I'm done..at least for a week

I just finished my Accounting final..and what this class has taught me is that if ever in the future I need to do accounting, I'll hire a professional! That being said, the semester is finally over, and to celebrate I am going to San Francisco for a week! The stars aligned and Ankas' work is having their annual conference out there all this coming week. So that means a free hotel room for Sam ;) Her job has thus far allowed me to trek to Boston, Chicago, Denver, and now San Francisco..pretty awesome. Even more awesome is that Stef is flying down from Seattle to hang out as well, so it should be a good ass time. Nothing really planned, so it should be a nice relaxing trip, with hopefully lots of pictures to come. The depressing thing is that summer classes start the 19th, so yeah...this week is needed. I am taking Environmental Law this summer, which may turn out to be pretty intense, being that it is three nights a week 7-10 for four weeks....so it can go both ways, lets hope the teacher knows how to handle a summer class like this.

I have been carless for a month now, and it has not been bad at all. On average the Metro/DASH trip adds about 15 minutes each way to my commute..not bad. It is actually pretty nice to not have to drive, especially since I started downloading podcasts...them shits are awesome! I have all my NPR shows, and a bunch more environmental based news podcasts to get me to and from work. Work is shitty per usual, but maybe that will be ending shortly. I got an e-mail from the GAO a few weeks back that said I was "minimally qualified" and that my application will move on to the second review stage....first time being minimally qualified was a good thing. They said they hoped to be in touch by the end of May...so we shall see. Tht would be awesome, and woudl be walking/biking distance from my house.

I guess that is about all for right now, I think Amsterdam Falafel is in the stars tonight, so I should probably get on that. Hope everyone is well.

Conclusion to Birthday Week...

It is sunday night, I am about five and a half pages into a 15-20 page term paper due next Monday, listening to Pete Seeger...and thought it a good time to write about the rest of my birthday week.

Tuesday (My actual Birthday) At about 10:30am or so, my insurance company called me and let me know that my car was considered a "total loss" aka shit was totaled. Fortunately Honda's hold some value, my car was 8 years old, had 103k miles and they are giving me 1/3 of what I paid for the car new. While this is not enough to buy a car right now, it is definitely not that bad. The amount however has a bit of coincidental value.. on one hand, I could add it to what I have in my savings and I would be able to pay off all my credit card debt, with some change left over. On the other hand..if I were to be offered a job outside of my current company, I would be able to leave and pay back my tuition assistance they provided...if they asked for it back. Sooo I am just going to throw it into my savings account and see where things stand in December. I'll decide what would be best at that time. In the mean time, I have decided to go car-less from now on. One more step towards living in a way that represents my views. First was giving up meat, and now giving up my car. I know all of this has been shitty, but maybe good things will come from it. So the plan is, metro to eisenhower..catch the 35 cent transfer bus..and get to work. For my classes in fairfax, I'll borrow Anka's car once a week. Everything in the city, with exception to some places, I'll do with my bike. Sounds like a plan!

Tuesday night, Anka got a good group of kids together for a great Ethiopian dinner. The service was as shady as is usual, but I think that the conversation made up for the slowness ;) Thanks to all who made their way out for food and good times. A special thanks to Anka for the coordinating and vegan cheesecake.

Wed-Thurs- Work and school.

Friday: Went to Capitol Hill for work. Listened to some folks talk about the process of legislation. After listening I had mixed feelings, big shock, I was torn between looking into becoming a committee staffer on an environmental issue...or just give up on the whole US political system.. Bah. So at about 3:30 our group heads to Capitol City Brewery in Union Station and knock back a few...then we go to the Dubliner, knock back a few, then a smaller groups goes to Rocket Bar in Chinatown, knock back some more....I leave there at about 10:30..get stuck in a ferocious rainstorm on my bike...but eventually make it to the BlackCat to meet up with Greg and Alex to see Pig Destroyer. Bed!

Saturday: Had to go into work 9-1..that was rough. Came home napped, went to the police station to get the police report for my accident...the guys were charged with leaving and accident scene, driving under the influence, and carrying a pistol without a license. But it does look like they have insurance... so I may be getting out of having to pay any deductible, good news. After the PoPo station I peddled over to Dez's Birthday party and had a great time there.

Sunday: woke up and did some school work...Anka got back from Ocean City so when she got back we had some good quality time before she had to go dog-sit...and here I am...still listening to Pete Seeger...thinking about bed.

Overall, I have had better weeks, but maybe this whole accident fiasco is the catalyst for a new lifestyle...who knows? And I mean...I'll be good and in-shape in no time....may have to buy a new rear wheel to replace the one that got bent when the cab hit me last year...but thats not a biggie. Ah well, I'll keep this thing up-to-date on how the transition goes.

Song of the day:
Pete Seeger - Turn Turn Turn

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

Birthday Weekend

This is the story of my birthday weekend thus far, started out great, but hopefully reached its lowest point last night... but I'll get to that in a a few.

Friday:

Typical day at work, I was super busy and left plenty on my desk when I promptly left at 4. That night Anka and I went to see Les Savy Fav. If you do not know these guys, you definitely need to check them out. However, if you want to get the full effect you will need to go see them in person. As Anka noted to me, the band is really just a back-up for the lead singers wild antics. This guy is a good sized dude..bald....with a big burley beard..and was shirtless by song 3. From that point it just got crazy, from him dressing up in skin tight pants with an eagle head to him grabbing people in the front row and pushing their faces into his crotch..to him walking through the audience and dancing on the bar. I am not one for dancing all that much, but they had me indie kid dancing for sure...read that as switching my weight from leg to leg. See pictures below. And yes, his feet are actually on those girls heads.





































Saturday:

Slept in, made some lunch..went to the gym..watched some Basketball. Fucking UNC got trounced, and lost the pool I was in with the kids at FSU. And Ben..if you ever read this, I hope Kansas burns in a fiery plane crash...fuckers. But the exciting news was that Steve was in Baltimore. So around 9:45 or so Anka and I drive up to Charm City to meet Steve for some beers. So we get there and the night progresses, luckily Steve's hotel was literally across the street..and like he said "it took me 30 seconds to get here, but it will take a minute and a half to get back" It turned out to be pretty interesting night, between douche bag stripper shirts, being transported back to a 1900's Inn just by going upstairs...learning that some people wear Liverpool jersey's just because they like Carlsberg... the coyote wrangler and his creepy scarf/poncho thing and not really wanting pizza after all. It was a good time as always, I just hope Steve doesn't have any alcohol in his blood when he goes to see the doctor Monday.




Saturday..late night:

So I'm drunk...Anka graciously drove me to and from Baltimore, knowing my intention was to drink. So we leave Baltimore at about 2am, and get back to DC close to 3. As we are looking for parking on our street, we pass my car..and I noticed some one had hit it while I was gone. You'll see pictures in a second... When I say hit, what I really mean is completely total the back drivers side of my car! So I'm like "Fuck, that really sucks, hit and run". So I am pretty bummed at this point, because my car is totally fucked and I knew I'd have to pay a shit ton for my deductible. So I am on the porch trying to figure out what to do, still buzzed of course, when a man approaches my yard. He tells us that he witnessed the accident, and was almost hit as well, but more importantly the people who hit my car were still at the end of my street! So we call 911 and report the whole ordeal. About 10 minutes pass, and the police show up and the guys are still up there trying to get their car to a place where they could drive away. We were all curious as to why they never left the car. Turns out the car was not stolen as we had thought, and the car traced back to the driver. But more importantly, the police found weed, coke, and a gun in their possession! So their asses got arrested, one of them tried to walk away, but the cops stopped him right across the street from us, handcuffed him and took him back to the scene. The good news I guess is that if the driver is insured, I'm not betting on it, I won't have to pay a deductible most likely, and if he is not insured, I will only have to pay a $200 dollar deductible. But I feel like the damage is extensive enough for them to claim my car "totaled" which will be shitty. I doubt I can find a good car like my honda for a couple grand I'm sure it is worth at this point.





Sunday:

I woke up, a little hung over, a little bummed about my car. But, my parents are heading in for lunch, so hopefully some good thai will make everything better. I just hope things get better from this point on.

A Year...wow

So I was checking out Joey's blog just now, and realized that somehow I have not been able to get on here to write about happenings.. and in an hour and a half it would have been a year exactly since my last post. I thought it was a creepy coincidence...so why not write a post and let everyone that I am still alive, still busy, and still really lazy. Not news for most of you I'm sure. I doubt anyone even checks this blog anymore..but I guess I'll try to update it when trying to waste time between school work. That being said, I'll sum up the last year in one sentence...

I'm 20 some credits smarter, 30 lbs lighter, hates corporate american 100 times more, and am still having a great time in the city with my two favorite girls.

I'll expand on all of this soon..I promise.

I'm alive I'm alive

I'll write about happening soon...i swear. In the meantime, my co-worker Dan wrote me a theme song....the kid is a genius. If you were ever curious as to what I do, read on.

(to the tune of “Ice, Ice, Baby”)

All right, stop! Collaborate and listen!

Sam is back with my brand new invention

Something, grabs ahold of me tightly

Spinnin’ like a disc drive daily and nightly

Will it ever stop? Yo, I don’t know.

Turn off the light, and it’ll glow.

To the extreme I rock the Force like Vadah

Unzippin’ files and spewing streams of data.

Dance! Carress the screen that looms

I’m killing those files like poisonous mushrooms

Deadly! When I’m playin’ ArcEditor

Flinging casualties aside like Schwarzenegger and Predator

Love it or leave it! You better gain weight!

You better buy Girl Scouts, ‘dem kids don’t play!

If there is a problem, yo, I’m the playa,

Sittin’ in my crib as the Guardian of Data!

(chorus with “Guardian!” “Of!” “Data!” instead of “Ice!” “Ice!” “Baby!”)

Now that St. Patty’s day is jumpin’!

With the bass kicked in and green beer is pumpin’

Quick to the drive to the drive no fakin’

Cookin’ CDs like a pound of fake bacon.

Burnin’ ‘em, like a wild west saloon,

Firing like Cheney at Rosalind’s balloons

And her snail! What a gross existence!

I’m on a roll, time to man the resistance!

Rollin’, like Pillsbury dough,

In my cubicled walls so my hair can’t blow

The girlies on standby waiting just to say high

Did ya stop? No, I winzipped by.

Kept on, unzippin’ to the next stop

I bust the files I’m heading to the next block

The block was dead, so I continued to

A1A! Eisenhower Avenue!

The girls were wearing “It’s So Magic” by M. Kay

Don’t you dare betray me. Et tu, brutè?

Jealous, I’m bored out of my mind.

Sam with the bike, Ace of Base with the sign

Ready, for the Delteks on the wall

Delteks acting nimble cuz they full of 8-ball

Fire alarm! Ringed out a loud whammy

Grabbed the popcorn out the ‘wave, all I heard was “Tammy!”

Fallin’! The bean bestows the crown.

Jumped in my car, and flew out of town.

Bumper to bumper, the avenue was packed,

I tried to get away before the data got jacked.

IT is on the scene, you know what I mean?

They took my stickers, cuz runnin’ all the files means

If there is a problem, yo, I’m the playa,

Sittin’ in my crib as the Guardian of Data!

(chorus)

Bow to me! Cuz I’m a lyrical poet,

My computer’s on the scene just in case you didn’t know it

With process! speed that’ll slow time down

Enough RAM on deck to put holes in the ground!

‘Cuz my task is like a chemical spill!

Features more files than you can vision and feel!

Unzipping the bytes is a hell of a concept!

You take a look, and you wanna step with this!

I know data like a sage,

I slice like a ninja, cut like a RAZR,

And so fast other computers say, “Damn!”

If mine was a gig I’d sell it by the gram.

Keep my composure while it’s puttin’ out steam

Magnetized by the output and the structure of its strings.

If there is a problem, yo, I’m the playa,

Sittin’ in my crib as the Guardian of Data!

(chorus)

“Yo, let’s get out of here.”

“We can’t – the office has no snow policy.”

Guardian of Data! Too cold, too cold! (repeat)

There always has to be one

Last night I had my first Stats class of the semester. For some reason 3 Stat classes, guaranteed to be harder than this one, that I took at FSU were not good enough for me to get out of this class. I'm not at all angry... So this class, it meets every wednesday for 3 hours 7-10pm. After reading for my other class at the library I head over to the classroom. So I'm hanging out on the bench outside the door, and this girl walks up and sits down. This girl was straight out of 1986! I am no expert on fashion, and often have no room to talk, but you'll understand why I am being mean in a little bit. She had super pasty white skin, imagine a gamer living in his/her parents basement...she was not obese but definitely overweight by a good amount....glasses......had some long blonde hair with bangs.....was wearing some kind of chunky white sweater/pancho kinda deal, way too big........and some out of fashion faded jeans with cuffs rolled up, and the cuffs were red. Ok so now you have a mental picture of this girl.

So I'm reading some Howard Zinn, which spares me from her introduction. She was introducing herself to everyone who would listen, in this robotic stiff handed kind of way. "Hello, I'm (insert name), it is very nice to meet you" like she has been practicing this very speech for weeks, hoping to perfect it when she finally gets to put it to use. So at this point I realize something is a little off with this girl, but ya know at that point I just thought she had bad taste in clothes and a bit socially awkward, no biggie. Then she started talking and just spouting some facts, to people who had better information. She was going on about how she used to be in teaching and how PA schools were so good...blah blah, to this girl getting her M.S. in education. When the girl tried to contradict the girl, her response was always "wellllll not really...you see....." At this point I knew I had to keep my distance.

So GMU fucked up with the SPSS license and it was not working on the classroom computers, the teacher explained this at the beginning of class, which half the class was not there for because the VCU vs GMU basketball game was occurring next door in the patriot center, so no one could find parking. Once we start using the software some procedures were not accessible because of the fuck up. So a girl sitting next to the girl in question made a comment about how the features did not work...this is how the conversation went.

Girl 1: Professor, that function is not showing up on my PC
Crazy: Thats because the license is not working
Girl 1 : Well everything else is fine
Crazy: turning red, talking straight ahead, not at girl, and hands shaking WELLLL That is because the license does not work...the professor at the beginning of class SAID THAT....and then she gets overshadowed by Dr Balint.

She turned into the impatient huffy puffy fat kid know it all!!!! I know you have all experienced this, this form of impatience is like nothing I have ever seen or can comprehend. I mean, the other girl was not there when the problem was explained, I do not understand why the crazy girl expected her to know what was wrong. And the crazy girl even did the annoying know it all sigh after freaking out on this poor girl, and looked to me like she actually needed some time to calm down after her expenditure of know-it-allness. I kinda wish it kept going, cause it would have gone to blows, it was one of those situations where you could actually feel the awkwardness in the air!!! And she used the word whimsical in class....when was the last time you heard the word whimsical in Stats??? Who the fuck says that in any class outside of poetry, music, or creative writing?? My real problem with her kind of people is that they are the ones who become physically and verbally annoyed when someone asks questions or needs more explaining...this is not cool, some people take a little longer. And I have a feeling she doesn't know everything about everything. So hopefully this crazy chick will not act up anymore, for all our sakes. If she does...we may...as a group..have to take away her season pass to the renaissance fair.

Like a parasite I wanna kiss you till you puke

Keeping with my resolution, I am back on this cold ass morning to rant, report, and rave.

First and foremost, the evil folks at websense are getting smarter. I used to be able to use a proxy server to access myspace at work, but they thwarted that plan. And now it seems that they have added livejournal to their list of sites they don't want me to see. I mean, the only one I have bookmarked at work is Courtney's, and her writings are no security threat! These evil people are making my job more and more difficult with each passing day. As long as my porn site is not blocked, I can at least stay sane. If they end up blocking that site as well, there will be serious repercussions!!! I still think the most ironic thing about all of this, is that I can get to blogger.com to write a blog, but cannot open my blog to see it! Fucking ridiculous! *Edit..so today I come into work, and the bastard trolls have blocked Fark too! Sweet Jesus!

Sunday, the District finally saw some snow. It was not much, but some did stick, and it took a few minutes to clean the car before work. Cookie, whom never ceases to surprise me, actually liked it. I have never had a boxer who liked playing in the snow. Anka actually got her to catch snowballs mid-air. This hidden talent of hers was displayed to me Monday after I got home from class. Her ear infection is in check, and she seems much happier than she was a week ago. She is also sleeping the whole night through these days, in her bed on the floor, which is a good thing. Our bed is fine with Anka+Cookie...Sam+Cookie....Anka + Sam....but is not ok with Cookie+Anka+Sam. Mostly because cookie is a bed hog.

So Sunday, Anka and I went to the Rock &Roll Hotel to see the Queers. Ok I guess I should re-phrase that, I went and saw the Queers...Anka came along because I bought her the ticket and she was being really sweet. I had never seen them before, so I had to go. It brought back memories of high school...the good ones of course. Laserquest..capitol ballroom...metro cafe....the admirals inn....if you were there, then you know what I'm talking about. A surprising amount of kids showed up for the show, being it was a Sunday night, snowing, and not in the best part of DC. They played for a long ass time, we dipped out before they were finished, but when we left they showed no signs that they were going to be done anytime soon. They are pretty simple, always goofy, and provided a good show for the likes of this old timer.

On to R&R Hotel....

I liked the place, simple as that. Though there are some bugs they need to work out. The show space is about the size of the backstage at the Blackcat, and at first I didn't see how they could compete for bands with such a small space, then Anka brought up the point that not many shows at the Blackcat sell out, and many that are on the main stage could be housed in the backstage. However! If the Hotel is going to compete, they need to invest in some better Sound Equipment, and a more competent sound guy. Half of the time, the mics did not work, or the level were not high enough, and when the mics were on, the guitar/bass/drum levels were way too high. There is also a lack of acoustic enhancements in the actual "concert area", which is fine for a DIY basement show, but if you want to be a competitive venue and have bands come back, you need to make shit a bit more professional. Bar downstairs was big, and had good beer...and strongbow, thats a plus. And Schlitz for all you frugal folks. The upstairs was pretty rad though, another good size bar, pool table, jukebox, and plenty of old thrift store couches that give it that 1940's hotel feel. Lots of velvet reds and blacks, and lots of wood. The upstairs also has several room separated off, which from my understanding can be rented for private parties and such. Overall I was impressed by the place. It looks like red sparrowes and Mono will be playing there in a coupe few...so my return is imminent.