New Post!

Holy Crap!! I'm posting again. Well, it's been slow going. Haven't really had anything blog worthy in a while. Or at least nothing I can blog about just yet. I have run across a few DMV's Best drivers out there but nothing special.

The other day I saw a beat up piece of crap cadillac with tinted windows and a lift kit the other day. If I had a picture I would have made a good post about it.

I've also done some work around the house. I moved the bar into the dinning room to make room for some cabinets and counter space to be added to the kitchen at a later date. Along with moving the bar, I built a bar table so we can now sit at the bar. There is still a little work to be done as far as the "service" area goes. I need to build and install the drawers and a couple of shelves. Other than those minor details its done and ready for friends to come by and have a drink or some. There will still be a post about it later. I'm waiting on a couple friends to come by and see it in person before the pictures go up for all to see.

In more resent news we splurged a little and bought a Wii. I've been wanting one ever since they originally came out. Up until last weekend I had never played with one so I didn't really miss not having one. Then once I got to play I just had to get one. Turns out it does a lot more stuff than I had thought. Its more than just a video game console. You can browse the web, get the weather and news... you can also play a lot of the old games from the original Nintendo. Of course they charge you to download them. It's not too bad though, about $5 each for most of them. So I'm pretty happy with it. We bought a couple extra games to go with it. Jess wanted the Dance Dance Revolution game so shes enjoying that. Guess that's about it. Til next time...


PS: New Years Resolution- No blogging for one month (complete)

Merry Black Friday!

As some of you know we have been trying to save up some money for a new TV. This was going to be our Christmas present to ourselves this year. Unfortunately like things do, things got in the way.. you know bills, groceries.... stuff. So most of our savings got used up and we had pretty much given up hope that we would be getting our TV this year. Then "Santa" showed up in his Black suit and said "Lets go get a TV!" So we went out and got a new TV. It's not the 50" that I was looking for but it's a lot more than what we originally had. An old 27" heavy table weight. Not that it was a terrible TV it was just old and we have never had a New TV before. As in we are the first owners. Now we do. We got a Panasonic 42" Plasma. Looks and sounds great! Not to mention we got a great deal on it. So soon we will be getting the HD package from or Dish provider. Then 24 night will be at our place for the next season. Guess that's it for now. Thank You "Santa"! We love it!

Happy Turkey Day!

Just a little note to say Happy Thanksgiving! It's an early morning for us. We got up to walk the dogs and now a small break before breakfast. Then it will be Jess's turn to take over the kitchen for a while. We are having a couple friends over who would otherwise be spending the holiday alone, and who wants to do that?! They will be here around 3 for the aromas of pies and fried turkey. I'll soon have my traditional Bloody Mary to start the morning. In fact, I think I'll do that now and make some breakfast! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Much Better Now

I don't have any previous posts regarding this matter but I thought I might blog about it anyway. I've been recently.. I say that loosely, having issues with a friend. It wasn't any huge thing to bother me but more like several minor to questionable instances to get me to this point. So tonight was the night I had to have "The Talk". I call it "the talk" because this is the talk that is the turning point of a friendship. You either remain friends or you go your separate ways. This talk only happens once. After that its not worth it. Fortunately, I've only had a couple of these talks and both of them ended well. I've got whats been bothering me off my chest and the same is true for this individual. Turns out there were a couple things I have said in the past that were not taken as intended. Well, kinda.. there was one thing that was said that I meant to say and I meant for it to be kinda mean at the time. I did however feel bad for saying it after I said it, but I was unable to apologize for it. I was able to do that tonight. So all is better now. For anyone else reading this who is wondering if there is anything I've been hanging on to, rest assured all is good now. With that I bid you all good night.

Update

I know its been a while since my last post. Its not to say nothing has been going on. Its just that I haven't taken the time to write. Also I don't remember everything that I thought about writing about. That being said I start with what I do know.

Work: Its been really busy at work. We're .... I'm currently working on a huge remodel job full of laminate. For those who don't yet know. I hate laminate. Not only as a product but mostly as something I hate working with. Its not hard, just a pain. It has its places and some of it looks really nice but... OK that's enough about that. So, as I was saying. ... job full of laminate. I've already made about 80 drawers and the base cabinets are all assembled and almost ready to go. Tomorrow I have to finish putting the drawer guides in them and assemble the rest of the uppers. Bosses might do the assembling while I do the drawer guides but we'll see. Then I have to laminate more. Not sure if it will be done in the next 2 weeks or not. Which brings me to the next point.

New? Job: I've also let everyone know of my options in recent posts. The update this goes like this. I told the other cabinet place that I have something else I am pursuing at this time but if it falls through I will be in touch. They were fine with that. Seems they are always looking for people with my skills. Nice to know.

As for the hotel job. I had my interview last Friday and I think it went pretty well. I interviewed with the owner since my neighbor obviously knows me already. It was more of a way to keep from showing any favoritism. Also so my neighbor could get an outsiders opinion and any thoughts. I plan to know something either way buy the end of the week.

Aside from that; there is not much to tell. There have been a couple DMV's Best situations but only one was blog worthy. Just a short one. On my way back to work from lunch. I saw someone inching out of the gas station as if he was waiting for me to pass before entering traffic. (not that there was any. Closest person behind me was at least 1/2 a mile back) Well, turns out he was trying to hit me or something. He cut right in front of me as soon as I got close enough that I would hit him. I had to quickly swerve into the next lane to avoid him. Then there as today...

Grand Opening!

Race Track is having their Grand Opening now. I'm guessing it will last through the next week. Defiantly through the weekend. As I was driving by today as I was coming home for lunch it looks like they were giving out free food. Sure its just hot dogs and maybe burgers but free food! At least I think it was free. I haven't been there yet to know for sure. I do know however that the current price on gas is... drum roll please.... $3.53!!! I'll be stopping in tomorrow after work to fill up for next week. I'll know more about the grand opening then. If there is anything to add I'll do so in an update. Til then...

Ice

Today I met with a couple friends to watch the new Batman movie. At first I wasn't at all interested in seeing this one in the theater. Then it began growing on me with all the advertisements and stuff. Kinda surprising really. I don't normally give in to adds. Anyway, We went to see this movie and I have to say I liked it a whole lot more than I thought I would. I still think Michael Keaton made the best Batman. I liked it. It wasn't the "remake" I thought it was going to be. That is my review. Take it or leave it.

Of course going to the movies is not complete without a few things to go with it. So I had some popcorn a hot dog and a drink, with no ice. I don't get ice at the theater because at $5 for a soda or what ever the outrageous price is. I want the soda not the ice. (side story on this later)

So I told you that so I could share the biggest part of the story. One of our biggest pet peeves. If you said cell phones.. You are Correct! Yep! Oh by the way. I didn't get to sit with my friends because the theater was pretty full. I ended up sitting on the end of the row next to some kids. They were fine. However, a row in front of me and to the left some idiot had to text through the whole thing. I thought very seriously about throwing a piece of popcorn or 2 or 10.. but I didn't. I then realized why I should have gotten Ice with my soda. It would have been much better to throw at them. If I would have been sitting with my friends popcorn likely would have been thrown but not by me. I'm too nice. I tend to just think about doing it until I get blood boiling pissed.

The side story for anyone interested. When I got my soda without ice my friend informed me that there are some people that don't have ice. Also that I am weird. Only in a joking manner and it was taken as such. I am also always slow on the draw for a good or even decent come back. So now I have to say it here. What I should have said. "And there are some who have too much Ice."

Well, that's it. Again I thought the movie was good and I do recommend seeing it if you haven't already.

V.I.P.

Yeah, you must be a V.I.P. if your going to arrive to lunch in a personal helicopter. Yep, you read right.. not a fancy car or a limo.. a helicopter! So here's what I saw. Driving home for lunch like I normally do. I saw in the distance a low flying helicopter. At first I thought it was Care Flight. At which point I also thought "Crap, I hope they are not landing in the middle of the road before I get to my turn to get home." As I got closer I realized it wasn't Care Flight. It was instead a personal helicopter and they landed at the Prairie House for lunch. How cool would that be to just hop into your own helicopter and go out for lunch. Now, I wonder where these people live. Did they fly down here from Oklahoma just for some Prairie House Yum Yum? Or do they live further or closer? If its closer.. why spend the money of fuel for the helicopter? I'm sure that stuff is much more expensive than the current $3.88 regular at the Racetrack/ QT. Maybe they just wanted to take it for a "spin". Ha, I made a small funny.... "shut up, I thought it was funny and that's what counts." Anyway, I just have to say. That's what I call arriving in style!

Yard friends

I guess we have a healthy yard. We have a lot of yard friends. I've taken several pictures of them but only have a few good ones. We have 2 Green Anole Lizards and yesterday I saw a Dragonfly. Both are quite beneficial to the yard. They munch on the rest of the insects and keep things fairly under control out there. We also have several Butterflies and some frogs but I don't have any pictures of them. We are going to get a "taod house" to put in the flowerbed at some point.

Its nice to sit out in the front yard once the sun goes behind the neighbors house. It is then that we have some good shade and the temperature is somewhat pleasant. Its also quite relaxing. I sometimes sit out there and have a cigar and a couple drinks. In fact that sounds nice, I might just do that now. Hope you all have a good evening.

Sick day

Well, yesterday I had to come home sick from work. My tummy was upset and I felt like I was going to hurl. So I got home and pretty much went straight to bed. I got some rest but still felt like crap. Never did throw up, though I think I would have felt so much better if I did.

Last night was a weird night. I was extremely restless. I was hot and cold and just couldn't get comfortable. On top of that I think I had a fever. Which brought its own problems. As long as I had my eyes open I was fully aware of my surroundings. With my eyes closed and trying to get some sleep, I was having weird visions and dreams. Where I didn't know who I was or anything. I also felt like I was inside a huge puzzle within myself where I knew the solution but couldn't do it. On top of this, Jess also got sick. So shes about 12 hours behind me. All of this made for a really long and frustrating night.

This morning I had to make the call to not go into work. I was still feeling weak and disoriented. Not a good combination when you work with heavy machinery all day. So I stayed in bed and got a good amount of rest. I started feeling better around noon so I got up and finally had something to eat. So here I am letting Jess get some rest and trying to catch up on my own things.

Still hurts

Yep, My back still hurts. I have to say that working in a cabinet shop with a sore back is not fun at all! I would stay home and get some rest if I could, but I am the main workforce at the shop. Its just 3 of us there. The co-owners and myself. I do most of the work and they sit in the office and figure out more stuff for me to work on. Sometimes on big jobs like the one we're doing now; (a bank) They come out to do some of the work too. Although, they do most of the install work which is fine by me. That's the part I don't like too much. Unless its one of my own side jobs. Anyway, just sitting here eating my lunch. (left over pizza) Thought I'd let everyone know that work sucks today because of my back issue. Aside from that its ok.

"Z"

Spring?

Sure feels like it out there. Unfortunately I have spent most of my weekend in pain. Both days my back has been killing me. The dogs have been snuggling a bit tight against my back and making me sleep in a corkscrew position. I had such great plans this weekend too. Wanted to do some things around the house like go into the attic and figure out what I need to make some storage space up there. Wanted to and did, look at flooring for the office; so we can get an idea of how much its going to cost us. Still need to figure out some plans for the new furniture that will be made for the office. Thought about maybe going disc golfing but then canceled that idea after remembering Scott said there was a tourney this weekend and also because I got a nice $0.42 a game coupon for bowling. That didn't work out due to my back issue. We just got done cleaning up the house a little bit (dusting and vacuuming). Then I went outside to see how the neighbors were doing with shingle repairs after our wind storm last week. It was then that I really realized how nice it really is outside.. and what am I doing, writing here since the only thing I can do is sit and rest my back. Someone also fired up their grill so now I want to fire up mine too. I can, I have a pork loin in there that I can toss on the grill... I'm hoping the Motrin kicks in soon so I can be somewhat mobile again. And then....

There is the Super Bowl. For those who know me. Its no surprise that I could give a rats ass about the Super Bowl and football to begin with, but this year is different for some reason. I actually have an interest in the game this year. Maybe its because I happened to be visiting a friends house and happened to see one of the playoff games. It was a really good close game and it kept me interested. That same interest is what has made me want to see this Super Bowl game. If anyone is interested in who I'm rooting for, I'm going with New York. Just because. No real reason. So I'll be at a friends house tonight watching the game and having a few drinks.

On another note. I know this is my first post of the new year. I had planned on other posts about other things but I never quite got to them. I thought about doing a full update kind of post but that would be too long and I wouldn't get everything in it anyway. So my update is this. Things happened and they passed. This is now and tomorrow is another day. Til next time.

"Z"

Vacation...

Yep, Vacation! It officially starts for us today. We have all of our errands done, Christmas shopping is done and the house is clean. The plan tonight is going out to our semi- annual Keg Birthday dinner. We go twice a year once for LJ's birthday in February and for mine in December. (to those who did not know it was my birthday, Don't Worry about it. I didn't tell anyone) So now all that's left is to finish fine tuning the New Years party plans. Oh, and we have to hand out our neighbor gifts too. The main thing in the way of us starting our vacation was cleaning the house and that I'm happy to say just got done. I have to say I do love the way the bar looks when its had a super deep cleaning. It sparkles and makes me very thirsty.. I hear it calling out to me. That will have to wait til we get home from dinner.

For anyone interested in more information about The Keg. You can check it out here. http://en.kegsteakhouse.com/

Last day...

Well, this is my last day of work for this year. Other than a small side job to fix someone entertainment center... for their huge wide screen plasma television. (I want one! Where's mine?) So, I plan on doing lots of relaxing and if the weather is nice for at least a couple days, Maybe I'll go play in the garage. I've got a couple things I want to work on. First things first though. Have to clean the house this weekend. We also have to fine tune the New Years party we are gearing up for. We've got the basic idea of what we want to do but there is still much planning to get done. Invites are out so at least that part is done. For now its just about time for me to head back to work. Til next time...

Mechanic?

(short version)
Yeah, I played mechanic this weekend on my truck. My alternator died on me and I had to replace it. Took all day but I got it fixed. So here is the whole story...

(long version)
On my way to work Thursday morning I noticed my battery light came on. Seems my voltage was a bit low. I didn't know why but I had an idea what might be wrong. It was sitting at around 11 volts all day. I got to work, came home for lunch and went back to work all without problems. After work I went to Auto zone to get my battery and my alternator checked. I didn't think it was my battery since it is fairly new. Less than 2 years old. Yep, it was my alternator. Being Thursday I couldn't afford to get it right then so I told them I'd have to come back and get it after I got paid. I figured my battery was fine all day so I thought I could make it home and take Navy Jake's truck to work the next day. Well turns out I was just lucky all day to get all that stuff done. Once I left Auto zone my battery died really fast. I made it about 2 miles up the road before it completely died. And it was weird. It was like the movies where the aliens come down to abduct you. You know the scene, the radio starts changing stations on its own, the lights flicker and go dim, the gages fall and everything just goes dark. Well, aside from the radio changing stations and the aliens coming to get me. That's what it was like. So there I was on the phone with LJ the whole time and stranded on the side of the road. It was cold and dark. So now I had to figure out how to get my truck home. The idea was get a jump from LJ and get my battery charged just enough to get me home. Tried it twice. The first time failed because there was too much traffic to get going fast enough. The second time I made it about a mile to the Denton bowling ally where I used to work. So I left it there. I had to figure out a new plan. I took LJ's car to work on Friday. (she worked from home) I had a plan of action that I knew would work. The first thing was to take the battery out of my truck and take it auto zone because they do free battery charging. Then I bought the alternator, new battery cables and a new serpentine belt. Then I went to grab something for lunch and went back to work. (this was all during my lunch break) After work I picked up my battery, deposited my check and came home to get LJ and head back to get my truck. This was the first kink in my plan. She was on call this week and had just got called into a "war room" meeting. She would have to explain what that means. Basically it means something serious broke and they need to fix it whatever the cost. Also means "Weekend? What weekend?" So I called a couple friends one was out of town and the other was able to give me a ride. Plan is back on track. Got my battery back in my truck and got it home without any problems. I got the garage all set up and drove it onto some ramps, pop the hood and got to looking at what I needed to do to get this done. This is what took forever.. See, I'm not a mechanic. My father is a master mechanic, so I called him and he tried to talk me through it. I've done this kind of repair before on a couple other cars, but they were older and easy. Not this time apparently. I couldn't find how to get the belt off or how I was going to get to the bolts to remove the thing. New plan, Went back to Auto zone Saturday morning to buy the repair book for my truck. I was thinking it was going to spell it out for me step by step, but no, all it did was tell me what I already knew. So i got frustrated and asked LJ (the reader) to see if she could figure out what I was missing. I couldn't find the things I needed to find through the different chapters. While she did that for me I took a much needed nap to get rid of my bad attitude and my head ache. Trust me it was better this way, for all of us. When I got up LJ told me what I had to look for and I went out to see if I could find it. I did. I got the belt off but there was still the problem of how to get the alternator out. After a couple hours of trying to figure out what to take off to get to it and make room to get it out, I figured out there wasn't much I could take off. The AC was the main thing in the way and I couldn't move that. I ended up putting together about 4 feet of extensions with a swivel attachment to get the top bolt out. LJ helped guide the socket and it worked. the other bolt was much easier, LJ got that one. (She was excited to be playing mechanic) So we finally got the old one off and I wanted to change the cables too but they didn't fit so I said screw it and we put the new alternator on and the new belt and called it a night. It only took about 10 minutes to get the new stuff on but it took about 6 hours to figure out how to get the old ones off. Once we got it back together I started it up and it worked. Batter light was off and my battery reading shot back up to just past 14 volts where it should be. The only thing wrong at this point was my radio wasn't working. That was easily fixed by pushing the reset button. Then to cap the night off we went to sonic for dinner and then came back home to watch a move. We watched the "Borne Ultimatum". We enjoyed it. So that's the long story of my rare moment as mechanic. Thanks again to LJ for all her help. I almost gave up and took it to a real mechanic. This whole thing reminded me of why I'm a woodworker and not a mechanic. Sorry dad.

Good times...

Yeah right! Well, today was the day. I had my much needed.. apparently, dentist appointment. Got new fillings and a very deep cleaning of my teeth. The good news.. I'm not feeling anything right now, the bad.. I will be soon and I anticipate it being very.. umm.. whats the word.... painful! I can actually feel a little bit on one of my teeth already. The laughing gas has about worn off, unfortunately. Should have asked for some to go. Oh, I'm also hungry and thirsty. But wait, I cant eat or drink anything because my lower lip is on the floor somewhere. Hope the dogs dont get ahold of it. I do need it back. Reminds of of a funny bit from Bill Cosby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSw1Qav0L2E&feature=related Anyway, I'm almost done with it. Originally I was supposed to go in 3 separate times. The first was going to be the right cleaning and fillings and then the left, followed by a final basic cleaning and check up to make sure everything looks good. I decided to make it easy on them and my employer and do both the right and left in one trip. I guess its also going to be easier on me as well since I'll go through this pain once instead of twice. So now I'm home and I was supposed to go back to work. I called my boss and filled him in that I'm all drugged up. Kinda light headed and not all with it. Well, even more not with it than normal. So I took the rest of the day off. Its probably not a good thing for me to be running a table saw in this condition. I might chop my lip off by accident. Well, kinda lost my thoughts now so I'll leave it at this. Have a good day. And remember you could have had a fun day like me instead of work.. which would you rather have?

Chef "Z" Strikes again

No, not a strike as in baseball. As I stated in the post previous. I had a few friends over who helped in the construction of my flowerbed/ seating area in the front yard (still have to upload a picture). I made a nice dinner and it seemed to be a success. I slow-cooked a roast all day with potatoes, carrots, onions and shallots, and of course some seasoning. In addition to this roast I roasted some potatoes, sauteed some baby bellas and baked some cookies for dessert. According to my guests everything tasted great. We all had some drinks, talked and had a good time. Its always nice to have friends over. I always enjoy everybodys company. In fact, its always a little sad to have it end, But I look forward to the next time we can all get together and do it again. Dont know why, I just love have company. I enjoy the cooking and the prep beforehand. Seeing and hearing the response from the guests on what was done. Doesnt matter if its something I did or what LJ did. Its all just good fun. Its so much fun that sometimes I wonder if maybe I should have been a chef or something like that where I get to entertain people for a living. I think I'd be good at it. I certainly enjoy it. Then again, I enjoy being part of the entertainment. Sure it might take all day in prep to have a gathering the way I do but when the party begins, I am more of a guest than a host. The party or gathering kinda just runs itself. To me, thats what its all about. Having a good time with your friends and just living in the moment. With that, I want to say Thanks to all my friends who make it all worth it. Thanks!

Been a long time

Yeah, I know its been a while since my last post. As of right now I dont even know what I'm going to post this about.. we'll just see how it goes. My original thought of what this blog was going to be for was basically to bitch about the stupid things I see on a daily basis. Well, turns out that since I made this blog and started posting, I havent seen much stupid stuff.. at least nothing that warranted writing about. I also did a little thinking.. not much.. it hurts. I did however do a little, and I came up with this. I dont want people to read these posts about me bitching about stupid stuff and think that I'm someone who is always bitching about something. Those of you who know me know that this is in fact not true. So I've decided that in addition to bitching about the stupid stuff I see.. I'll try and write some random posts like this. So lets see.. what to write about... Well, I guess I can do a quick run down on my last couple weeks... did all the basic stuff.. get up, go to work, come home, try and relax a bit, have dinner, shower and go to bed. Yup, thats what I do. ok, there are some things I did in the past few weeks that I can tell you about. A few weeks back I made a buffet cabinet for my dinning room. I couldnt put any stain or finish on it at the time since I didnt have the proper tools to finish the job. So the other day we found a little money to purchase a sprayer so I could finish the job. I am currently working on finishing that project. I'm waiting right now for the finish to dry so I can sand and apply another coat. I hope to have this done and in the dinning room tomorrow. Then we can get rid of the boxes we have stacked up in there. Another project I did a couple weeks ago was the front yard. "The wife" and I.. yes, the wife.. sounds funny. But thats who she is, shes not the girlfriend or anything like that anymore. Guess I'll give her a nickname.. even though she didnt give me one.. I'll call her LJ. This name goes way back but thats a story for another time.. maybe. So, LJ and I worked on the front yard project a couple weeks ago. We decided it was time to fix the flowerbed and seating area that we had designed and built once before. Only this time we were going to do it right. Since apparently last time we didnt. We built a raised flowerbed and seating area right behind it. Its made of sand stone retaining wall blocks. I had never done anything like that before so it was kind of an adventure. It was fun but a lot of hard work. I'll have to edit this post later to add a picture. I have a few gripes about this because my neighbors didnt really offer to help. They just ignored us. Its not like I dont help anyone. Anyway, I dont want to get into that again. Guess I could have posted about that a couple weeks ago. Anyway, I did finally get some help. Turned out it was experienced help too, the best kind. I made a call and asked a "real" friend to help. He dropped what he was doing and came on out. Thanks man! One of my neighbors also finally decided to come on over and help.. we'll call him Jay. Thanks to both of you for your help. We could not have finished this job in the amount of time we did without your help. Which brings me to this weekend. I am making dinner for these guys to say thanks again for helping out. Well, guess thats about enough catch up work on my blog thing. So now I'm off to sand and apply another coat on the buffet cabinet. 'Til next time.