew, were playing and forming a band that was sounding great was making me feel like I was part of the "Providence scene" for whatever that was worth. It made me feel good, and that must have been projecting. I went to the bar to order another beer, while I was waiting I saw a pretty girl across the way and smiled...actually the smile was always there...I think I just caught her eye. I proceeded to get my beer and hang out next to Todd. We were watching the bands and bullshitting. "We should be on this ticket." we said. "We would blow these bands away.". We were feeling good about our mix of Wilco/Elliott Smith/Red House Painters. Then suddenly a tap on my elbow,

"Hey, I'm Hilary."

"I'm Bill...hey weren't they a famous couple?"

rolling her eyes "yeah...c'mon....I'm gonna buy you a drink."

"ok." I start following her and look back at Todd. He has the stunned open eye look and his jaw is hanging open. I look at him and shrug...while following the cute girl that's buying me a drink. We sat at the bar talking most of the night. I'd buy her a drink and then she'd buy me one. Things were looking and feeling good. I wasn't even thinking at that point. There was no nerves. No butterflies. I was in the 'zone'...or as much as the zone as I could be in. It felt good. Usually with girls I would be over thinking, trying really hard to impress, but somehow right then and there, those feelings did not occur. I started to mention how we should get out of the noise and take a walk on the beach. It was around then that I noticed her friends staring at me. But somehow even then I was feeling smooth...somehow convincing her friends that I was cool and I'd drop her off where ever they were after we took our walk. Somehow I managed to walk out of the club with her. As we were leaving she grabbed the Providence Phoenix and flipped it to the back page and asked me "So, if you could see any of the bands that are playing on this page....? Who would you see?", Luckily, for me being a musician, I had stared at the page constantly and without hesitation I said "Ani DiFranco.",

"No way!" she said, "I love Ani!"

Things are looking up...."I actually only listen to her when I'm feeling kind of down... so I don't know if I'd go to that concert, but she is really good!" she said.... yeah typical girl bull shit.

But at the time I thought it was awesome. Maybe a girl that would finally understand my down times.

We end up driving to Barrington. I was asking her along the way "How did you grow up in RI and not know where I'm driving, too?"..."Where are you going again?" she would ask. For as small as RI is the drive felt like it took forever. We finally pulled up to Barrington town beach and got out to take a walk.

Foreshadowing

2010-04-02T16:59:00.002-04:00

If you have sensitive eyes you may not want to read this post....or the next...or the following. I'm probably going to have some adult beverages tonight and will not be held responsible for what is typed. But for now here's another great quote from Women by Bukowski:

Mindy pressed her body against me and kissed me. It was a long kiss. My cock rose. I had recently been taking a lot of vitamin E. I had my own ideas about sex. I was constantly horny and masturbated continually. I'd make love to Lydia and then come back to my place and masturbate in the morning. The thought of sex as something forbidden excited me beyond all reason. It was like one animal knifing another into submission.

When I came I felt it was in the face of everything decent, white sperm dripping down over the heads and souls of my dead parents. If I had been born a woman I would certainly have been a prostitute. Since i had been born a man, I craved women constantly, the lower the better. And yet women- good women -frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine, I wanted to keep. Basically I craved prostitutes, base women, because they were deadly and hard and made no personal demands. Nothing was lost when they left. Yet at the same time I yearned for a gentle, good woman, despite the overwhelming price. Either way I was lost. A strong man would give up both. I wasn't strong. So I continued to struggle with women, with the idea of women.

2010-03-30T15:36:00.001-04:00

and in the most obvious news of the day... Ricky Martin is gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

2010-03-28T15:20:00.003-04:00

This line from Women had me laughing out loud at the bar last night:

"Here we are" she said and drove her car into the Hollywood cemetery. "Nice," I said, "real nice. I had forgotten all about death."

This book is great! Wish I could write like Bukowski.

*****************

Also reading that book has me thinking...along with some things that have happened over the past month or so that I might open up a little more on the blog. Maybe even get into some of the weird sex things that have been going on. How open and deep will it get? I don't know. But I'm kind of hoping writing it down might help me figure out why my relationships with women are as they are.

Thinking of last nights

2010-03-28T01:21:00.004-04:00

So I've been thinking of last nights in RI recently. Tonight I decided to journey into the past and hit the Everyman which is owned by the woman that use to own the Custom House and Saturday night is Jazz night by the same guys that played at the Custom House. I got a spot at the bar and pulled out Women by Bukowski and read that while listening to jazz and the goofy conversation between a man and a woman at the corner of the bar near me. I was almost tempted to try and squeeze in with the girl, but I decided against it. I was feeling pretty good about myself, been putting in some good work outs recently, but oh well. After that I went to the E&O tap which is owned by Mike Kelly who use to bartend at the Custom House, but he wasn't there tonight. I'll have to try back there. After that I ended up cruising by the Wild C because of the highway changes in RI. So I had to stop in. My fav memory of that place is of this hot girl Angie that I dated for a while. We went to the Cable Car cinema and then drank at the Wild C and made out in the parking lot until the sun came up. Good times. I think I have a pic of her somewhere. Hold on..

Yeah that's her. She was a girl I thought about permanent things with...until she told me about the other guy she was making out with and how she was only with me because "She didn't want to be alone while she was still living in Providence." I guess I was her whore. Anyways the singer from Route 44 got her pregnant...so I guess that's the end of that.

All in all, a great night in Providence...now to end it off in classic TREE FORT Saturday night style let's getting the anime rolling! Champloo, BeBop, all the good stuff!!!!

Go West Young Man

2010-03-26T21:35:00.002-04:00

Been a week since the last blog, feels like a lot has transpired. Starting with getting the gig in Seattle!!! So holy shit, looks like I'm moving to Seattle!!! No date set as of yet, but I'm thinking since March is almost over and I need to train a replacement for my spot the earliest I'll be out there is mid-May or start of June. So now begins the serious planning. Thanks to the internet securing an apartment shouldn't be hard. The tough part is how to move out there. So many options:

1) pack up my stuff and have a moving company take it out there and drive my truck out there myself.

2) rent a U-haul truck to move my stuff and drive that out there

a) also rent a trailer for my truck

b) ship my truck out there (this also applies to option 1)

3) sell a bunch of my stuff and rent a small trailer from U-Haul hook it up to my truck and drive out there.

Right now I'm thinking option 3. Plus Eric has offered to drive out there with me which would help in covering the 3,000 miles. I'm kind of figuring 600-700 miles a day which would get us out there in about 5 days. I really need to break out my map and kind of plan on where those distances would put us after each day. Also in the planning stages is selling stuff I don't really need. Like my TV which is old and probably won't fetch much, but dragging it west with me seems like a waste, my acoustic amp which I might just bring to Guitar Center or something to see what I can get for it, and then there is the comic collection. I've put a few up on Ebay to see what would happen and after a day...well...not much. I started with some of the special ones figuring they would draw attention, but so far no dice. Worse comes to worse I'll have to hold on to them and hope they grow in value. Also CDs are going to get up and gone. Which means I'll have to get an Ipod or a back-up hard drive to protect my pics and music. Wow...seems like a lot to do, but I've got a couple of months. Sometimes I'm still wondering if this is real? Am I really going to live in Seattle? I really want to...guess I won't really believe it until I start driving west!

2010-03-18T04:23:00.002-04:00

http://www.egotastic.com/image?path=1003/38626PCN_Heidi42.jpg&info=Heidi%20Montag%20Cleavage%20Pictures

http://www.popoholic.com/photo.php?id=FP_4697807_Montag_Heidi_SAM_031610&title=Heidi%20Montag

which one do you think is real? and who cares? Not that I care about Heidi Montag, but I think just this simple photo may speak to a larger problem in our society today. What is real? Where does fact stop and opinion begin?

***************

here is the latest email from my guy in Seattle. My timing may be working in my favor here. Last week all the GMs from Keystone got together for a meeting in Florida and Rob from Seattle got to speak with the GM that I have been working with for about 6-7 years now. I'm going to call Rob tomorrow and see what details we can hammer out! Should be interesting!

Hi Bill,

The meetings went well, and I was able to have a brief discussion with your GM about you. Let’s talk on Wednesday or Thursday about the details on you coming out to Seattle and see if we can work it out. Thanks.

Cities, towns pull out stops for superfast Google network - The Boston Globe

2010-03-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

Cities, towns pull out stops for superfast Google network - The Boston Globe

If you recall my post from June '08 you would've seen this coming...although I did get the companies involved wrong, but here is my exact quote:

I'm sure you've all heard about broadcast TV going to total digital...no more antennas! This is going to free up a lot of air space which means that it is possible that WiFi will just explode! Down and Uploads of billion of bytes per minute. Of course Verizon and AT&T have pretty much bought all that space up.

Just some thoughts on the future....remember you read it here first!

Danny Westneat | Health-cost reality bites much harder | Seattle Times Newspaper

2010-03-15T13:11:00.000-04:00

Danny Westneat | Health-cost reality bites much harder | Seattle Times Newspaper

pretty cool article.

one more...

2010-03-15T05:51:00.003-04:00

why do you want one more?

'cause i'm not tired yet.

bullshit you're an addict.

bullshit...addiction is for the weak

I'm strong.

then why one more?

i'm thirsty.

beer dehydrates you.

it tastes good.

well you've got me there.

plus the world could end tomorrow and do you want to go out

without a good buzz? leave perfectly good beers in the fridge?

what if we wake up tomorrow?

we'll deal with it then...until...let me have one more...feel good a little longer

before i realize where i am, and where i'm not going. that love isn't real and God is a story.

ok, one more...but make it quick

no this one is slow....i'll watch the sun come up this morning.

Tree Haters

2010-03-09T10:48:00.004-05:00

I think the people that moved into the house behind me hates trees. First off they took down this beautiful one in the front yard as well as ripped off all the vines. Those vines all served to hide a hideous wall that runs around the property. In this pic the vines covering said wall looks like a bunch of small shrubs...Trust me the wall is pretty gross looking. Vines were much better. Anyways this morning I'm awakened to the sounds of a chipper and chainsaw, and wouldn't you know they have some guys there in their driveway sawing off branches. I can only hope they don't take down the whole trees, but considering these dopes they probably will. Do people not realize the benefit of shade on hot summer days? I'm waiting for these assholes to just pave everything. Front yard back yard...in the summer these dolts will be simmering out there with some butter.

***************

So I sent an email to Rob in Seattle to ask him how the progress was going with fitting me in out there and here was his response:

I haven't forgot about you. I am still kicking around some ideas, and will be out of town this week for the Managers Meeting. Please stay in contact with me, and feel free to email or call me at any time.

Thanks,

So i guess that's positive. Looks like things are going to be a bit delayed, but that's ok. The warmer weather will make the drive much easier. Got my fingers crossed that this is all going to work out!

Also here's a link to what looks like a pretty cool apartment in Seattle.

***************

The warmer weather showed up this weekend so of course head cold and all I got out and put in 20 miles on Saturday and then 5 on Sunday. Good start to the season!

Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists - Yahoo! News

2010-03-08T15:37:00.000-05:00

Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists - Yahoo! News

This is interesting if not scary. Hey Paul if you get a chance to read this I'd like to hear your take, so take off the work boots and put on the scientists coat and ring in with an opinion. :)

trying the vid thing again.

2010-03-06T02:46:00.002-05:00

Ya know if I practiced at this I'd probably be ok. As it is I don't so here's my half assed attempt. I got the guitar part down on the 4th take and the vocals I did in one take. Also I have a cold so my voice is kinda shitty. Plus it's late and I just wanted to see a finished project. So here's my attempt at Miss Misery by Elliott Smith which by the way was up for an Oscar off of the Good Will Hunting soundtrack.

The Office....I don't get it.

2010-03-05T17:41:00.002-05:00

So for a while my sister has been pestering me to watch The Office because it's SO FUNNY! I keep giving her the 'yeah yeah...i'll get to it sometime' basically because I don't think it's humor will speak to me. I got to see a few of the original episodes from the version in England when I was in the band with Todd back in 2004 and I thought that was funny, and my gut was telling me that this American version was probably a poor rip off. Well, last night I got to take lunch and the heavily anticipated (I guess from the promos) Baby episode was on. Yikes...sit-com 101, when the cast gets boring and dull you can squeeze out a couple of more seasons if you add a baby or if you had a baby and it's getting around 8-10 years old, time to add a new baby. So immediately I'm calling bullshit. With that in mind I try to watch the episode and figure out what people find funny about this. So the office couple having the baby seem like a good likable couple. That's good. Steve Carell as the idiot boss is WAY too over the top. I can understand some of it, but seriously there has to be some bounds of reason. At one point he pulls into a No Parking space at the hospital and an ambulance drivers says "Sir you can't park here." so Carell gets out locks his car door and throws his keys across the street and triumphantly says "HA!". Ok, so that's funny? 'Oh my god! Like who would do that? Like, Steve Carell is SO WICKED FUNNY!!! I'd so go down on him on the first date!'. Really? Seriously? That's funny? I guess the other aspect from the show that was supposed to build tension was something to do with the pregnant girl not wanting to have the baby until after midnight...for some inside joke reason I guess. Honestly, this show was so stupid and pointless I had trouble paying attention to it. The father guy kept telling her "your contractions are 'x' amount of minutes apart we have to go to the hospital!" and she kept saying "No!". At one point, I believe after her water broke and the guy again tried to get her to go to the hospital, she got really angry at him. Seriously, if I'm that guy I'm out. See ya bitch. Have fun walking your pregnant stupid ass to the hospital and if anyone tries to help her...I'm shooting you. Either that or I'm knocking her out and dragging her to the hospital. Again, seriously? A woman's water breaks and she doesn't head immediately to the hospital? BOUNDS OF REASON! This would never ever ever ever happen ever! No one is that stupid, stubborn, or scared of giving birth. So of course following our Sit-com 101 handbook 'oh my god...my contractions are now 2 minutes apart! oh no! we've waited too long how will I get to the hospital now?'. Yeah....didn't see that coming. What dullards find this obvious bullshit funny? At that point I got up and cut my lunch short because if I watched anymore it was coming back up. I can only hope she died in labor...now that's funny!

Debt....and Taxes (Part II)

2010-03-05T13:24:00.002-05:00

Partial History of U.S. Federal Marginal Income Tax Rates Since 1913
Applicable Year	Income brackets	First bracket	Top bracket	Source
1913-1915	-	1%	7%	IRS
1916	-	2%	15%	IRS
1917	-	2%	67%	IRS
1918	-	6%	77%	IRS
1919-1920	-	4%	73%	IRS
1921	-	4%	73%	IRS
1922	-	4%	56%	IRS
1923	-	3%	56%	IRS
1924	-	1.5%	46%	IRS
1925-1928	-	1.5%	25%	IRS
1929	-	0.375%	24%	IRS
1930-1931	-	1.125%	25%	IRS
1932-1933	-	4%	63%	IRS
1934-1935	-	4%	63%	IRS
1936-1939	-	4%	79%	IRS
1940	-	4.4%	81.1%	IRS
1941	-	10%	81%	IRS
1942-1943	-	19%	88%	IRS
1944-1945	-	23%	94%	IRS
1946-1947	-	19%	86.45%	IRS
1948-1949	-	16.6%	82.13%	IRS
1950	-	17.4%	84.36%	IRS
1951	-	20.4%	91%	IRS
1952-1953	-	22.2%	92%	IRS
1954-1963	-	20%	91%	IRS
1964	-	16%	77%	IRS
1965-1967	-	14%	70%	IRS
1968	-	14%	75.25%	IRS
1969	-	14%	77%	IRS
1970	-	14%	71.75%	IRS
1971-1981	15 brackets	14%	70%	IRS
1982-1986	12 brackets	12%	50%	IRS
1987	5 brackets	11%	38.5%	IRS
1988-1990	3 brackets	15%	28%	IRS
1991-1992	3 brackets	15%	31%	IRS
1993-2000	5 brackets	15%	39.6%	IRS
2001	5 brackets	15%	39.1%	IRS
2002	6 brackets	10%	38.6%	IRS
2003-2009	6 brackets	10%	35%	Tax Foundation

Of course to speak of Debt we also need to speak of taxes. Taxes are of course the way government collects money to pay for things like the army, police, fire department etc. So to expand on where my last post ended concerning the Truman to Ike presidencies from 1949-1961 the lowest income tax was 16.6%-20% and the highest tax was 82.13% - 91%. Again...more examination to come with more info. But so far this is all very interesting.

Good article

2010-03-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

It's official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs - Yahoo! News

Like most kids I found dinosaurs immensely interesting. Just the idea of something living on earth 65 million years ago! Just the idea that there was a 65 million years ago! Wow! Turns out scientists are deciding that is was that nasty asteroid that brought the whole thing to an end. And considering the devastation we've seen created by a couple of earthquakes recently, a 9 mile wide rock slamming into the Earth creating quakes over 10 on the ritcher scale and tsunamis and everything...seems to make sense that that would be the death blow for the dinos.

Debt

2010-03-05T03:07:00.002-05:00

I've heard some guys at work talking about the national debt, and I tried to say out of it because as my mom says "never talk religion or politics because all you will do is argue"...and apparently I love to argue, but kudos to me for staying out of that particular conversation. Still my curiosity about the national debt was in my mind on the drive home. I remember growing up in the 80s and there was a news ticker...I believe in Times Square NYC...that was constantly counting how high our national debt was going. I remember seeing it on the news and I think it might have made it into a movie or two. In the 90s being a teenager and a trying to be a rockstar and then just trying to get a good paying job I totally lost track of the whole national debt thing...didn't recall hearing a lot about it...don't recall seeing that ticker...ever again. I think the last mention I remember was at the end of Clinton's term when people were saying there was a surplus. Well heck that's good! Well here we are at 2010 and again politics are talking national debt and what are we passing on to our kids etc. So I wanted to know some history of our debt in just a broad general sense. Seemed like a good place to start and then work into the details later as time and info allowed. Wikipedia seemed like a decent place to start...like I said for just a broad overall type of sense of things. Found some interesting charts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms

Now I'm not going to lie and say I understand all these. The first one broken down by GDP seems pretty straight forward enough. The other ones I'm going to look into and try to examine a little more and hope to understand with as much as my limited intelligence can comprehend. Pretty amazing to look at the change from the start of the Truman term to the end of the Ike terms. 1949 start GDP% 98.2, 1961 end GDP% 56.0. WOW! A 42% drop in 12 years. That's amazing. No wonder people look back at the 50s with big shiney Disney eyes. That being of course if you weren't a minority. The social atmosphere was out of whack, but the financial one was on the right track. Interesting...hopefully more posts on this complex issue to come. Comments and input welcome.

************

On the west coast plan...I have emailed Mr. Graham again on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but have yet to hear back from him. Hopefully we'll get to touch base again soon. At first I was hoping things would move quicker so I'd be out there for the start of April, but I don't know if that's going to happen now. I guess it still could. Should be interesting!

2010-03-01T15:48:00.003-05:00

I sure everyone that reads this blog already knows, but I did talk to the GM from Seattle on Friday and it was a great talk! We talked work and sports and had some laughs...it seems like just a regular guy. Very refreshing. He told me that he didn't have a spot right now, but for a guy with 9 years experience he was going to take some time over the weekend to kick around some numbers and see if he can fit me in. I should be hearing from him sometime this week! Can't wait!

*************

Also while grocery shopping this weekend I bought this Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal, surprisingly it's damn good! Plus I get 24% of my recommended daily allowance of fiber! WOW!

The Email

2010-02-25T14:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I sent it. And, with help from my boss Mike D. here is what I sent:

Good morning Mr. Graham,

My name is Bill Elms, assistant warehouse manager for the LKQ / Keystone Taunton, Ma Facility (061). I am contacting you to inquire about the possibility of transferring to your location. I have been with LKQ / Keystone for over 9 years and have worked my way up from warehouse person to my current position with the company, which is assistant warehouse manager for our 5pm – 1:30am shift with a crew of 7 employees. Our main focus on this shift is the receiving / put away of all products (anything from PO’s, container, to stock transfers and up keep of the warehouse). Our facility also has two manufacturing department (wheels & bumpers), and our shift is responsible for the transferring of the parts produced by them to the warehouse. At the same time our location is a Super-hub therefore we receive incoming linked transfers from warehouses all over New England, New York & PA. In my 9 years with LKQ / Keystone I have experienced many of the different aspects of the day-to-day operations of the warehouse. From receiving, to selecting and packing orders, to daily cycle counts and wall-to-wall inventories, and responsibility for the daily UPS shipments.

Although I am currently a supervisor I would have no problem with joining your team in a warehouse position. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Now we play the waiting game.

Also I spoke to my Dad yesterday and he was very encouraging about me taking the shot at the west coast which made me feel much better! So it looks like there could be 4 options on the table: Seattle, Portland, MBTA, or staying where I am. I wonder how all of this will play out

Fork in the road

2010-02-24T13:56:00.002-05:00

Of course this had to happen. My dad called me and left a voicemail saying that the MBTA sent mail to my parents house saying that I've been drawn. There was something about having to get a CDL class B learner's permit in MA...which means I'd have to move back to MA change my drivers license and study for the CDL. What the fuck. I was so psyched yesterday because my boss had helped me tweak the email I was going to sent to Seattle and I was feeling good now I have this complication. I think either road I choose I'm going to have regret. Just wish I knew which road had less of it.

Business & Technology | Zumiez to lay off 170 in warehouse shift | Seattle Times Newspaper

2010-02-22T15:01:00.000-05:00

Business & Technology | Zumiez to lay off 170 in warehouse shift | Seattle Times Newspaper

Well this can't be helpful to my west coast cause. 170 workers in my field to flood the market...awesome

Not my strong point

2010-02-22T14:46:00.002-05:00

Here's what happens when I over think things. I am slowly putting together my email to the west coast, in my defense I am kind of waiting to hear from my boss Mike D. to get his input on how to best put this thing together. On the down side I talked to my parents yesterday and of course they both have their own way of trying to talk me out of it. My dad tells me to remember that he put my name in for the T job lottery, and that they'll be drawing names 'soon'. Of course they were going to be drawing names 'soon' to cover the Christmas/New Years rush and now they'll be drawing names 'soon' to cover vacations for the full timers as the nicer weather approaches. Of course I know how all of this is going to turn out. If I stay here...my name will never be picked, but if I move in the first week my name will be drawn. Either way...the idea of working on the T in Boston isn't really what I want to do. They do get paid well and have great benefits including a 20 year retirement pension, but driving a bus or working the trains in Boston...don't really think that's me. My mom on the other hand goes to the crazy extreme. Ya see my parents knew this guy in high school and a little time after they all graduated and he moved to the west coast and changed his name and totally lost touch with his family, so ya see.... west coast makes people crazy. Um...ok mom. So after almost and hour on the phone my drive and confidence has been a little bit shaken. On the other hand the idea of being 'stuck' here sucks so much ass I should be burning up my keyboard writing this email. Just having trouble finding the right words. If it comes then it comes...if not...I don't know. Guess I'll just have to enjoy another spring/summer on the bike path.

Help from above

2010-02-19T21:54:00.002-05:00

Well, above meaning my boss. I sent him an email telling him about my plan to email the west coast and possibly transferring out there and here is what he said:

Bill:
Though the years one could always tell that your heart seems to be out west. The vacations in the past you took and then came back and talked about them, you could see the excitment in your face and hear it in your voice. Good luck with this and I will give you any help you need to reach where you want to go. It will be a huge loss for me (us), but life goes on and you will do great no matter where you are.

This really touched me. My boss Mike D. is a real quiet type of guy...hard to get a read on and it doesn't help that he has a very dry sense of humor. But as a boss he's awesome. Never afraid to get his hands dirty, will never tell you to do something that he can't do, in fact he came in on his day off a couple of weeks ago and helped Carlos unload a container of hoods and fenders because he knew we were behind. He's pretty badass and not having him for a boss will be a big loss for me (and I told him so in my reply email), but it will be my goal to be more like him as I progress. Luckily a lot of the guys that work on my crew tell me I'm that way now, but it's not something I want to rest on or take for granted. I never want to tell someone I'm the boss of to do something in 'x' amount of time without being able to show them that I can do it...and if I can do it I expect you can do it, too.

knowledge is power

2010-02-16T11:52:00.003-05:00

Ok so here's the email response I received from the HR department regarding a transfer:

You would have to contact the GM at the locations you would be interested in working. You need to let them know what you do for Keystone in Taunton and about your experience. If they have openings, they would need to know when you are planning on moving to their area. You can go to the company Intranet to print a company directory so you can see all the locations in the state(s) you are targeting:

Washington - Bellingham, Kent (Seattle), Spokane

Oregon - Portland

California - Carson (LA), Fresno, Ontario, Pico Rivera, San Diego, Stockton

Once you’ve made a decision to move, you need to notify the people here ASAP so you can give as much notice as possible.

Happy hunting!

So now the ball is totally in my court. All I have to do is think up the best way to communicate to the GM of one of these other locations and then hope there is an opening. Unfortunately this is not my strong point so any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated! Like what would I put in the subject line of an email to one of these guys? How should I start the email? I am considered an Assistant Warehouse Manager, but I'd want to convey that I'm not a guy who is afraid to get his hands dirty. I'm much more of a worker then a straight supervisor. In my favor is a strong working knowledge of the computer system that keeps track of our inventory. I've done pretty much everything there is to do in the warehouse, (shipping, receiving, cycle counts, wall to wall inventory, UPS, containers, purchase orders, transfer orders, stock transfers) and I know the parts like the back of my hand. So it looks like getting this info together and then sending it off to Seattle and Portland is the next step in this 3000 mile journey.

Emails sent

2010-02-15T14:20:00.002-05:00

Well last night I sent an email off to my HR department to get the details regarding a transfer. Hopefully when I get into work tonight I will have some info in my inbox. The weekend was very low key as the new money plan is being set into motion. By the end of the week I should have an extra $30-40 bucks to put away.

But the best news of the weekend was when I talked to Eric last night and found out he and Heather got engaged! Pretty sweet! I couldn't be happier for those two!

Work Re-location

2010-02-13T22:16:00.002-05:00

One avenue I have yet to explore is transferring within my own company. Keystone has locations in Renton, WA (just south of Seattle) and well as Vancouver, WA (just north of Portland, OR). Also Spokane and Bellingham WA. Spokane is in very eastern WA...almost Idaho and Bellingham is very north..almost Canada. I'm going to send out some work e-mails tomorrow to find out more info on that aspect of things.

I wish I could've taken a picture of the blonde I saw today at Dunkin'. I have an enjoyable little habit of taking a walk down to the local Dunkin Donuts getting an ice coffee with a muffin and reading some Bukowski. I have my earphones in and listen to some music and just read and sip my coffee. But my lord this blonde in there today. Very pretty...very sexy. Seemed very tall...probably 5'9" if not a little taller. Had some hips but not too big. A very low cut shirt and it being a little cold she had goose bumps on her chest and arms. The imagination just runs. Of course the male ego runs away and thinks "of course she took off that coat to expose that low cut shirt in order to get my attention" and maybe she did. And she did get my attention. And while reading my book, Women by Bukowski, I entertain the idea of getting up and talking to her. Luckily my mind returned to my goal of getting to the west coast and remembered how goddamn expensive women are with such little return. So I continued reading my book and sipping my coffee while enjoying stealing quick glimpses of that tall hot blonde with the cold skin and sexy glasses as she sat talking to her friend who still....still had her high school ring on?!?!? Good God..they'd probably arrest me.

Finances

2010-02-12T15:40:00.002-05:00

Fed tax return is back and I'm using some of it to pay off a small credit card I have and the rest is staying in the bank. I'm trying out a new technique with my pay check as well. My company pays us every two weeks, and what I use to do was on pay day just pay all my bills that were going to be due in the coming two weeks and then live off of the rest. I'm going to try splitting my check in half on payday...keep half in my checking and put the other half in my savings. Then the following Friday move over what I will need to keep my afloat until the next pay day. I'm hoping to be able to break down what I spend and be able to keep a closer eye on things so that I can save some more. I think having this serious goal will be good for me whether I make it happen or not. I feel slightly more disciplined that I have been recently so that's a good habit to have. I wish our company would give us raises. Seems like everything else is going up.

I'll end off this entry with a Bukowski quote: "That's the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself another drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen."

Resume

2010-02-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

I'm full of fear and excitement right now. Posted my resume on the Oregonian newspaper last night and sent out a couple of resumes to different places. I don't know what I'd do if one of them called right now. My stomach is in knots with the idea of that happening. What would I do? Would I really pack up and go? Is this doable? Can I do it? There seems to be so much planning and money needed and I don't know if I'm ready, but man I would love to be the person that could do that.

Distance

2010-02-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

Here's one route

Don't know if I would necessarily take that one. Driving threw Minnesota and Idaho sounds dreadfully painfully dull. But still 3,038 miles to cover, and that's just to a random apartment listing I found in the Seattle Times. But it would fit the area that I would live and work in. My brain is racing with ideas and possibilities right now. It's crazy. I even went and looked at Rubbermaid totes at Target figuring that's what I would need to move clothes and stuff. Not bad, between $4-$8 each. Doable. I'm now looking around my apartment for things to sell. What do I need to take and what not.

Pac NW possibilities

2010-02-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

Well, it seems like there are jobs in my field up there. Now...can I get there? With a U-Haul trailer and securing a new apartment that's about $1500. Never mind gas, food, and lodging to drive out there. Hm...it is possible, but it would be tight. I hate feeling like I'm putting it off because then I feel like a pussy, but at the same time I don't want to do something stupid. More thought is required. If it doesn't happen now, it is definitely my goal for 2010. More to come.

And yes you can all rejoice about the return of Bill the blogger! HA!!

biking update

2009-08-03T10:28:00.001-04:00

So I've reviewed some past posts and then did some math...counting the 10 miles I did yesterday morning (down to Bristol to pick up my truck. Thanks for the ride home E!) I'm up to 315 miles! Wow!

34

2009-08-01T00:39:00.002-04:00

Well, hello there 34. Where did you come from?

Chocolate and Peanut Butter...

2009-07-30T01:43:00.002-04:00

Some things just go together...like Palin and Shatner...

God I love Kirk

Summer girls

2009-07-27T03:10:00.002-04:00

The girls this summer have been weird. Matt and I could've had a 3-some with this insanely hot girl in VA beach and then tonight at Gillary's when I walk in this girl instantly starts checking me out so I get a beer and start to check out the scene when I notice she's wearing a wedding ring...similar to the ring that a guy at her table is wearing. Later on she's sitting on that guy's lap and checking me out. WTF? And then also the girl that I was kind of sweet on (Kim found out her name is Rachel) was in the corner making out with a guy that looked like a meth dealer. And the hits just keep on a-comin'. So I'm still flying solo....what a summer

2009-07-24T23:58:00.002-04:00

just a quick flashback. I remember when Career Oppurtunities came out in the theaters back in 1991 (no I didn't remember....thank you IMDB) and if my memory is correct Paul's dad went to see the movie and told him that the girl in the movie (Jennifer Connelly) had the face of an angel...not the body, but the face. Well, here's a recent pic of her in a bikini and almost 20 years later she still looks SMOKIN' hot!

330am

2009-07-20T03:35:00.001-04:00

it's the last night in VA beach and Matt is past out. I can hardly stay awake, but I want to see the sunrise. Out................

good weekend

2009-07-12T17:52:00.004-04:00

this weekend can be summed up with 3 words: biking, drinking, and music. Saturday morning I did a run to Bristol and then over to Barrington beach...basically spent 5 hours out on the bike. Pretty awesome. Wishing I had a boat to spend that time on...that's a goal to work towards. Late Saturday afternoon I took a nice nap and then got up and headed towards the Blackstone in Pawtucket to see Leah's new band White Honey. Pretty good show. The band has a kind of 60/70's british spacey vibe going on. Pretty cool. Plus got to hang with Amy (Leah's sister who is married to my old co-workin' buddy Rob) and

had a few laughs. Got home and had some chow and watched Spider-man 3...again. Just to see my imaginary gf Kirsten Dunst. Not the movie she looked the best in, but still it's a Spider-man movie and I love'em...and her. Of course I fell asleep on my living room futon...stumbled to bed around 3-ish with lightning, thunder, and rain to ease me to sleep...again. Woke up around 9, and then fell back to sleep until 10:30. I did manage to get out of bed and get back on the bike and head back down to Bristol again. On the way back home I stopped at Stella Blue for some fish & chips and some Sam Summer. Now there's only 3 days of work until the road trip to VA

beach begins! All in all...life is damn good.

2009-07-09T02:03:00.004-04:00

yeah this woman should be making the call about Uranium. Seems like she has a good head on her shoulders....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtzJhTfQiMA

*******************

I did get some riding in over the weekend pushing my total to 235. Almost forgot about that!

Here's another pic from the Mount Hope

Part 2

2009-07-08T00:08:00.002-04:00

So we split up into a few cars and head over to the North-side of Weymouth. And honestly my memory from the rest of the night is a little foggy. It was just one of those great nights when you're hanging with friends and having some brews and walking around and everything just feels like a party...it's almost a feeling of walking on air. It's that good. Eric did talk to me at one point saying that Julie is waiting for me to talk to her...or something along those lines, but I think I had already passed the drunken point to where nothing was going to sound good. Christ, I could hear myself slurring...not exactly the smoothes of smooth. Maybe I should've had the limiter on, but the 3rd was a night for letting loose. My limiter gets kicked to the curb when I know I don't have to drive anywhere. The night ended with us getting some Wendy's...yes i was drunk enough to eat Wendy's...and then I passed out on Matt's couch. Sometime around 3am.

the past few days.....

2009-07-06T01:30:00.002-04:00

ok so right now I'm finally watching "Thumbsucker" after having it from Netflix for a month and I probably just should've sent it back, because this movie is just jumping all over the place without setting up characters or a story. Really poor directing. Yikes....messy!

Ok so I'll ignore that in the background and just blog about the past few wonderful days.

First off my July 3rd almost didn't happen. I got up a little later than expected Friday and went out for a bike ride which ended up in Bristol which was a little longer than expected. So I'm hanging down in Bristol on the docks when i look to my right and see dark clouds over Warren. A rumble of thunder and a lightning strike later and I'm thinking this can't be good.

Wow this movie really sucks and is now pissing me off because they are using Elliott Smith music to try and make it good. That's it....it's off.

So I try to head home with the hopes of either missing the rain or being in a place where I can get shelter from it. Unfortuately for me I get caught between a couple of shelter spots and get drenched in a downpour! By the time I get home I am soaked, sweaty, and tired. Not the way I wanted to start the long weekend. At this point I'm thinking 'fuck it...i should just stay home. this must be an omen.'. But then i thought about seeing the old crew and turned my mindset around. Some chow and a shower later I'm starting to feel better, but still my sneakers are spongey to say the least. Well, I've wanted a new pair of boat shoes for the summer so now is as good a time as any. I run over to Bob's Store and by the time I get out it's around 5. The meeting time was Eric's at 530...well that ain't going to happen...so I call the Big E and tell him the story and how I'm running late and he says no prob just meet the crew down at Wayne's. Awesome. No rushing or speeding or stress in traffic needed. That's why I love my friends. No matter what happens...there's no drama or stress or bullshit. So I start heading North on 95. Amazingly enough the traffic is flowing decently. Just when i'm about at the 95/93 split Eric calls me for an ETA and I tell him about 15...20 the latest to his house. Cool...I'll still beat Matt so just head here the big E says. I didn't account for the Matt clock when leaving RI. Sa-weet! So I pull up to Eric's with my 12 pack of Sam Summer and knock on his door. Luckily for me a beautiful girl named Julie answers unexpectly! Now that's a way to start off the night! If I remember right she is Heather's brother-in-law's sister. I try to stay cool and stay locked in my having fun with my bud's mind-set so I don't end up trying too hard and acting like an ass...that will come later. It's when I start trying too hard (especially after a number of beers) that girls totally get turned off by me. Anyways, everyone is in the kitchen and we all say Hey! and Matt shows up less then 5 minutes later and then it's time to head to the beach! AWESOMENESS will begin! coming up in part 2 of the 3 day weekend!

2009-07-05T19:22:00.002-04:00

I have no idea how old that chicken in my fridge was....couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks. But I cooked the hell out of it and ate it. So if I don't make it that chicken took me out, if I do make it July 3rd updates to follow. Tonight is the songwriter night down in Bristol. Details about that to follow, too.

2009-06-27T00:37:00.001-04:00

Why did I volunteer to open the warehouse at 6 am tomorrow?

Venting

2009-06-26T01:25:00.002-04:00

OK so I'm kinda angry and need to vent so don't anyone be offended! Intelligent arguments are welcome, but stupidity and just vomiting what a radio host told who will not be tolerated.

So my lunch time consists of 10-15 minutes of eating a sandwich and some carrots while figuring out how the last 3 hours of the night shall run. In those minutes I pull up the Paul Krugman blog from the NY Times. Is he left-leaning...yeah, but hey he's won the Nobel Prize for economics and he's a professor at MIT for economics...he probably knows quite a bit about the subject. So the guys that drives down from the Albany warehouse wanders in and walks up to me to ask me how I'm doing and I say fine just doing a little reading before getting back to work. The op-ed piece I was on was about the economy. So Steve (the driver) decides to read along and then starts to blame Obama for the economy. "He's tripled the deficit!" Steve says. Well, true, but when you inherit a depression history says you have to spend in order to get things moving again. Hoover was all about 'tightening your belts'....yeah....that didn't work. And true FDR was helped out by the amount of production from WWII, but still the economy was turning around...slowly...but still it wasn't going down anymore. And some of those programs are still around today. The FDIC, social security (which is a mess now, but that is hardly FDR's fault) etc. "Well" Steve says "It's been 5 months and it's getting worse." I don't know if I agree it's getting worse. The Dow is up 172 point today. That's a good sign. Is Unemployment high? Yeah but at what 10% nation-wide? That's still low compared to other countries. "Well, this new socialized health care thing is going to ruin us!" Steve says. How another choice is going to ruin us I don't fully understand, but I come back with "If only we could have a system like Sweden...that seems to run pretty well." "Oh yeah if you like paying 75% in taxes!" Steve responds. "Whoa! You are telling me that people in Sweden pay 75% in taxes?!?!" I say. "God's honest truth." Steve says. Luckily for me I have the Internet at my fingertips. My finding's are here Yeah....turns out the lowest tax rate is per individual is 28% and the highest is 59%. Not exactly 75% but when you are full of BULLSHIT I guess the facts don't really matter.

I really have to stop talking to Steve...he just pisses me off.

Dinner time.

Maine Part I

2009-06-23T01:05:00.002-04:00

So I didn't take any pics in Maine. Sorry. Scenery wise there wasn't much to see because for most of the time everything was gray and rainy. Secondly, we were all to busy having a great time! Friday I got up to Portland around 4-ish checked into the hotel and decided to chill out for a bit. Not having to work and having cable (still haven't turned mine back on) with it being gray outside vegging out seemed like a good idea. I had a sandwich and some snacks....and some beers with me and 'Heat' was on along with the Red Sox pre-game show (which goes on forever it seems like!). Around 830 I headed to downtown Portland for some dinner at the always cool $3 Dewey's. Some Fish & Chips, some beers, and discussing the state of the Red Sox with some local fisherman was a pretty nice way to start the weekend. Now getting back to the hotel was fine. Turning on [adult swim] no prob! Staying awake until Vman arrived...that was the challenge. And I failed! Ugh! I awoke at 4am in a panic! Only to look down at my phone to see 7 missed calls and 1 text message! I don't think I have ever woken up so quickly! In hindsight I should've left one of the room keys at the front desk for V, but I didn't take into account my amazing ability to sleep through just about anything. Lesson learned. And more of Maine to come.....

Maine

2009-06-19T11:05:00.001-04:00

It's the Portland getaway weekend. Including drinking, go-carting, and some AA baseball. Hopefully the rain will hold off! Pics to follow.

Ch-ch-ch-ch CHANGES!!! it's scary!!!!

2009-06-18T10:30:00.003-04:00

I guess there are some things in life that i'll never understand. Like this first off the headline says that the changes "...brings delays." although the new route isn't open yet. So even before it's open it's already causing delays? Secondly the exit to 95 south has ALWAYS been on the left and north has ALWAYS been on the right. The only difference is that it's coming sooner. Now you don't have to weave through Providence in order to get to 95 south. Over the Washington bridge and boom! you're there. Going north...simple...stay to the right LIKE YOU ALWAYS HAVE and continue through Providence until you see the signs for 95 NORTH. I feel like these news reporters attacked this all wrong. Instead of showing driving some alternate routes or just pointing out how simple it really is or how quicker it will be for you to get to 95 South they put a cameraman in the back of a car and say "now buckle your seatbelts!" Yep idiot-nation hold on because guess what? In order to get to 95 South you'll have to go left 3/4 of a mile earlier. Keep pumping that fear news media. As if people in RI aren't scared enough of driving as it is...here's another reason to not cross a bridge.

Tough call

2009-06-09T23:56:00.003-04:00

So we had this kid Andrew at work. Pretty good kid, good worker...probably one of the best as far as I didn't have to watch him all of the time or constantly tell him to work. He could keep himself busy and accomplish things without me having to tell him. Unfortunately I have to do things like that with most of the rest of the crew. Andrew's down sides would be a bit of an attitude problem and he also liked to pop pills. Hence why he was running away from the pill pusher Kenny when i pulled into the parking lot last Friday. But overall I felt like the good out weighed the bad and we had a full-time opening so we offered it to Andrew. He received his application and we gave him 3 working days (plus the 2 weekend days) to fill it out. Of course Monday he doesn't show up with it. But, "He really wants the job!"...well if you really wanted the job you should've shown up with the damn application. But me, being the good supervisor I am, go to my boss (Mike D) and ask him if Andrew can have another one that he'll fill out now. So he does and we give him the paper work for going to take the drug test. I think this is where things really got shaky, but I didn't really notice because it was a fairly busy Monday. So 6 o'clock rolls around and everyone takes off for lunch. An hour later the guys roll back in and we start getting into the putaway phase of the night. Making game plans on where to put the freight that came in today. It was around 7:20 pm when I noticed that I didn't see Andrew. I go out to the parking lot and I don't see his car. A couple of the guys said that he ate his lunch in his car (which he doesn't usually do) and then drove off. I check my phone...no missed calls. So I'm thinking where could this kid be? Around 745 Lou (the other supervisor on the shift) can see that I'm worried and he comes over to me and asks if I've heard from him...I say no..."Then forget him man! He left. Call Mike D and tell him what happened." Lou's right, so I do. Mike's shocked because we're so close to hiring this kid full-time...what the hell happened? No one knows. Just around the end of the shift (10pm) Mike sends me a text asking me if I ever heard from Andrew. Nope, no word.

So I come in today not really knowing what to expect. I got there a little early and Mike and I talk and neither one of us can figure out what happened. The theory is that the drug test freaked him out and if he failed he's gone anyway. Well, 1:30 rolls around and he walks in. Into Mike's office we go. Andrew's story is that one of the other guys, Mario (who kinda sucks) pissed him off because instead of helping him, he was on the phone and then just went to lunch. Not good behavior, but driving away without telling anyone...2 wrongs don't make a right. So Mike D looks at me and says "ya know Billy speaks highly of you and says you're a really good worker so..." it's then that I jump in a make a decision that I'm still (almost 12 hours later) unsure of "We can't Mike. I can't. If we let this slide those guys out there are going to walk on me more then they already do. I have to draw a line...things have to change...these guys are getting way too comfortable and the work isn't getting done. Sorry 'Drew but you did the total wrong thing, and it's not that I want to let you go, but I have to." Mike D just looks at me and nods. So I say "If you need to get your time sheet or anything from your locker...". And that's it. I just had to let one of my best workers go.

After Andrew left Mike called Lou, Jeff (the first shift supervisor) and myself into his office. He then tells all of us how I did the total right thing. Mike said that I made the perfect points and the right decision. The rest of the night the crew saw a different supervisor. Not as laid back as I use to be. Time to start holding guys' feet to the fire, and if they can't handle it.....oh well. We'll have to find workers who can.

2009-06-07T22:16:00.002-04:00

So when trucks come into the yard they have to take a right and cut it kind of close in order to swing the trailer around and back it into the door. This guy cut it too close and dragged a pretty big rock a considerable distance...especially since he didn't tell anyone and his truck suffered no damage. Well if idiots like that can get a CDL I guess I can! :)

2009-06-07T16:08:00.002-04:00

a short ride yesterday and a long ride today gets the total up to 195! Summer hasn't even official started and I'm already pushing 200 miles...pretty sweet!

**************

the biggest thing to cross my plate lately has been the opening at the warehouse manager position. Angelo (who was a supervisor at Veng) got the manager position when we moved to Keystone, and has decided to step back because the position has just been too much for him. He's now making $20/hour for sitting in the paint cage with Joe Vallett and BS-ing about baseball. Over at Veng Angelo got a lot of credit for having a good crew that capitalized on the 'zones' idea that Mike D. started. It's not really a surprise that he couldn't handle the manager position. That leaves the question with me of 'could I handle that position?'. It's a tough call. A lot of the time I have problems just keeping my crew of 7 moving forward on the same page never mind the WHOLE warehouse. Plus, I tend to over think things and maybe get too personal with guys on the crew and I end up bringing those feelings and anxieties home with me. That lead me to Friday night coming home and walking down to the local dive bar for a shot of Jack and 2 beers before heading home and hitting the hay for a couple of hours before having to be back at the warehouse at 6am for Saturday OT. The reason for the drinks....well we had this guy Kenny on our crew back in December who was selling pills to guys. Problems arose when he started charging different guys, different prices. In hind-sight I should've had all those guys fired for pulling that. Instead we just eliminated the dealer. Well, Friday as I'm pulling in the parking lot there's Kenny's car with Andrew running away from it. As Kenny was pulling out I yelled at him saying if I ever see his car here again I'm calling the cops and he knows why. The real killer to me was Andrew. He's a temp and a damn good worker and I just stood up and told Mike that I think we should hire him and here his is talking to a known drug dealer. Damn, thinking of that just pisses me off. For my part I told Mike everything and we were both disappointed in what happened, although Mike did give me a pat on the back for threatening Kenny with the cops. Sometimes I feel like I'm too soft and give these guys too much rope. On the other hand if we get rid of these guys who's to say that the next batch won't be just as bad if not worse? What a dilemma.

2009-05-30T22:35:00.000-04:00

a bunch of riding today brings the total up to 165

Biking update....

2009-05-16T19:45:00.000-04:00

30 miles last week and then 20 miles today brings the total up to 130

Conversations...

2009-05-14T00:01:00.003-04:00

So I'm at the grocery store tonight just picking up a couple of things for dinner, the same guy is always running the register at that time of night and we always have a little talk...nice enough...nothing to deep or anything. Tonight, tho, was a little different. A RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transit Assc.) bus driver was there and Rich (the guy who man's the register) and he were having a little talk. They were discussing the economy and how bad everything is and how the bus driver buys bullets every week because "they're going to have to come to my house to take my money from me!". The bus driver goes on to say how there is no grey area in the world. Everything is black and white. (Speaking of which...is it grey or gray? Talk about a grey area!) Absolute truth. That's it. Cut and dry. He then went on to say that the drop out average in the US is 60%. I kind of cocked my eye and said "That can't be true!" He said he'd bet my check to his check that he was right. Well I should've taken that bet...winner, winner chicken dinner I guess the grey area there is his mis-reading or mis-understanding of 6.2 million students for 60%. I wonder what else he was wrong about?

Glad that guy has a lot of bullets!

2009-05-05T11:46:00.002-04:00

stupid rain. no bikin' today. cool new thing on youtube is full episodes of shows including an old fav Barney Miller!

i think my new career should be photography. just so i can take picutres like this

2009-05-04T00:14:00.001-04:00

saturday i did a few more miles to crank that up to 60 and then i did 20 more sunday morning so the running total is at 80