My rainy day craft box

I hadn't really realized how long it had been since I updated. This is mostly just to give this thing some use again so it's not a long entry of any real substance. I have a lot I've wanted to write about, I just keep having a mental block against sitting down and doing so.

Long story short, we need a roommate to help with our rent. We thought we had someone. I spoke to her several times and things seemed to really click between us. So this Sunday I spent all day slaving to get the house looking presentable and to finish painting the spare room we're trying to rent. She winds up a no-call, no-show. The next day I finally get contact from her saying her phone had been acting up and she couldn't reach me. Annoying but whatever. We decide to give her another chance and ask if she wants to reschedule. But after two more days she hasn't responded to any other communication I've sent.

I have a real pet-peeve about being stood up and about people who stop communicating. If her phone is on the fritz that's fine, I understand that. But it seems to me that in that situation I'd still be trying to find a way to communicate with the people I was potentially going to be living with. So whatever, I guess she's out and the room is up for grabs again. It just pisses me off because she came recommended by a good friend I felt like she'd be someone we'd get along with really well.

Tuesday was my birthday. I got to celebrate by eating homemade chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and birthday cake courtesy of M., plus an evening of watching Dr. Who. It was nice. Downloaded some music from Amazon as a present to myself. This Friday we will cap off the celebration by getting to see the band Skid Row in concert. They are a band I missed out on seeing during their late 80's heyday and I've always been disappointed by it. So this will concert will hopefully make up for a lot of lost time. It will suck getting off work and then having to go straight to a concert but I'm sure I will appreciate the stress release that comes with it.

So that's the quicky update with me. I'm still here.

Happy birthday flame_song! May your day be filled with majesty and music! \m/ \m/

I can't help but think about this time last year. I was miserable every day of my life in my old job. For all the stress in my life right now, it was nothing compared to what I was going through then. When my birthday came around I had two days off and was determined to spend them doing whatever I wanted and having as much fun as I could. As I recall, it was a really wonderful two days. Then I went back to work and got the present I really wanted for my birthday: I was released from my job and able to go back to the job where I had been happy. It's been a year since then and I still feel tremendously blessed for the way things worked out. It doesn't feel like it's been as long as it has, maybe because that year I spent at my old job is still so fresh in my mind and I'm still very, very grateful that it's all behind it now. So in a way I guess my birthday is more than just my birthday now. It's the anniversary of my life changing for the better.

Happy Birthday chade66! I hope it is filled with good things!

Subject line taken from a parody campaign ad I just saw. Pretty funny. Sadly I fear that Clinton's victories in Texas and Ohio will secure the candidacy for her. Obama's victories are numerous, but they're nearly all in states that swing Red in the election and right or wrong, that's what the superdelegates are going to look at.

Gary Gygax's death is still on my mind. I'm not sad, but rather nostalgic. I started collecting D&D books way back when his name was still on the covers and I was way too young to understand them. They were already shaping my imagination though, right alongside regular afternoon cable airings of The Beastmaster and Conan the Destroyer.* When I first played an actual game of D&D in high school a whole new world opened up. Mind you, this was back when the only thing that could drive you into a Satanic early grave faster than D&D were Judas Priest and Ozzy Osbourne. My gaming group, we'd play D&D WHILE listening to Ozzy Osbourne. Those were wild times. We lived on the edge. By all rights none of us should have lived to see 21.

Anyway, I mourn the passing of a great man and power metal shall blare from my car's speakers in his honor.

pinkfaeriestars came over last night with her boyfriend and we celebrated Mel's birthday with cake, ice cream, and Family Guy. I tried to explain this to megiloth on the phone, but he somehow took all that, completely misinterpreted it, and was convinced I had said something about colitis. Wtf? And then he went off screaming about Shomer fucking Shabbaz and life was good.

Man I wish I was in a D&D game right now. It just doesn't feel right to celebrate the Patriarch's death any other way than the way he lived.

*Markedly different in tone from Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer is generally regarded as the inferior of the two films and mockingly dismissed as a "kids' movie." But you know what? I was a kid so fuck you!

A very happy birthday to darkpriestss and many, many more. HuzzaH!

It's my birthday and the phone keeps ringing. None of the calls have been from the job I want. Fuck! But it's still a nice birthday. Just wish I had that job.

The property management company who has given us so much trouble these last few months and who has tried to take our jobs from us did not get their contract renewed. We haven't gotten ours renewed yet, but they definately will not be managing the new building. My boss says there's a 70% chance that we will get our contract renewed. Anyway, the odds are in our favor. It's a good day. I'll still be job hunting because I flat-out need more money, but the odds look better that this job will still be here if nothing works out.

In other news, a very happy birthday to Mr. kakita_shisumo!

Today marked an important milestone in Mel and I's relationship: we did laundry together for the very first time. It was actually a lot of fun, and I never consider laundry to be fun. Although I don't think she was ready for what a typical "guy" I am when it comes to my laundry :) I never use dryer sheets or iron my clothes if I don't have to. My stuff can be rumply as long as it's clean. While we were waiting for it to dry we went up the street to Foo-Kee and had Chinese food. I love that place and the food was a cut above usual today. We even had free entertainment with our meal as the baby's mama seated behind us got into a shouting match with her baby's daddy on her cell phone, then spent the next ten minutes telling her girlfriend how she was getting her lawyer on his ass. This girl couldn't have been more than nineteen and she had at least two kids - the one she had with her and the one she said was in school. I don't get people sometimes. I really don't.

When I finally got home I slept propped up and it really helped my back which has been in pain for several days. Mel and I had a nice long talk about the state our bodies are in and what we need to do about it. Hopefully once the turbulence of this first week passes and we get into a waking/sleeping routine together we'll be able to start going for walks in the evening like we've planned. We're also planning to hit the Plaza this Saturday for walking while we shope for Lesley's birthday present. (SSHH! Don't tell Lesley!) It looks like the slave girl we ordered for her from Thailand in order to assist in White! Hot! Fourths of July will not get here in time, so we have to get a last-minute present.* Anyway, I've got a lot of years of bodily negligence to make up for, so here' hoping it's not too late to reverse at least some of the damage.

This morning I also spoke to the insurance man who's handling my medical claims from the accident. I finally got my hospital bills, so we set up a time to meet on Monday morning. I don't want to jinx anything, but it sounds like I may be getting some cash back on this. That would really help us out right now, so I will hope. If it doesn't happen, I won't be disappointed as it was not expected and in a way sounds too good to be true.

In the morning I'm picking up my arch supports finally. Maybe now the pain in my right foot will go away. That would be something, anyway. I take small comfort in knowing that it's a hereditary problem and not something I did by being neglectful or bad to myself. And on Friday morning I'm looking into gettins us teh cable internet. Are any of you KC folks using or have used Road Runner internet through Time Warner Cable? Any good/bad experiences I need to know about?

*DISCLAIMER: There is no slave girl from Thailand. What? Did you really think there was? You are a sick fuck. Stay away from me.