Ladies…

This one’s for the ladies out there.

If you find yourself not attracted to a potential suitor, could you do us (and by that, I mean me) a favor and tell him (me) .  Letting it drag out without knowing is more hurtful than telling him from the get-go.  Dropping comments such as “I’ll call you.” and then never calling or “We’ll talk soon.” gives false hope.  It only makes the eventual realization hurt that much more.

This has been a message from the “We just don’t get it” Society.  Thank you for your time.

P.S.  Also – the opposite is true as well.  If you like us – tell us.  Only good can come from it.

Billy Mays Dies

Billy Mays, 50, of OxyClean, Orange Glow, and Mighty Putty fame was found this morning dead by his family.

There were no signs of foul play but an autopsy will be performed on Monday.

He most recently was on an airplane which had both front tires fail on landing.  There were no reports of injuries at the time.

He can currently be seen on Discovery Channel’s PITCHMEN.

A sad day. =(

June 27 Update

Its been a while since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write something out.  I thought today would be a good chance to get some thoughts out of my head.

The death this week of Michael Jackson.  Eh?  I understand the importance he had to the musical world, but what sickens me is all these people coming out of the woodwork trying to gain fame by his death.  He didn’t lead a “normal” life and the pedo allegations just overshadow anything positive he may have done.  I remember watching the “Thriller” video on New Year’s Eve but it didn’t effect me.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that he wanted to be named the “King of Pop” because his hero was Elvis Presley (”the King of Rock n Roll”).  There was something about a deal with MTV proclaiming him the “King of Pop” because of his influence – he approached the music station with the idea.  And marrying Elvis’s daughter?  err…

The plastic surgeries, Neverland Ranch, buying The Beatles catalog, etc.  He was a troubled man.

“Tippy Tom” – I’m a fan of the Opie and Anthony Show on XM 202.  I’ve been listening to them since they were on in afternoons in Cleveland (before they got taken off).  My friend Patrick introduced them to me.  You can go round abouts with them and Howard Stern, and I tried listening to Stern to see what the big deal was all about – but for what I believe in and what I find funny,  it’s Opie and Anthony.  Well, yesterday it was announced that one of their regular guests “Tippy Tom” a homeless man had died in early May.

I heard about this Friday morning on the show and was saddened.  He was a star on the show and never failed to entertain when he was on the air.  Even though I never met him, I will miss him.

http://www.oapedia.com/index.php/Tippy_Tom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opie_and_Anthony

Work – work is good.  We’re tearing down a building.  It’s loud.  I am still amazed that a large building like that is being moved away in many many 40yd containers out the front gates.

Depression – middle of last week I hit the depression pretty deeply.  I tried to get out to run and clear my head, but I was “blue”.  I couldn’t shake that feeling no matter what I did.  A lot of uncertainty abound and that tends to depress me when I can’t figure out the answers.

“There Is No Such Thing As Coincidence…” I am believing this more and more as I get older.  I believe that there is some sort of Master Plan (or outline) that’s been developed.  I make the comparison to a MS Project File, there’s a base outline of what needs to be done, but various subcontractors do things differently and the project changes as more information is found.  When the scope of the project changes, RFIs and RFPs are generated (metaphysically) to change the project.  Man…if I smoked pot, I could probably make some huge dissertation about this.  I’ll end up clarifying this in another post.

But I belive that everyone you meet in life has some effect on you – whether good or bad.  That girl you dated once in high school that never talked to you again afterwards – that hurt at the time, but you got over it.  That guy that pushed you into the lockers and messed up some of your braces and tore up the inside of your mouth.  Well, he was just an asshole.  You’ll run into those.

Look a little closer as things unfold in life.  There are more hints to get you “on track” than you realize.  Those coincidences are a lot more prevelant than you think.  Listen to the music, really listen.  It’s out there.

XM44 – 1st Wave.  My new favorite channel on satellite radio.  Plays classic alternative when it was referred to as “College Alternative”.  A lot of 1980’s music – U2, REM, Morrissey, New Order, etc.

Vacation Post #1

I am on vacation for 10 days.  I’m staying local in Toledo due to economic reasons.  But on the bright side – this allows me to finish up all those things around the house that I’ve only partially finished in the last couple of years.

I definitely have some sort of illness.  Whether it’s a cold or allergies, I feel like crap.  I woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat – and it only got worse as the day went on.  Friday and Saturday were painful as my sinuses blew up, and now I sit here being all stuffy and cough-y.  Robitussin is a wonderful drug and I partially feel better, but with the high proof numbers on it – just don’t care.

One of the guys at work mentioned that since I spend most of my week in Cleveland for work and only come home to Toledo on the weekends, this week in Toledo is actually a vacation away from home.  An interesting way of looking at things.

It’s Sunday morning.  I woke up to make western omelets, hot coffee, and the Sunday Newspaper.  Over the last couple of days, I’ve touched up some painting, finished the laundry, and steam cleaned the carpets.  I was pretty disgusted at the amount of dirt that the cleaner pulled up – but considering its the first time I’ve actually steamed the carpets since I’ve moved in (3 years) its acceptable.  The carpet feels softer now and the place smells cleaner.  Also the carpet cleaner pulled up a lot of the stray carpet fibers and left me little “tufts” of love in each room.  I caught up on my DVDs and have on catalog a little over 1800 titles.

I’m going to clean the car and the garage today – and try and finish the bunkbeds.  I’d like to get those cleaned up and off the list finally.  Of course this means that the second BR needs to be finished off.  rrgh.

Time for another cup of coffee.  Have to keep my jittery levels up. =)

Saturday work at the lab.

Good Morning,

Writing from the rocket lab.  I have to work this morning watching the site while the maintenance guys are sharpening the blades on the giant shear.

What made it “fun” was that I drove from Cleveland to Toledo last night to make sure my condo dues were submitted.  I then did the turn around and came back to Cleveland this morning for work.  I leave for Toledo when we are done here.

Its been a nice quiet day on campus so far – its a beautiful day and I get a chance to update the outstanding manifests.  A little filework should make the day go by quickly, right?

I hope to get out of here around 3 so I can get back to Toledo.  I plan on going to my friend’s recital tonight, and if I work out the drive times right – I’ll be there just in time.

6 month review 06/02/09

A Tuesday morning at work.  It’s raining outside and I’m waiting on trucks to be processed so I can get them shipped offsite.  The demolitions projects looks to be going well.  Large chunks of what used to be the building are now in piles of twisted metal and concrete on the ground.  The large shear is tearing them apart making smaller pieces for loading and transport to a scrap metal disposal facility in Ravenna, OH.

I have found myself to have more of a creative streak than normal.  And the different ways I found to expressed these thoughts have been surprising to me.  In the past, I wrote.  Whether it was short stories, scripts, or comic book tales – writing was my primary means of getting the thoughts out of my head.

Recently I have taken up drawing and to a lesser extend painting.  I found an old sketch book from 10 years ago and picked up a pencil.  I let my mind wander as I sketched out various things.  A few of them (more to come) ended up as bases for some paintings I did.  I picked up some thin plywood at the lumber yard, cut it to size, and sanded one side.  Right now this works as a good base to paint on.  The paint covers well, and when finished a few coats of stain and poly and the piece looks good (to me).

I’ve also taken up woodworking.  I don’t know if it’s an extension of my work leaking into my home life, but I’ve started thinking of ways to build things rather than buy.    So far my greatest accomplishments have been a bed (which needs an update), enough DVD shelving to store 1800+ cases, a bar unit, and an entertainment center (in need of a redesign).  I have sketches for some bedroom storage as well as a couch. My next project will be a new addition to the DVD shelving (yeah, its full) which changes from a 36″wx48″h unit to a 36″wx84″h unit which should hold a little over 600 cases.  This should take me a while to fill.  Then the entertainment center rehab.

Right around my birthday, I always find myself very contemplative.  I think about where I have been in the last year and where I want to be in the future.  I don’t think it’s all that weird to plan out events to come up with a plan, but being in the middle of it right now – just seems odd.

• Health and weight loss.  Earlier this year, I decided to embark on a weight loss plan.  Since then, I have lost 43#.  The plan was a no-carb protein and vegetable meal plan introduced to me by my sister a dietitian.  Since the weight loss, I have felt a lot better, my knees don’t hurt as much as they did previously and I sleep a lot more soundly.  I took a couple weeks off of the plan to plateau and to maintain the weight loss.  Next week I’m back on the plan to try and lose more.

• Social Life.  Still an enigma wrapped in a question covered in sausage gravy.  I thought I had something or at least the potential for something really cool going on, but with conflicting schedules and 100 miles of logistics – it doesn’t look like anything is going to come of it.  I’m bummed out about it because there’s a certain feeling of lost time (months) that can’t be made up, as well as a fondness for events which I am sure are due to rose-colored goggles.

• Dunder Mifflin Infinity: DMI Toledo was an online social networking site I signed up for and was a member for two years.  I bailed on the site in the spring of this year because it was no longer fun.  There were weekly tasks for points and a rough organization of offices vs one another.  Towards the end of my tenure there, I got the feeling that there was animosity towards the fans from NBC.  That’s when I left.
• Facebook vs. Myspace.  I just about abandoned my myspace account early this year.  It got a little buggy and…eh.  I’m on board with facebook catching up with old friends and making new ones.  I found the easiest way to stay the line was to only accept “friends” from people I have actually met.  It keeps my numbers low, but they are legitimate numbers.

Work Life.  Working as a contractor at NASA is awesome.  I have learned a lot in the last year and feel more comfortable doing some of the things I am doing.  I have met some amazing people as well as characters who will become the basis for future villains in some short stories.  Do I want to do this?  Short-term, long-term, or am I just in a holding pattern until things in the outside world turn around?

• Home Life.  Still own the condo in Toledo.  I’m not there as much as I would like.  I have every room except for one repainted.  I still have some ceiling work to finish up in the main living room and a bedroom.  The carpeting is an inexpensive “contractor” carpet that was installed prior to me moving in and is dissolving with every visit from the vacuum cleaner.  I would like to replace it all with hardwood flooring, but that’s not in the budget right now.

• DVD Storage.  I have roughly 2000 DVD titles right now that I needed to find storage space for.  I came up with a plan and built shelving units for the movies upstairs in the loft.  I dismantled the “bar” that was upstairs that went unused.  After building and filling the 5 units I have to turn the corner and move to the adjoining wall.
• Bar.  I dismantled the old bar that I built upstairs that was more traditional and replaced it with a piece of furniture that more resembled a bookcase.  The new bar offers better storage and is more utilitarian that its earlier counterpart.

That’s the story I have 6 months into 2009.  I’m turning 37 tomorrow. 7:09 a.m.

New Rich Morris Dr. Who Tale!!

A New Dr. Who Comic by Rich Morris, creator of the ever-popular “The 10 Doctors”.  Please visit often and watch the tale develop.

Rich’s ComixBlog

Weekend Ramblings

I thought I would just get some ramblings off my chest – nothing too important.

It’s a nice weekend – very sunny.  Excellent day.  I was outside grilling for lunch and dinner, spent the last of the propane on burgers.  But man were they good.  I don’t think there is any better meal than a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke.

I was working on a little tiki artwork – finish it up later.  I’ll post it.

Laundry this morning, a nice couple of laps around the neighborhood – it was a good day.

End of Week Report 05/31/09

WORK
This week started the main part of the demolition.  The shears and pickers began tearing the building apart and 50 yd containers of scrap steel left the site.  My job is to track the weights of the containers before and after and determine the weight of the various materials leaving site.  It’s as glamorous as it sounds.

HEALTH
Things are good this week – I’ve been practicing moderation.  Eating light for lunches and no overdoing it with meals.  I’m cutting down on the sugars and carbs, but not eliminating them.  At the end of the week – I’m still in the lower 240# range.  A couple more weeks and I’ll go back on the meal plan.

WEEKEND PROJECTS
I have a 3-day weekend.  So I am going to try and spend as much time outside while the weather is nice.  I need to finish up the bunk-bed project.  And it looks as though I’m going to have to build another DVD Shelving unit (far wall).    That’s a next week project.  Definitely washing the car this weekend – it truly needs it.  Its about time I pick up a new HD Antenna (I’m looking at the DB8 and mounting it in the ceiling pointed east).

Next week is my birthday – and I always look to see what kind of changes I want to make in my life.  I have some thinking to do and will post some stuff later.

Demolition 5/26/09

The main demolition begins – they are getting to the meat of the building and the test cells are getting chewed apart.  The steel at the test cells is 6-inches thick in portions!  Once they get through the main part of the building, the structure to the right will be brought in on the opening to colapse it away from the roadway.