Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday night...

And it's snowing! It's been snowing all day. So far Anthony and I have shoveled the driveway twice, and it feels like being a kid again. Except this time I was my mother and my son was me. I remember when it would snow in New York when I was a kid, Mom would not let the snow pile up on the driveway. The best part is, I didn't hurt my back. I almost did with the first pass, but got smart and stopped before I did.

Saw a gentleman the other day who I haven't seen in a few months. It was great to see him again. He was my boss..he was also a mentor and someone I call a friend. He was in the office for only a few minutes, and when I saw him he was standing with one of the bigger bosses of my office. Now, under normal circumstances I would not even entertain the notion of interrupting my bosses, but this time I had to say hello before I lost the chance. It made my day. Hell, it made my week!

The poker tournament I am dealing in has been postponed until next week. Due to the road conditions, it's better.

Other than that, all is quiet. Hoping for a good weekend!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Last Monday in January...

Not much to report. Last week went as well as can be expected. The weekend was fairly quiet. Had some "excitement" with the new X-Box (couldn't download anything, turned out to be their server) but everything is good. Anthony went to a school dance Saturday night. He had a great time, danced alot.

Right now I am counting down the days until I become a poker dealer. OK it's only for a day, but I am so looking forward to it. Friday night I have to go for a meeting and then Saturday at 11am, in my black pants and white button down shirt, I will be getting my table ready and greeting players for a 12pm start. LET'S SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL!

I am in dire need of a day off. Yeah, yeah, I was on "vacation" a few weeks ago. Some vacation! I monitored emails constantly, even had to take care of some business, because there is nobody in the office who knows everything I do. The good news is, the "bulk" of the stuff only I know how to do is going away. My company sold the chilled business to another company, so by May 1st, I will not have to deal with it anymore. YESSSSS! (too many S's? oh well!). It will also be ice cream season, so I guess a day off will have to wait until ... umm ... October? Hopefully I can get a hold of the promo calendar for 2010 and plan accordingly. Will keep you posted...

Monday, January 18, 2010

Monday blues .. and other colors of the rainbow

Hello one and all (ok, so right now I have but one published follower)and welcome to another tear inducing episodic blog of "Beware of the Sting" brought to you by yours truly, ME! It's been a roller coaster ride of a day. It actually started yesterday. I went out to start my car (ok, truck! -- 2003 Chevrolet Blazer). I started it, warmed it up for a couple of minutes, then took off down the street to go to Walmart for my weekly grocery shopping. I got two driveways and my car became a festival of lights. Every light in my car flashed, every needle bounced around, and I was hearing a loud whistling sound. I know immediately there is a problem with my alternator. I had a 2001 Blazer and it had the same problem. So, I park it, and the rest of the day I am wondering how I am going to come up with about $1,200 for a new alternator. Add to that I have yet to register the car (and pay the sales tax), and have my insurance due at the start of February. This ought to be good. I spent part of the day yesterday rehearsing what I was going to say to Fidelity to get money from my 401k.

This morning, managed to putt putt the car to the dealer, told him what happened, told him it was probably the alternator and he agreed. Oh boy! Then, got home and started working (it IS a holiday, right?). Luckily nothing crazy today. Afternoon has been rather quiet. Well, car was still in the shop, so drove Ann to work. Then, got the call. It was only the battery, and the bill wasn't $1,200. WOOHOO! So, when Ann gets done with work, I'll go pick her up, then we'll go get my truck and figure out what to do for dinner. How does Johnny Brusco sound??

Thursday, January 14, 2010

DVR Catch-up night

Yes, I'm sitting here clearing some of the weekly stuff I tape. Watched HIMYM, then Heroes, now Men of a Certain Age. In just over 1/2 hour, Grey's is on. Finally new episodes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the holidays, the football Bowl games, but I'm friggin' old now. I get into a routine, and I tend to like sticking to it. I also like going to the bathroom regularly, but that's another story for another blog.

Been a fast week at work. Steady busy, and already tomorrow is Friday (and payday!). I found out yesterday that my office is closed on Monday for MLK day. That means I can sleep late and then take the long walk to the kitchen to do my work. What a life huh?! LOL!

Got a text from a friend of mine, we're playing poker tomorrow night. Tournament style, low buy-in, my kind of tourney. Then, I am becoming a poker dealer. There is a yearly poker tournament to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club. The buy-in is $100 and that's just a touch out of my range right now (new truck payment). Well, I found out they were short dealers (no height jokes here please!) so I got my name on the list and I'm dealing. There are about 15 people from my office that play in this, and now it's my turn to be "the boss" LMAO! I can't wait.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Such and the like...

We have had many straight days of freezing temperatures, snow on the ground since Christmas...it's nuts!

This weekend I went out and traded in my car for an SUV. The timing was perfect, because it snowed the next day, and the roads are crappy. Used it to go grocery shopping, then came home and decided to shovel the driveway. BAD IDEA!! I tried shoveling sideways and twisted. BOTH discs in my lower back popped. I felt it, I heard it, the colors were real pretty. I have a hard time sitting, standing, walking, laying down...the only problem I do not have is screaming. It friggin' HURTS!! Going to hopefully go to the doctor tomorrow and see what happens, because my lower back feels like a second ass, it's so swollen.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

First, I want to put this in writing. 2010 is NOT the start of a new decade!! It is the last year of the CURRENT decade! Phew, got that out of my system. I feel better. Now to just get rid of this headache. A few College Football Bowl games and an outdoor hockey game may help :)

Ann and I went to Downstream last night for a New Years party. I have never driven much distance for a New Years party before, and this was over an hour away. Not my favorite to drive on a holiday where drinking is prevalent. Obviously we made it home with no problems. Anyway, we got to the casino and I went to check in our coats and Ann went to get tickets. Long story short..the party was sold out, but there was a gentleman who had 2 tickets because his friends weren't going to make it, and sold them to Ann. Saved us $10. We had a great time dancing (well, I danced, Ann swayed a little then stood there alot), we played some slots (no poker playing for me, oh well), and I hit $700 on a penny slot machine CHA-CHING!! We celebrated East Coast New Years (used a clock to tell me when), then celebrated with everyone for the Central Time New Years. Balloon drop and everything! But no champagne, which was cool. I had NO alcoholic beverage all night. This is a first in 22 years. But I didn't want to take any chances, knowing the cops were out, idiots were possibly out, and besides, I had 2 drinks the other night haha!

I didn't expect to NOT play that much in the casino, but we didn't. However, when we DID play, I was on fire. Playing a penny machine, and hit it for $700. Someone told me casinos pay well on NYE. They were right! Ended the night up a mortgage payment.

Overall, a great New Years, and one that both Ann and I deserved. We have been out once since Anthony was born, and that was to a friend's house. Anthony stayed home as none of his friends were doing anything, and having him invite a friend over wouldn't have gone over well with the friend's parents. He actually stayed up until 1:45am. I have a feeling tonight will be a real early bedtime for all of us, as Ann and I didn't get home until after 2am.

Well, that's about it for now. Going to enjoy the remainder of my "vacation" and then back to work on Monday under a new nose. Time to update the resume?