Comics and life and such.

So, yeah. It's looking like "Marv" is going to be updated over the weekend. Friday through Monday, since those are the days I work. I love the Windows XP version of MS Paint. I'm comfortable with it, and I've used it for years. Windows 7 Paint (which is on my home PC), not so much. I do my "best" work from, well, work, so I'll be drawing and writing from here.

Also, there's no X-Box to distract me at work, so I can focus and not get lost in Skyrim or Minecraft or Mass Effect 2...

So, yeah. I've got a "Bro Christmas" tonight with my best friend. We keep trying to find a time and day for "Couples' Christmas" that works for him and his girl, and me and Sweetheart, but it's complicated, so we're just gonna have our manly celebration of awesomeness tonight.

"Bro-stmas"?

"Bro-nukkah"?

No, no. I have it!

"Winter Bro-lstice".

Yup. That's the one. Will be doing that, and then probably just playing vid'ya games for New Years. Sweetheart's got a family game night thing with a friend from High School, and she loves that whole family, so...lonely Joe is lonely.

Lonely Joe, kept warm only by the uncaring glow of his X-Box's pretty pretty lights (which is actually much more awesome than lonely). I think I'll just crank up the volume and get lost in the game. Hopefully I won't be dead at work on Sunday.

Fun stuff...

So, I'm working on making a comic. A webcomic, actually. Not sure if it'll go anywhere, and it'll probably only make sense to me, but I'm getting there. First "strip" will be posted sometime soon. I guess now that I've decided to do something creative, I've gotta sit down and actually do this thing right....Dang it...

So I uploaded the first issue....

http://marv.thecomicseries.com/

Christmasy things.

Happy Put-A-Tree-In-Your-House-Day-Eve!

Also, I may be working overtime tonight and tomorrow, which means that my Christmas stuff is pretty much over with, since everything with the family is planned for tonight and tomorrow night. I hate the holidays, when it comes to getting emergency coverage.

"Sorry, got plans, can't work." says everybody, which means I get to stay at work, because I can't leave (required by law to stay) until I'm properly relieved. If I do, I can be fined and will probably be fired.

So, yeah. Good times.

On the plus side, though, I'll get base pay, plus my Weekend differential, plus my Holiday differential, plus my evening/night shift differential, plus my Overtime pay, which is time and a half. That'll make for a nice paycheck, if the payroll folks don't have a stroke.

Bloggy, bloggy, blarghy, blargh....

So, yeah. I'm at home, as usual for this time of the week (Wednesday night). Played a lot of Arkham Asylum today. It's awesome. Finished reading "14" by JT Ellison.

It's been a while since I've actually been nervous about reading the next book in a series, but "14" does it for me. I'm gonna have to take a day or two before I start "Judas Kiss", just to decompress and absorb "14" in all it's goodness.

UGH! KRINGUS IS ALMOST HERE!!!!

So much Christmasy stuff to do, and Christmasy places to go, and I have to work all weekend....Ugh. I hate this week out of every year. Not a moment's rest to be had anywhere.

Storytime With Joe...

Okay, yall. Time for a tale...

So, four years ago, just after Thanksgiving of 2007, I got together with my Sweetheart. She was a co-worker of my sister, and she'd been to the house a few times. It was love at first sight, honestly. She made sure it was okay with my sister (as did I) that we start dating, and things were awesome at first.

Then, my sister's life kinda went to crap. She quit her job, her husband got fired (or quit, I don't remember), and so neither of them were working for a while. He'd get a new job, keep it for a few weeks, and then loose it or quit. Things were not good at home. The friendship between my Sweetheart and my sister cracked apart, and I kept seeing my Sweetheart.

Things were looking up for me, in general. I had a girl that I loved, and a job that I enjoyed. This pissed my sister off to no end. She and her husband weren't doing too well, and it resulted in her looking elsewhere. Now, I'm not privy to her private life (such as it was), and as such, I don't know what all went on, but I do know that she kept trying to sleep with her boss, and wanted people to watch her infant daughter while she went and did that.

I refused to help with her stepping out on her husband (rather publicly, which was a huge mistake), and as the youth of today say (or so I'm told), "Shit Got Real". My stuff started disappearing out of my room while I was gone to work or out with my Sweetheart. When confronted, I found that some of my stuff (of which my sister's husband had duplicates or similar things) had been sold at the pawn shop for cigarette money and such. I tried putting locks on both my bedroom doors, but the one that led to the shared bathroom was turned around while I was gone, so that the door could be locked from the inside, but not my bedroom. I wound up putting a separate flip lock so that they could lock me out of the bathroom, and I could keep my doors locked.

My mom (rightfully so) chose my sister's side in the fight between her and my Sweetheart, and so with everything going on, my Sweetheart pretty much became unwelcome at the house. So, eventually, I made the choice to move out with my Sweetheart. We moved out, and I stopped speaking to my mom and my sister. Haven't spoken to either of them for the last four years and change.

Well, last night, I had my mom and her husband over for dinner. At my Sweetheart's insistence, I called her last week, and made the invite, because my Sweetheart couldn't stand to marry me, knowing that we'd refused my mom the option of being at her oldest kid's wedding. She and my step-dad came over, and we had some awesome lasagna for dinner.

It was weird for a brief moment, and then we started talking, and it was like nothing had ever happened. We just fell back into that same old rhythm. It went about as well as I could have possibly hoped. I was terrified for a long time, but then everything just mellowed out and went fine. We invited them back, and Mom invited  us (me AND Sweetheart) over to her place. When Sweetheart asked how this'd work with my sister in the picture, my mom said "It's MY house. If she doesn't like it, she can go hide in her room.". So, yeah. Everything went better than expected.

Now I just have to figure out how to fit my mom into the wedding. Up until now (and even now, since I'm not likely to change my plans) my step-mom has been set as Mother Of The Groom. Ugh. I hate complicated family dynamics.....

Interwebz, yay!

So I have internet at the house again. The tech came out yesterday, and reinforced my faith in AT&T's U-Verse staff. He came out and checked everything inside within about ten minutes, and then went right to work outside (where a tech had supposedly checked everything beforehand). An hour later, I had super fast internet active, and he walked me through the set up process (which was pretty self explanatory, but still...). I think U-Verse probably has the best customer service people I've ever experienced. I can't recommend them enough.

Also...

Shot my pistol for the first time yesterday. Shiny.

So, I'm a liar...

Yeah, still no internet at the house. I've got a technician coming to fix it later today, but for now, still nothing. We did, at least, learn the problem and try to rectify it.Our old router's power supply went dead, so we decided to transfer service to AT&T's U-Verse service (which is awesome).

Stupid transferring of service. Lemme tell you how my calls on Tuesday night went.

*****

Me: "My internet isn't working. I've tried resetting the new router, and I've tried multiple ethernet cables, and multiple phone lines, and multiple phone jacks. No such luck."

Super Helpful Tech Support Guy: "Okay, let me check this out right quick for you. Troubleshoot, troubleshoot, troubleshoot...okay. It seems as if the DSL internet you had, for which your router doesn't work, is still occupying the line, so the U-Verse service can't find your new router and offer you our awesome internet service. I'm very sorry about this, but I'm going to connect you to our DSL department, to see if we can't get this resolved. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

M: "No, Super Helpful Tech Support Guy, you've been awesome and a half today. Thank you."

SHTSG: "No, customer. Thank you."

M: *squee*

DSL Bitch Queen: "AT&T DSL. What?"

M: "Um...excuse me?"

DSLBQ: "What do you want?"

M: "Oh, uh, I'm having problems getting my U-Verse internet to hook up and I-"

DSLBQ: "That's a whole different department. Transferring." *click*

M: "Hm......that was unpleasant."

Next Super Helpful Tech Support Guy (who was actually a gal): "I'm so sorry to hear that you're having difficulties with our service. I apologize for the delay in getting your internets back to you, because I know you love your internets, and I just want you to be happy. Let me transfer you back over to the DSL service. Before I let you go, is there anything else I can do for you today?"

M: "No, Super Helpful Tech Support Guy (who is actually a gal), you've been awesome and a half today. Thank you."

NSHTSG(WWAAG): "No, customer. Thank you."

M: *swoon*


DSL Bitch King: "AT&T DSL."

M: "I'm having problems getting my U-Verse internet to hook up and I-"

DSLBK: "That's a whole different department. Trans-"

M: "AND IT'S APPARENTLY BECAUSE YOUR STUPID DSL IS STILL OCCUPYING MY LINE!"

DSLBK: "Ugh. Okay, 'sir' (I could hear him making the little finger quotes over the phone line, sweartachrist.). Let me take a look......well. Of course it's still on the line. Your disconnect date isn't until the 23rd."

M: "Seriously? Your router craps out (after 4 years of loyal and faithful and nearly flawless service *pets the poor dead router*) and I try to transfer my service to get internet back by upgrading to a better internet service with the same company, and you set my disconnect date for the 23rd so I can't have internet until then?"

DSLBK: "Sir, you set that date."

M: "Bullshit. I set no such thing."

DSLBK: "Well, that's when your next bill is due."

M: "Okay, I'm trying really hard not to kill you through the phone right now. Get your GOD DAMNED DSL OFF MY MOTHER FUCKING LINE!"

DSLBK: "The quickest I can do that is Thursday. Check after 8pm on Thursday."

*****

Okay, so I've been without internet on anything but my phone for almost two weeks now, and I had to call back last night.

Super Helpful Tech Support Guy: "Well, I've done all I can here, so I'm going to go ahead and schedule a technician to come out to see you tomorrow, free of charge, because we feel really bad about you not having internet. Is there anything else I can do to make your night better?"


M: "No, Super Helpful Tech Support Guy, you've been awesome and a half tonight. Thank you."

NSHTSG: "No, customer. Thank you."

*****

So, the moral of the story is that if you have AT&T DSL, switch to U-Verse (not much price difference, none in my case). The customer support aspect of it is totally worth it, even if U-Verse didn't totally kick DSL in the face with awesome.

From the phone...

Like the title says, I'm t typing this from my phone. Maybe this'll help me keep my blogging closer to a daily thing.

Getting my internet at the house not only fixed, but upgraded today. This marks my triumphant return to the interwebz... Assuming the guy shows up for the install. I can't wait.

Writing about Writing...

Ahhhh. Writing. I love writing. The holiday season (or the American holiday season, anyway) tends to get in the way of that. People's schedules rarely link up, and motivation can be an issue at even the best of times. Who wants to sit and type out chapter after chapter in a post-holiday meal coma, when they could just...ya know...not?


I know that getting back on track with my writing (which usually flows fairly easily) has been a nightmare this year (thanks a lot, Skyrim). After Thanksgiving, I had no inspiration whatsoever, and very little motivation to tear myself away from the X-Box or any of the other distractions I had. Also, our internet went down at home, and so the only time I could post would be from work. 


Now, though, my ideas are flowing again, and my fingers have loosened their death grip on my X-Box controller, getting back into the flow of typing. Which is awesome, because I really do love writing. 


I'm going to try to get some poetry written (it's been entirely too long), but I've got no real subject matter that inspires me to write poetry. I can get into character easily, and play my parts, but poetry, which is much harder for me to grasp, is tough. I have a lot of poets (modern day) who inspire me and astound me on a regular basis, but I'm just not a natural poet. *shrugs*


And so, without further ado, the poem that this blog is named for...


Uncapped


My pen on blank paper, no inspired words flow, I don't know, where my muse has to go, to get right back, in my head, and on track, I feel dead in, my bed.

I should write, my rhymes tight, coiled up just right, up the leg of my desk, feel grotesque, across the oak table, feel unstable, watch some cable, no help, I'm unable.

As the words tie me to the chair, pulling out my hair, trying to put words there, on the paper page, takes an Age, or an Aeon.

Like the Flux, I'm a peon, trying to see on, to my destiny, with the rest of me, still stuck abreast of me, making no progress, towards Congress, or anything upwards, just cuss words, flow like a blue river from my lips, with the occasional distracting dip in my girl's hips. 

Blue rivers are all that flow, ink so slow, it could be stone, in my bones, for all the good it does. Paper's still blank not because, there's a lack of trying or crying or screaming or dying.

The words are there, just right in my throat, but I choke, can't think of what I wrote, the last time, it's a crime that this is such a climb through the grime, can't make a dime with these rhymes. I just do it, and push through it, because everyone knew it, one day I'd just explode and blow my lyrical load all over the face of the pages tossed around my abode.

My house ain't a home, I'm alone, with no phone ringing, or birds singing, or people kinging me for my works, how it hurts, I'll go first, and pull this trigger, there's no figure in my bank, so I'll thank, all you people for my rigor. 

Mortis, can't take more of this, it's over, can't adapt, I'm entrapped and I'm apt to have my brain mapped where it's sapped so when the pen goes boom and I've snapped I don't come uncapped.

Music and junk...

So, when it comes to music, I listen to a little bit of everything. Mostly pop/alternative, but with a fair amount of country (I am from Texas, after all) mixed in. Some barbershop quartets, some classical, some "indie" music. Not much rap, but I dig a lot of hip-hop.

I fucking love anything with Carlos Santana, because he's the only guitarist I've ever heard that can make a guitar talk. I know it's said about a lot of guitarists, but he's the only one that I can hear it.

What kills me about my taste in music lately is typified by the country band Lady Antebellum.

For a lot of years (heh, I originally typo'd that into "alot of years" and had a mental flash of a Hyperbole and a Half style alot with a long white beard and a clock) I've listened to very little country music. I grew up with Garth Brooks and Clint Black. Arron Tippin and Vince Gill. John Anderson and Tricia Yearwood. Doug Stone and Reba McEntire. Clay Walker and Rick Trevenio. In the mid-nineties, I moved away from country and more to pop/alternative music, because that's what all my friends were listening to, and to be honest, I was a musical sheep back then.

I didn't really listen to much country music for the next decade. I missed out on the heyday of Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tracy Lawrence, the early work of Brad Paisley (for which I'm truly sorry, because he's a-freakin'-mazing),  and Blake Shelton.It wasn't until Keith Urban's 2006 release of "Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing" that I bought another primarily country album of any kind.

From then on, I listened with slightly increased regularity to some country music, but didn't really pick it back up until Sugarland's "Baby Girl". I was driving off in the middle of nowhere for some reason late one night, and the song came on, and I was fascinated. I dove back in, and two of my car radio presets became my local country stations.

Now, to Lady Antebellum.

I kind of took pride in the fact (especially when I was in the Army) that I was from Texas, but my tastes in music didn't run towards country. The guys in country music (for the most part) were indistinguishable to me. I couldn't name them based solely on their voices to save my life. Even now, there are songs that I really like (such as Chris Cagle's "What Kinda Gone" that's playing on my Pandora even as I type this), but I can't tell you who sings it.

Then comes in Lady Antebellum (and to a very slightly lesser extent, the Zac Brown Band). I FUCKING LOVE THIS BAND! Every song they come out with, just hits all the right chords in the music part of my brain, and in the music part of my heart. I've become addicted to them.

Also, Kid Rock is fucking not country music.

That is all.

OHMAHGAWDSKAHRIM!!!!

So, yeah. Thanksgiving was awesome and then I got lost in Skyrim, but we'll come back to that in a minute...

Went to dad's place for breakfast on Thanksgiving. Had some badass fajita breakfast tacos and nachos, as is the Kennedy Thanksgiving Tradition. Was shown my Taurus P24/7 .40 caliber pistol. I can't wait to shoot it, but alas, birthday is two weeks away, and Christmas is even further than that. Not sure when I'm getting it, though Dad and my little brother (Monkey) brought over my new gun safe last Monday night. 

Went to my Sweetheart's dad's family's place for lunch, where I was severely disappointed by a pumpkin pie masquerading as a pecan pie. I sliced myself a large, well, slice, and thought 'That certainly doesn't look like pecan pie filling. Oh well, on to deliciousiosity.'. I took a bite, and my dreams were shattered. Pumpkin pie with pecan topping. I was heartbroken. 

See, I loves me some pecan pie. My grandpa used to make it with pecans from his front yard tree, and it was effing magical. 

Anyway, straight from there we went to Dallas, for Thanksgiving weekend with my Sweetheart's mom's family. Thursday consisted of entirely too much food, and finally, at long last, my beloved pecan pie. 

Friday we went and bought me a new X-Box 360 (after several years without) and Skyrim. I could go on for days about how awesome this game is, but I'll just leave it at this; Well played, Bethesda. Well played indeed.

Saturday I saw Immortals with my Sweetheart's dad, and it was just as awesome the second time around. Sunday, we came home, and I got lost in Skyrim for four days. 

Back to work yesterday, and they've managed to fuck up everything in the new expansion project they're doing that has to do with my department. Lawsuits, indecision, and just plain old stupidity are all over the place here, but that's okay, because I get to go home after a long day at work, and see my Sweetheart. 

And maybe play some Skyrim....

Nerd Things...

So, I'm a gamer, both tabletop (D&D) and electronic. I read comics, and watch sci-fi and fantasty movies. I read Dean Koontz more than anybody else, and I love me some Piers Anthony.

What I'd really love to do, is LARP. I can't express how much fun I think that'd be. Now, I'm not talking going full on retarded with it (though I probably would). I just wanna run around with a sword (a safe sword, obviously) and smash stuff, pretty much. I think it'd be a freakin' blast. I thought about joining the SCA (which, I know, isn't LARPing), but every time I really get into the idea, I'm either strapped for time or cash, and can't make it work. I've thought about joining the local (sort of) N.E.R.O. chapter, but they're crazy expensive, and not even remotely on my side of town.

I bought my best friend a pair of Kendo Shinai (bamboo swords) with the intent that we'd play with them all the time, but they've only managed to sit in his bedroom since. Dang it...

Anyway. I think LARPing would be awesome.

Weird Army Tales...

So, when I was in Basic Combat Training for the Army, one of the guys in my bay (barracks) said something about someone he knew.

"Oh, yeah, when my buddy was in Basic, he and his platoonmates found all sorts of contraband in the ceiling tiles of their bay. Porn, smokes, all kinds of stuff."

Naturally, being the horny, nicotine deprived young men that we were, we immediately began checking the ceiling tiles above our bunks. I was on the top bunk, and so had easiest access to my set of beds' ceiling tiles. I carefully removed one of the white acoustic tiles, and found myself staring at a whole village.

Surrounding the tile I'd taken down on all sides, was a small community of rock people. The smallest was about the size of a quarter, and the largest was maybe the size of a big strawberry, but each and every one had a little face drawn on it. Some angry, some happy, some sad. Some with angry eyes and maniacal smiles. Some of them had little tiny props, like guns made out of twigs, or axes made from twigs and little chips of stone.

With each face, drawn in permanent marker, was a name. Jackson, '98. Kindred, '01. Hoss, '97.

Every man that had slept in my bed had left his own little rock person. There must've been 50-100 of them. At first, I found it a little creepy. There was this tiny village of warriors ready to cook my head for invading their home. After a while, though, I found it comforting. I had my own little personal Army looking over me while I slept.

One of the last things I did before I left the barracks, was place "Kennedy, '02" in his spot above the bed. He's watching over some other soldier now, and hope that he brings the same comfort for that soldier as his little rocky tribe did for me.

Nerf Proton

So here are the pictures I promised earlier tonight. First is obviously the stock, unsanded, unpainted Nerf Proton. 

Second, we have a shot of the grip. It's hard to see in this picture (because of early morning sunlight and such), but the rear grip is dark green with silver weathering, and the side grip is light green. The front of the grip is actually black with silver weathering, but it seems very green here.

  Front ish view. Not much to say.

This is the reverse side of the gun, obviously. Silvered "energy cartridge" with a green base, for fancyness.

Comparison shots with my Nerf Maverick.

Blog categories...

Dear Blogger,

So I just went to the top of my page, and clicked "Next Blog" for like half an hour. Apparently I'm categorized in the "Family Blog" and "Religion Blog" sections, because that's all I found.

Seriously?

Who's in charge of this categorization? He/she/it should be fired for sleeping and/or looking at porn (because that's all I can think of that would result in such a lack of attention that the resulting random placement exists) on the job.

Confusedly Yours,

Joe

Casting the Marvel Universe...

So, I do this thing where I cast actors in roles that I write so that I can keep their "voice" clear in my head. Sometimes the actors change over time, or my choices for the roles change. I just redid my "Marvel" cast, and figured I'd share. This is my cast as it stands at this very moment. 

X-Men
Bishop, Lucas- Bishop (Tyreese Gibson)
Braddock, Elizabeth "Betsy"- Psylocke (Rhona Mitra)
Darkholme, Anna Marie- Rogue (Emmy Rossum)
Drake, Robert "Bobby"- Iceman (Shia LeBeouf)
Grey, Jean- Phoenix (Rachel Weiss)
Guthrie, Samuel Zachary- Cannonball (Ryan Kwanten)
Howlett, James "Logan"- Wolverine (Hugh Jackman)
LeBeau, Remy- Gambit (Matt Bomer)
Lee, Jubilation- Jubilee (Kristen Kreuk)
McCoy, Henry Phillip "Hank"- Beast (CGI/Robin Williams)
Munroe, Ororro- Storm (Rosario Dawson)
Pryde, Katherine "Kitty"- Shadowcat (Mila Kunis)
Rasputin, Piotr Nikolaievitch- Colossus (Owain Yeoman)
Summers, Scott- Cyclops (Jeffrey Donovan)
Summers, Rachel- Marvel Girl (Rachel Nichols)
Wagner, Kurt- Nightcrawler (CGI/Andy Serkis)
Worthington III, Warren- Angel (Ryan Gosling)

Generation X
Frost, Emma- White Queen (Kate Bosworth)

Cassiday, Sean- Banshee (Kevin McKidd)
Espinosa, Angelo- Skin (Diego Luna)
Guthrie, Paige- Husk (Hayden Panettiere)
Starsmore, Jono- Chamber (Orlando Bloom)
St. Croix, Monet- M (Olga Kurylenko)
Thomas, Everett- Synch (Lee Thompson Young)

New Mutants
Ashida, Noriko "Nori"- Surge (Zhang Zhi Yi)
Borkowski, Victor- Anole (Logan Lerman)
Foley, Joshua "Josh"- Elixir (Aaron Ashmore)
Guthrie, Joshua "Jay"- Icarus (Emile Hirsch)
Keller, Julian- Hellion (Joseph Gordon Levitt)
Kincaid, Cessily- Mercury (Emmy Rossum)
Qadir, Sooraya- Dust (Summer Bishil)
Kinney, Laura- X-23 (Eliza Dushku)
Vaccarro, Santo- Rockslide (CGI/Keith David)

X-Force

Proudstar, James- Warpath ()
Sinclair, Rahne- Wolfsbane (Saoirse Ronan)
Smith, Tabitha- Boom Boom (Elisha Cuthbert)
Summers, Nathaniel Christopher- Cable (Ron Pearlman)
Thurman, Neena- Domino (Selma Blair)

X-Factor
Carosella, Guido- Strong Guy (CGI/Kevin Michael Richardson)
Dane, Lorna- Polaris (Chyler Leigh)
Maddrox, Jamie- Multiple Man (Eric Dane)
Maximoff, Pietro- Quicksilver (Crispin Glover)
Summers, Alex- Havok (Paul Walker)

Avengers
Banner, Robert Bruce- The Hulk (Edward Norton/CGI/Lou Ferrigno)
Barton, Clint- Hawkeye (Sean William Scott)
Blake, Donald- Thor (Liam Hemsworth)
Drew, Jessica- Spider Woman (Missy Peregrym)
Maximoff, Wanda- Scarlet Witch (Carla Gugino)
Pym, Henry "Hank"- Giant Man (Patrick Dempsey)
Rogers, Steve- Captain America (Chris Evans)

Romanov, Natasha- Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)
Stark, Anthony Edward "Tony"- Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr)
Van Dyne, Janet- Wasp (Katie Holmes)
Walters, Jennifer Susan- She Hulk (Jessica Biel)
Williams, Simon- Wonder Man (Brad Pitt)
Wilson, Sam- Falcon (Djimon Hounsou)

Fantastic Four
Grimm, Benjamin Jacob "Ben"- The Thing (Michael Chiklis)
Richards, Reed- Mr. Fantastic (Matthew gray gubler)
Storm, Johnathan "Johnny"- The Human Torch (Chris Evans)
Storm, Susan "Sue"- The Invisible Woman (Kristen Bell)

Brotherhood of Mutants
Allerdyce, St. John- Pyro (Ethan Embry)
Creed, Victor- Sabretooth (Liev Schriber)
Darkholme, Raven- Mystique (Olivia Wilde)
Dukes, Frederick J.- The Blob (CGI/Ron Lester)
Lensherr, Erik Magnus- Magneto (Sean Bean)
Petrakis, Dominikos Ioannis "Dominic"- Avalance (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
Toynbee, Mortimer- Toad (Doug Jones)

Miscelaneous
Blaire, Allison, Dazzler (Avril Lavigne)
Blaze, John "Johnny"- Ghost Rider (Colin Ferguson)
Cage, Luke- Power Man (Tyrese Gibson)
Castle, Frank- The Punisher (Peter Sarsgaard)
Danvers, Carol- Ms. Marvel (Jenny McCarthy)
Hardy, Felicia- Black Cat (Jolene Blalock)
Murdock, Matthew- Daredevil (Timothy Olyphant)
Rand, Daniel "Danny"- Iron Fist (Christopher Masterson)
Strange, Stephen- Dr. Strange (Adrien Brody)
Von Doom, Victor- Doom (Jonathan Frakes)

Workin' the night shift...

So, I'm doing the thing the title of this post says. It's been forever since I've been on nights, and so it's a little weird. Had to think hard to remember which doors get unlocked in the mornings, and the pattern in which they have to be unlocked. Only had one call so far tonight, but I had to guess at how the new overnight intercom system works. Fairly simply, it turns out. Now, I've got two hours left to go, and I'm feelin' okay.

I slept well Monday night, and then had a three hour nap this afternoon, and haven't had the sleepy monster attack me yet. I figure I'll get home today, have some breakfast (probably leftover lasagna), and watch TV until I get sleepy.

Painted a new Nerf gun tonight, and got some writing done. I'll see about posting pics of the gun later today. I'd do it now, but I'm missing my stupid cord. *shrugs* Hope yall have/had a great night/day.

Gone for a few...

Whoops! Sorry about that. I fell off the intertubes for a few days. Time for a recap?

Friday night I played Skyrim from about 2100 hours to 0545 hours Saturday morning. That game is...I don't even have the words to tell you how awesome that game is. It's like Oblivion, plus Bioshock, plus everything awesome in this world, wrapped up in dragons, and set down lovingly in a snowy world that's as pretty as anything I've ever seen in real life.

Saturday I worked from 0700 to 1900. Same for Sunday. Neither day was particularly busy, but we had weird problems with some of our doors and stuff. *shrugs*

Today, I'm at work, almost done. Two more hours to go, and then I'm off for three days. So freakin' ready it's not even funny. Next Sunday I've got a trip to the local (sorta) RenFest, so that'll be epic, and then I work Monday, and will be off for ten days for Thanksgiving. Dallas, here I come...

And I see that I do actually have people who read my blog from time to time, so I'd like to invite (in case I haven't already) yall to comment or question me in the comments down below. I'll answer what I can, and try to answer what I can't. Or just say "Hi". Blogging without an audience is okay, but I kinda feel like I'm talking to a room full of cameras.......

Stress and Stress Relief...

No, you dirty internet perverts, not that kind of stress relief.

So, I watched Grey's Anatomy last week (yes, I watch Grey's. I'm addicted.). Most nights, I watch, and I'm interested, but not overly so. Last week's episode tore me a new heart hole, though.

I cry. I'm a cry-y kinda guy, sometimes. Grey's gets me the most of anything I watch, but sometimes other shows too. Mostly Grey's, though. Sometimes I watch and get a little misty eyed, and sometimes I watch and cry my eyes out.

**********SPOILERS AHEAD**********

When Dr. Bailey was talking about kids, and how infuriating they can be, and how George was always her favorite, I cried. I hadn't cried in a while, and so it was an okay cry. Not great, but not terrible. Just okay.

Then, at the end of last week's (11-3-11) when Henry (Teddy's husband, played by Scott Foley) turned around from the sink, his hand over his mouth, the look of fear in his eyes absolutely destroyed me. I started sobbing uncontrollably (not the manliest thing to do in front of your girlfriend).

I don't think I've ever seen fear portrayed so intensely before. I hadn't really had any sort of emotional connection with the character before, but in that moment, I was terrified. He was so scared that I was in fear for my own life.

Now, because of work and school stuff, I didn't get to watch last night's episode (11-10-11), but I'm going to go home and watch it after I get off work today. Thankfully, my girl won't be home, and I can just go ahead and cry my little eyes out by my lonesome.

Sometimes, ya just need to cry and let it all out. I think today might be that day. When I cried over last week's episode, it was kinda restrained (even the sobbing), because my girl was there. She tried to make it all better, and she did, but I kinda felt cheated out of a good long cry, just a little bit.

And so, with plans for bro time with Skyrim and Star Wars: The Old Republic all night tonight, I have a limited window in which to do my crying. I need this release. I need to get my tears out and into the world, because it's been a long time since I just cried myself out.

I hope Grey's does the trick and I don't have to go scouring the internet for tales of sad dogs while listening to Sarah McLachlan's "In The Arms Of The Angels".

Because if that doesn't make you cry, nothing will.

So Freakin' Busy!

So, yeah. I've been at work for two hours now, and I've made six trips between the hospitals. On an average day, I might make two. Jeez. This place is crazy today.

Also, if your "Air Ambulance" (Life Flight Helicopter) forgets a piece of equipment (a pump the size of a VHS tape), and your home base is less than two miles from the hospital, would you fly to the hospital to retrieve it? Or maybe send one of the ground crew to get it in a vehicle? Yeah. They totally flew in to get this pump. Crazies.

Vidja games...

So, I consider myself a casual gamer. I played on the original Playstation (because that's the first game console I was allowed to have). Metal Gear Solid, Coolboarders 2, Rival Schools, the original Spiderman games and such. From there I moved on to the X-Box (not a big Halo fan), and then the X-Box 360 (not crazy about Gears). I didn't play a lot of traditional RPGs (Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Zelda games), but I did play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Oh...My...God, did I play that game. Played it when it first came out, and then traded it in. Bought it again a few months later, and traded it in again after probably 6 months with it. Bought it a third time, and then sold it when I moved out (needed the cash). Got another 360, and I bought the game before I got the Red Ring Of Death. Kept the game, and borrowed a friend's 360 for several months.

Then, the best news ever (in gaming) came out. Bethesda Softworks is making another Elder Scrolls game.

It's coming out on 11-11-11.

Now, I want you do me a favor. Just indulge me for a moment.

Close your eyes, and imagine yourself in a dark cave. Shadows flicker just outside the light of your campfire, and dark things skitter across the stony floor. The wind howls into the cave from outside, bringing a chill to your bones as the snowy air courses around you, and on the breeze, you hear a word whispered, so soft you can barely hear it.

"Sssssskyrim...."

Does that not fill you with the most AWESOME kind of dread? No? Well then you have no soul and are dead inside.

I'm so freakin' excited for this game. I've intentionally stayed away from gameplay vids, spoilers, and everything other than "pretty pretty pictures" (screenshots) from the game, so that I can get the full on experience next Friday night. My best friend and I are going to take over his living room, using both big screen TV's in his house, and just Skyrim it up all night. I'm gonna get off work Friday, go home and try to sleep, and then hit his house after he's off work, so that we can Skyrim ourselves into Oblivion (see what I did there?) until the wee hours of the morning when we have to go to work.

Effin' lame.

I'm gonna try to spend as much time at his place as I can, so that I can game it up until my nerd boner explodes in a sticky mess of gaming ecstasy.

At least, that's the plan.

EDIT: So I went to his place and played some DC Universe Online last night. Fuckin' Epic. Best free game ever.

Security....

I HATE SECURITY!!!!!

Okay, that's not entirely true. I love my job. I really enjoy working in the Security field. Especially Hospital Security. It's fun and challenging and sometimes exciting.

What I hate, is how we're dealt with.

Administration is, for all intents and purposes, fucking retarded.

Let me elaborate.

Part of working Security is making your presence (or the presence of the Security Department) felt by not only the staff, but also by the public and, in the case of Hospital Security, patients. The best way to do this is to monitor high traffic areas (hang out at the Main Entrance to a building, for instance). This is something that any decent Security minded person will tell you. Your mere presence acts as a deterrent for a lot of problems.

Also, you can give directions, help people in and out of cars, answer questions...general customer service kinds of stuff.

Now, the other day, I was approached by the hospital's Chief Operating Officer (C.O.O.) while hanging out near the valet stand (right outside the Main Entrance). We'd just started construction (or rather, pre-construction destruction of the hospital's main driveway), and I was explaining to the Valets how things were going to change, based on the proposed plans for parking and construction, and Security issues and such, since none of them are privy to any of that information, but it affects them greatly.

Normally, at that time of day, there would be two Valets at the Valet stand, but on this particular day, one of the Valets from across the street (at the Heart Tower of our Medical Center) had come over, and was talking to her Main Hospital counterparts. The C.O.O. came outside and looked at the freshly started construction, and then walked up to me, and we had the following conversation.

Him: "What's going on? Is there a problem up here?"

Me: "No. I just came up to check on the construction, and hang out up here at the Main Entrance. Ya know, make my presence known, that kinda thing."

Him: "Well, they've got three men (one of whom was not a man) up here. I don't think they need you hanging out here."

Me: "Okay. Fair enough."

So, I took off, and did another patrol of the hospital's floors (which I'd done less than 15 minutes prior), and returned to the Security Office. Now, I've been hanging out with the Valets like that for months (right outside the glass wall of his office, and there hasn't been any problems. I've answered questions, given directions, looked up directions, escorted people where they need to go, helped out with Valet duties when they get busy, all while handling my normal Security Officer duties. I still answer the Security Mobile, which is where all the calls to the Security Department go to, and my Security duties always (and have always) take precedence.

Why the hell should I hide in my office (because I've already been told I spend too much time in the lobbies, monitoring traffic, too much time in the parking lots, monitoring traffic, too much time in the ER, monitoring the craziness that goes on there) when Security should be SEEN?!

Now, this C.O.O. and I have had run ins in the past. Not in person, mind you, but run ins nonetheless. I have tattoos up and down both of my arms. My left arm has three visible (in my uniform) tattoos, one of a pair of stone dragons, one of some stone tribal, and one of a tree. My right arm has six visible tattoos. The Superman S-Shield, the Bat-Symbol, Captain America's Shield, Thor's Hammer, a Punisher Skull band around my wrist, and a Sh'iar Death Mark (it's a comic book thing).

I worked night shift for eight months when I first hired on, and nobody ever had any problems with my tattoos. Not doctors, not nurses, not patients, not visitors, not coworkers. Nobody. Then I switched to day shift.

The C.E.O. doesn't mind my tattoos. My boss, and my boss' boss doesn't have a problem with them. There are people with larger tattoos than mine, with more tattoos than I have, and with clearly NSFW tattoos, and they get to leave them uncovered.

The way the hospital's dress code policy is written is very vague. "Tattoos that may be offensive, or cover too much area should be covered. The final decision is left up to the employee's manager." Now, what constitutes too much area is left up to my direct supervisor. Simple enough, but when his boss' boss' boss' boss says "You need to write him (me) up for having exposed tattoos." there's not much my boss can do. I get that.

What gets me is the fact that he has (on multiple occasions) stared me in the face, shook my hand, and spoken to me in a pleasant manner, and then waited a week before ordering my immediate manager to write me up for having exposed tattoos that "make him look like a thug".

Now, I get the Punisher Skull being offensive, especially in a hospital. It's a skull, which isn't something you wanna see in a place where people come to get healthy I get that. I'd even understand the Sh'iar Death Mark, if EVERYONE in the world was a super comic book nerd. This is the tattoo, and it's from a relatively normal issue (nothing fancy about it) of Uncanny X-Men (issue 480 something, I think), but not many people know what it means. (See below)

So yeah. That's the tattoo, and he doesn't even have a problem with that one. It's the Superman and Batman symbols that apparently trip his retard trigger. Really? Seriously? Superman and Batman make me look like a thug, but skulls and "death marks" don't? What the fuck, man?

Ugh. I guess it just boils down to the fact that he can't stand me for some reason.

Fucker...

I'm so glad I'll be out of there in a year.

On a lighter note, I passed the entry exam for the local college's Police Academy. With any luck, in December of 2012, I'll have my TCLEOSE certification and I can go to work out here in this city and not be under his retarded ass thumb.

Painting stuff....

KABOOM!!!

Okay, so yeah, I'm a giant nerd, who paints Nerf guns. This initially started as a project over a year ago, where I just spraypainted the gun black, and then took silver model paint and made it look all fucked up.

Yesterday I started over with acrylic paint. Base layer of black, with silver accents at first, but then I decided to go a bit further, and give it some color.

Obviously these pictures aren't the best, but they're what I've got, so...

Several coats of black on silver on black on silver and I got the slide looking like I wanted. That button just in front and above the trigger took a ton of work to get the silver/green/black mixture the way I wanted it.

This is the opposite side of the gun, obviously. Those green lines were rather simple to do, since I just painted a sloppy green line, and then hit the edges with black. 

The revolving barrel portion was tough. I did a solid black coat, then hit it up with silver. Obviously there were mistakes, like the long silver streaks. 

 The front portion of the gun is silver with black streaks. I figured I'd go for a silvered metal look, with a grimy coat of black here and there. The opposite from the back end of blackened (or blued) steel, worn down with use.

 Here I silvered the, uh, whatever you call the projection above the grip. I also silvered the edges of the grip, and all the screws (even the fake ones).

 So, yeah. That's what I did over the last two days. If you wanna see how it's supposed to be done, check out http://johnsonarms.wordpress.com for the real deal.

Holidays...

So last night was Halloween. Went and handed out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters at the in-laws' place. Had a decent time, even though nobody felt like enforcing my "If your costume can be labeled 'Slutty (your costume here)', then you get no candy." rule. Dang...

Next comes Thanksgiving. We'll do either breakfast on Thanksgiving Day, or a meal some time the day before with my dad. Then comes Sweetheart's Dad's family for lunch on Thanksgiving Day. Then, after that, we'll head to Dallas for the weekend. Dinner up there Thursday, then chillin' the whole weekend, probably watching football outside by the OUTDOOR FIREPLACE! It's so nice up there.

I'm a little tempted to kidnap their house and just bring it back to Houston with me.

Oh, how I love the rain...

I was floating around the internet last night, with no particular destination in mind. Clicking random links, getting lost in Wikipedia and TV Tropes. I'd worked a 12 hour shift and then did laundry, so I felt nice and productive.  All in all, it was a rather relaxing evening.

Then, I stumbled across RainyMood.com, which totally changed my world. It's a simple site, really, with just a loop of the sound of a thunderstorm playing in the background, but it settled my brainwaves into some deep Jedi/Zen trance, and I don't remember much of anything after it started playing.

I remember wanting to write a specific scene, about characters under a large skylight or in a greenhouse or something, while the thunderstorm quietly raged outside, but that's it.

Nothing else until I went to bed.

I love the rain so freakin' much.

Late nights with the Goddamned Batman...

So I started playing Arkham City last night.

How stupid-fun is it to be Batman?

The day started off like any Friday. I went to work, did stuff, and went home. Plan was for my Sweetheart to leave for her overnight Halloween party around 1600, and I'd do laundry until my partner in crime (C.) was off work. Got home, found out that plans had changed and the girls weren't leaving until about 1900. Still fine, no big deal. I could do the laundry I needed in that time (laundry soap was in Sweetheart's car). Sweetheart and  C.'s Sweetheart didn't get to our place to get ready until just before 1900.

Dunno what it is about girls, but when they get together, it seems that their "getting ready" time frame quadruples. Sweetheart didn't wind up leaving until close to 2130. Granted, they got super dolled up for Halloween, but still.

So we got in C.'s car to go grab him a shower and change of clothes, along with Arkham City to bring back to my place. As we tried to parallel un-park, his engine made this little rattling sound. We popped the hood and found that one of his belts (not the timing belt) was just a tiny bit loose, and made a flapping sound. Didn't appear to be anything catastrophic, and so we said "Ah, fuck it.". Got back in the car, and then it started making this horrible screeching clunking sound. We checked again, and the crankshaft pulley was at a 40 degree angle to the engine, and the timing belt was all sorts of mangled into the second belt.

So, we wound up taking my car....

Went to dinner at Hooters, and except for the whole "The Final Game Of The World Series" thing, it was good. My drink glass stayed full (mostly), which is my indicator of how good the service is. The food was good, and I only felt like punching two people for being annoying drunks, so I call that a win.

Went back to C.'s house and wound up just chilling there. Played Arkham City, which is the best game in the world (until Skyrim comes out). I beat the crap outta bad guys, and even it all it's single button mashing glory, it was still epic.

I looked at the clock once and it was midnight. Two minutes later, it was 0230. So I decided that after this current wave of bad guys, once I reach a checkpoint, I'll stop and head home.

Yeah.

I didn't leave his place until 0250. Got home about 0315, took a shower, got ready for bed, and by 0400 I was asleep.

And then my alarm went off.

At 0630.

God...

Fucking.....

Dammit.......

Why? Dear God, why?

Well, apparently I don't have the motivation to post blog entries on my days off. Too much time to sit and mess around with vid'ya games and such. God help us all if I ever get motivated to do something constructive.

So, yeah. Why are people stupid?

I'm not asking to be a dick, I'm just honestly curious. Why are people stupid? And I'm not talking about the normal "low intelligence" people, or the "blonde moment" people, or even those some might label as "airheads". I'm asking about the people who, when you explain that there are only two options, insist on not only refusing to pick one of the two, but also asking stupid questions over and over and over.

"Either you can sign out against medical advice, or you can return to the unit to which you are assigned. Those are your two options."

"But, can't I go to this other facillity?"

"Not unless you sign out of this one, which is totally within your rights, and only requires one signature from you."

"But why not?"

"Because we're responsible for you as long as you're 'admitted' to this hospital. If you leave property without letting us remove your IV, we're still responsible if it malfunctions and kills you. You need to either let us remove your IV, and then you can leave, or you need to return to your room."

"But can't I just go over there and see what they have to offer?"

"No."

"But why?"

How do some people not understand very basic concepts, when explained very basically? I just don't understand how people can be this stupid. The only explanation I can come up with is "PEOPLE ARE FUCKING STUPID!".

Cheese...

Not much to say today. I'm at work, on a Monday, which is technically my Friday. My Sweetheart's sick and going to the doctor. Having chili dogs for lunch with self shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top.

Not that the cheese will shred itself. I'll be shredding the cheese myself, from a large block of sharp cheddar. Which is delicious. I forgot how good really sharp cheddar is until last night. Made chili dogs for the Sweetheart, and had a little nibble of some of the shredded cheese.

I went all "OM NOM NOM NOM I MUST CUT MYSELF A HUGE BLOCK OF CHEESE TO CONSUME LEST I DIE!!!!".

But, of course, as a human being reading this blog, you know that cheese is awesome. Unless you're an alien reading this via some advanced translation technology, many galaxies away, or even in the future. Let me give you the key to our civilization, Oh Great And Mighty Alien Overlords.

Cheese is awesome.

Good cheese is awesomer.

Really good cheese will blow your secondary brain right out of your chest, possibly taking your ancillary splanch (see http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1695.html).

Use with caution.

Halloween came early...

So I went to a Halloween party after work last night. I put on one of my Batman T-shirts and went as a "Son of the Bat" (it's a comic thing). My girl went as a "pin up girl", which basically means she got all dolled up in super trampy makeup and had her hair curled. Her words, not mine.

The party kinda sucked, but that's because I didn't know anybody. We were only there for a few minutes, and then took the party back to our place. My best friend C and his girlfriend J (who just happened to have her 21st birthday yesterday) came over, along with my bro-in-law and his girl.

It was awesome.

J got hammersmashed (that's hammered and smashed, for double your drunken pleasure). Every body had a little bit to drink (except for me and C, since we both had to be at our jobs at 0700 this morning, and my girl, who did her drinking early).

Bro-in-law gets dizzy and talkative when he's drunk.Not crazy dizzy, just "cant walk a straight line" dizzy. He's always talkative, though, so I'm not sure if that was just him or the alcohol.

His girl (also C), who's usually super shy and softspoken was all loud and outgoing, but also still saying things that were super adorable.

Actually, everybody got super adorable. I just wish I could have been adorable too. These plans get made a week in advance which, for normal people who work a weekday job, wouldn't be a problem, but in order to get time off, I've gotta put it in several weeks (if not months) in advance to get it covered. I work Friday through Monday, and so every body else's weekend is awesome, and I get to spend twelve hours at work on Saturday and Sunday...dang it.

Probably doesn't help that it takes a lot to get me drunk, and for the most part I don't like the taste of alcohol.

My girl, obviously, was the most adorable out of the bunch, but then, my opinion might be a little biased by the fact that I'm head over heels....*shrugs*

Bro-in-law was worried that his mom would find out that he got drunk and made us pinky swear that we wouldn't tell her how drunk he got (not that drunk, but he's and my girl are both lightweights, so...). After I pinky swore he said "I love you, man. I approve of you dating and impregnating my sister.".

That might be the most adorable thing I've ever heard.

Locked doors and what they mean...

So, I work in security. Specifically, I'm in Hospital Security, which is much like any other type of security, plus we get to deal with psych patients.

Every "Code" that's called, Security has to respond to. Each code corresponds with a color, and we have codes for just about everything. Fire, Security Needed (usually for a physically violent or aggressive patient), Bomb Threats, Bio Terrorism Attacks, Disasters (hurricanes [which will never be called as a disaster, since they're entirely too common down here], mass casualty incidents, tornadoes [which we don't get], earthquakes [which we don't get], decontamination situations) Chemical Spills, Active Shooters, Infant Abductions, and Cardio Pulmonary Arrest.

Now, I get the first eight, and why Security should be there, but the last one throws me. Cardio Pulmonary Arrest. I am (or was, until I let my certification expire) an EMT-Intermediate here in the state of Texas, but as far as my job at the hospital goes, I'm not allowed to do anything that could be termed "patient care", for obvious liability reasons.

The reason they give us for needing to show up to a Code Blue (which is Cardio Pulmonary Arrest), is that we need to be there for "crowd control". Now, when a Code Blue is called, nurses, doctors, patient care techs, unit secretaries, EKG techs, and respiratory techs from all over the hospital show up. There's no such thing as crowd control. The bed that the patient is in becomes the center of a hive of frenetic activity. People running around and doing stuff (which I won't detail) and shouting things and freaking out (in a controlled way, of course). They're there to make sure that the patient doesn't die, which is a good thing. A great thing, really.

When Security shows up to a Code Blue, 999 times out of 1000 we show up and stand around for a few minutes (out of the way, because nurses WILL shove you) and then take off. Every once in a few years we'll get a family member who's freaking out and needs to be controlled, but for the most part, we're just there for looks.

Now, on to the locked door thing mentioned in the title.

I showed up to a Code Blue yesterday, in a secure unit that has doors that automatically open when you scan your badge. The motors to the door opening mechanisms (and the locks) are electric, and they don't like being pulled on. Actually, they hate it. Let's go over the steps of what happens when someone pulls on the door.

1. Door is pulled from the outside. Door goes clunk, locked.
2. Door freaks out. It won't open unless you use your scan badge, or the emergency push bar inside.
3. Someone badges in properly, or pushes the "Door Open" button inside.
4. The door unlocks and opens just a little bit, and then hangs there for five seconds.
5. Both doors slowly open as the motors and sensors reset themselves, and then slowly close.

If this process is interrupted, it starts over. So when the door pops open and hangs for five seconds and someone yanks the door open, the system freaks out and starts over.

I was inside the unit yesterday for a Code Blue, and someone pulled the door, despite the hot pink sign just above the handle that says "DO NOT PULL ON THIS DOOR. USE THE BADGE READER.". The door clunked, like it's supposed to, and didn't open.

This is a good thing.

So I pressed the "Door Open" button from the inside, and the door popped open just a little bit, just like it's supposed to. A tech from the EKG department yanked the door open, and then stood there with her foot in front of the door so that it wouldn't close. She'd let it go, and then yank it open again at the last second to let someone else into the unit.

This makes my door (that Security is responsible for keeping locked and operational) sad. If someone does this enough, the electric motors that control the door openers will burn out, and then the doors won't open automatically at all. They'll have to order the parts, and the door will be on "manual operation" for at least a few days, if not weeks (which the nurses and doctors don't seem to understand). I get calls daily, sometimes hourly, asking why the doors aren't working, why we don't have the parts (we don't handle the physical maintenance of the doors, as it's done by a contract company), and why we don't just go buy the parts and fix it ourselves.

Needless to say, I was not happy.

So I told this tech to stop pulling on the door, to just let it close, that she was going to burn out the electric motors. She snapped at me, "I just held it because the patient's doctor is coming. You don't have to be all bitchy about it.".

Now...I understand that the patient's doctor was coming. I get that. The only problem with that, is that the EKG tech doesn't know every patient's doctor, and even if she did, I'd seen three doctors get turned away, because there was such an excess already.

What bothers me is that I explained what I needed her to do (or not do, in this case), and why. I didn't say "Take your god damned hands of my mother fucking door.", no. I just explained what I needed, and why I needed it.

If I said something like "You don't have to be all bitchy about it." to any person in this hospital with the possible exceptions of my fellow Security Officers, our Engineers, or some of the Emergency Room doctors and nurses (Hug an ER doc or nurse next time you see them, for they are awesome), I'd be written up and very probably fired.

I'm Security, so it's my job to be the bad guy and tell people no. When a patient wants to smoke in the room and the nurses can't convince them not to, I get the joyful task of taking their smoking items away. When someone wants to leave, but can't because they're on a psych hold, and they start getting violent, I get the job of helping to tie them to the bed. I step in and take the hits, I get complaints heaped upon my head because I'm the "bad guy", and I honestly don't mind these things. I kinda enjoy it, honestly. If I'm not getting complained on by patients and visitors, I'm probably not doing my job right.

What bothers me is that when I tell a staff member, who should know better than to pull on a door that SAYS IN LARGE BLACK LETTERS ON HOT PINK PAPER "DO NOT PULL ON THIS DOOR", not to pull on the door, because I'm trying to save her from having problems later on, I'm still the bad guy.

What...

The...

Fuck...?

Also, we've got an entrance to the hospital that's locked on the weekends. The automatic opener on the sliding glass doors shuts down from the outside, unless you have a badge. On both of the doors, in fairly large print, are the hours for these doors. Under "Saturday and Sunday", there's a line that reads "Badge Access Only". These words are right at eye level, and there are signs posted at both entries of the parking lot to that effect, and yet people insist on walking up to the doors, staring at them like idiots, waving their hands at the sensor, and then pulling the doors open.

Then I get calls that the door is broken, as it won't open from the outside. When I explain that those particular doors aren't supposed to open from the outside, I get yelled at, because "That's a stupid rule." and "Who came up with that?" and "Well, I parked over there, and so I'm just going to use that entrance.".

And once again, because someone else did something stupid, I'm the bad guy.

I hate people sometimes...

Writing...

So, I write. In my free time, in my not so free time. I'm a writer. I love nothing more (except my sweetheart) than having an idea, and a reason to write. When I get myself a decent writing partner, I can write for days and days and days.

When everybody around me sucks (and I only judge because I'm an elitist douche, and I know that I'm not as good as most of the writers I've had the good fortune to write with), I'm miserable. Or when everybody around me has a life that interrupts their writing, that's even worse.

Why the hell should other people's lives not revolve around me? Just because I work Friday through Monday, and I wind up with three days off during the week, and at least 24 (cumulative) hours in which to write through my work week, doesn't mean anybody else should think that their so-called "life" is more important than writing with me. Oh, no.

Obviously I'm the center of the writing universe. All others are simply fodder for my NEED to write shiny things.

And that is why I'm a sadface when I have nothing to write. Like now. *sadface* :(

So tired....

Ugh. I'm so freakin' the title of this post. 


Spent yesterday morning at work, doing some overtime. Didn't have to work very hard, but I was up at 0630. After that I went home and changed, then we started running errands before a fancy dinner out with friends, followed by hanging at the in-laws' place. Came home, finished my book, and then got to bed at 0030. Woke up several times during the night from being cold or just having to roll over. Then got up again at 0630. 


Today, though, I don't have anything to do after work. Fiancé is taking her little bro and his girlfriend costume shopping because he's gotta wear one for work (When did they become mandatory? Most jobs I've ever had disallowed costumes.) and some "game" he's running at the school's fall festival or something.


Speaking of costumes, Halloween sucks for a fat guy. Just sayin'. It's hard to be anything particularly creative without spending either a ton on a custom costume, or assembling one yourself. Also, it's near to impossible finding a creative costume on two days notice when you're broke. 


So, complainy complain whiny whine. I think I'm gonna just grab a plastic spoon and some fake blood and be a cereal killer. 

Stuff and Junk

So I got up this morning, and realized that I haven't posted in two days. Dammit. I was hoping to have at least a weeks worth of daily posts before I went all "hurr durr" and forgot about this.

Also, I got up this morning and my car wouldn't start. Because of the cold...in Houston...in October. What the hell kind of super crack is Mother Nature smoking? They say "The hotter the summer, the colder the winter", but I say bullshit. Summers have been getting hotter and hotter over the last 20 years that I can remember, and the winters have been comparatively mild.

If our record setting highs this summer are any indication of the winter to come...JEEZUS!!!! I suddenly feel the need to dress up like Sean Bean and hold a sword while saying "Winter is coming..." in an ominous voice. Houston's going to go full on retarded. People freak out if the temperature drops below 50, and we're expecting our first dip into the 40's since April of this year. It's only October 20th.

What....

The...

Fuck...

Too many words....

So I'm sitting here at work, and am waiting on replies to several posts on one of the RPG message boards where I play, and I got to thinking.

I know blogging is sort of like having a journal or diary that everybody (or in my case, nobody) reads, and so it sort of bothers me to blog more than once in a day. Of course, this leads to the conundrum of me forgetting that I even have a blog, and it going unnoticed for months and months and perhaps years and years. Pause...

Okay, so I'm back. I just set myself an alarm to remind myself that I have a blog every day that I work. On my days off, I still hope to remember, but my Sweetheart would probably be mad if I woke her up early every day (because 0900 is early) to remind myself about a blog that I might or might not post on that day.

Also, my hope is to post every day, but I do enjoy sleeping in. When she's curled up next to me and I am trapped between the wall and her toasty warm blanket stealing self...well, I can think of worse places to be.

Also, my phone sits across the room from the bed on the charger (so that when the alarm goes off I HAVE to get outta bed to shut it off), and if I'm toasty warm and seven kinds of comfy in bed...well, fuck that noise. Maybe if I'm only six kinds of comfy, but not seven.

So, yeah. That's all. Blogging once a day is cool. More than once bugs me.

Down with a sickness, and not in a rock music kind of way...

Well, good morning, world. And a fine Fuck You, too.

I'm sick. I've been sick for 8 days now. And not your normal kind of sickness. Oh no. I'm sick like I've never been sick before in my life.

Of course, I don't get sick much, so that's not really saying a whole lot.

It started last Sunday with a tickle in the back of my throat. I knew when it started that it would develop into tonsillitis. I get it twice a year. Once in the spring, and once in the fall. Been that way since my early teenage years. Other than that, I don't get sick. I can be around sick people, sleep next to my sick girlfriend, care for sick children. Hell, I work in a hospital, and I still never get sick.

Thank you, US Army.

When I went into Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning, they stuck me in a room with a bunch of guys from (not just all over the country) all over the world. Germs from places I'd never even heard of attacked me, and I was sick for two days, and then all of a sudden my immune system got it's pussy ass up off the floor and became a FUCKING MONSTER!

Since then, tonsillitis knocks me down twice a year, and that's it. Last time I went to a doctor for it I was sixteen, and after me and my dad telling him that I was allergic to penicillin and had a long family history of the allergy, the mother fucker gave me meds with penicillin in them.

When I swelled up, broke out in hives, and had trouble breathing, I was a little freaked. We went back the next day and he said "Hey, whaddaya know? You're allergic to penicillin!".

Fucking brilliant, doc. Since then, no doctors other than military entry and exit physicals.

So, instead of seeking treatment, I self medicate on my days off with NyQuil (the hardcore green kind. Fuck that nasty "cherry flavored" bullshit) and chloraseptic spray (again, hardcore green. Fuck cherries [heh, the perverted twelve year old in my brain just giggled]). I take NyQuil, lay down in bed, go into a Jedi trance, and twelve to sixteen hours later, I come out of my "healing coma" feeling like a boss. Simple, routine, perfect.

Last Sunday, my throat tickle (which sounds unbelievably inappropriate) was exposed to smoke and dry chemical fire extinguisher material. Needless to say, there was a fire at work. Everybody's fine, and there was little damage done, but my throat was a little raw. Understandably so, of course, but it didn't stop there.

I checked with one of the ER doctors before I left work, and he cleared me of any hazards associated with the chemical. Basically told me to walk it off. Which is cool. I dig my ER docs for being like that. I went home with a little tiny cough and went to bed. As the night wore on, my cough got worse, and I went ahead and called in sick to work for Monday morning.

Woke up Monday, and I couldn't put air through my nose. In or out. Not only was it full of mucous, the interior lining of my nose had swollen up so much that I couldn't use it. I had to expend an entire lungful of highly pressurized air just to clear the snot out so that the sinus-y nose flesh could swell some more.

Needless to say, it was not my most attractive moment.

Tuesday I woke up and my nose was fine, but my cough was back with some chest congestion, and my right ear was all wonky. By wonky I mean it sounded like I had fluid in my ear, but I couldn't hear it moving. It was like my right ear was underwater, without that little air bubble that gets trapped when you're swimming. Totally threw off my balance for the whole day.

Now, at this point, I was sick of being sick, but a little intrigued too. I'd never had a cough, or balance issues, and that nose thing was crazy, right? So I was interested to see what Wednesday brought.

Coughing, it turns out. Coughing that refuses to go away. Not having nasal congestion problems, but if I try to speak too much, I get this tickle (a different kind) in my throat like there's a dandelion poof hitting the back of my throat. It's low in my throat, and I when I cough low enough to rattle my chest, it helps. Otherwise my coughs are high, like just at the back of my tongue, and that part of my throat is raw. 

My fiancee, whom I love to death, and I know she's just trying to look out for me, has insisted several times over the last few days that I go see a doctor. I keep brushing her off (not unkindly, mind you) because I'm not that sick. I feel bad, and it sucks, but I'm just not bad off enough to go see someone who (in my brain) is most certainly going to try and kill me with penicillin.

I don't have a primary care provider, and haven't needed one in well over a decade. I don't get sick, I don't need a doctor. Nice and simple. Sure, I've got health insurance, but just the bare minimum that I can have. I have to have insurance, just so that my paranoid brain can rest a little easier, but I've not used my own insurance for anything other than an eye exam for new glasses. Ever. Since I started working, my insurance has been wasted.

So I keep telling her that I don't need a doctor, and when she insisted that I do, I said "Well, I don't have a primary care provider, and I'm certainly not driving all the way back to Pasadena (where I was when my insurance was set up) to the one that was automatically assigned to me when I got the insurance.".

Then she dropped the ultimatum.

"If you don't get into your insurance and find a doctor and go get checked out tomorrow, you can't go on your man-date of epic sword dueling on Wednesday.".

Woah.

Slow the fuck down.

You're telling me what I can and can't do? Who the fuck do you think you are? Telling me I can't hang out with my friends just because you say so? Please. I'm a man. You don't make my choices for me. Go ahead and try to stop me from doing what I want. See what happens.

Also, now that I've successfully proven my manly status to the interwebz, I love you, and I've already found a doctor out in our area, and I'm going to call as soon as I get home to see when I can get an appointment.

TL;DR- I'm going to the doctor today.

I suppose I should introduce myself...

Hi there. I'm Joe. This is my blog. Now that I've successfully hidden my identity as Captain Obvious I can-

......

Fuck.....

Okay, so now that the hard part is out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks (why is that even a saying? Who gets down to brass tacks? Wouldn't that hurt?).

I'm from Texas, but not "Movie Texas".
     -see http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreaterHouston

I can ride a horse, but I don't own one, and haven't been within fifty yards of one in well over a decade. I have to drive half an hour to see any "pasture".

I've never been considered a "cowboy" by anyone (though my mom liked to dress me like one when I was a kid). I absolutely loathe tight fitting jeans, and I hate long sleeved shirts because they cover up my tattoos. Also because it's almost never ever ever cold enough for them in real life here. We have two seasons here: Summer, and Not Summer (which is late December through mid February, when we still wear shorts).

I don't chew tobacco, though I used to (a terrible habit I picked up in the Army), and my preferred brand when I did wasn't Skoal or Copenhagen.

I don't drive a truck. I've never even owned a truck (though I should, because they're useful). I drive a Saturn Ion currently, and am thinking that my next vehicle will probably be a Kia SUV of some kind.

I don't speak with a thick southern accent. Think Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory's Dr. Sheldon Cooper) only less nasally.

I don't grill much, but I do love to cook. I do most of the cooking in my house, since I'm super territorial about my kitchen.

I don't go to a church of any kind. I was raised Southern Baptist, and that pretty much ruined any kind of organized religion for me forever. I do believe in some sort of supreme being, but I can't put a name to it. God, Mother Nature, the Force (yes, like Star Wars), the Flying Spaghetti Monster...I don't know, but there's someone looking out for me.

I went into the Army to travel and see the world, while getting free training. Good deal, I think. I'm patriotic, but it's a result of my time in the Army, not a result of my birthplace. I support our troops wholeheartedly and I always will, even if I don't agree with the orders they're given.

I think that everybody has the right to be happy, regardless of their sexual preference. People who disagree are close-minded cockmongers. And not in a good way.

So, yeah.

Hi.