nomadic tendencies

aqaba, jordan (nov 13th, 2009)

2011-04-23T08:47:00.005-04:00

so my time was done in egypt. on the advice of some of my teacher friends working in egypt, i'd decided to fly to jordan on my indirect trip home. i'd heard that it would be a sin to miss seeing petra when i was that close. i'd also heard something about aqaba, so i booked a flight there to jump off from. i really didn't know what i was going to do there. i was pretty burnt out from being in

republicans are scared of gays in the military (but apparently not in their own ranks)

2010-12-03T09:38:00.001-05:00

i'll start this as i have been for a while lately.. wow, it's been a long time. no excuses, just laziness. but i need to do better. i can't believe it's been over a year since i was in jordan and i still haven't posted those awesome pix and stories. i'm getting to it. really. what inspired this return was an article i read about the republicans blasting the pentagon for it's findings in a

U.S. religious knowledge survey

2010-10-01T08:57:00.003-04:00

recently, the pew forum on religion and public life released the results of their recent U.S. religious knowledge survey. sadly, 86% of THE PEOPLE SURVEYED (not americans as they would suggest... it IS an extrapolation afterall), believe in "god" or a higher power. the problem is, most of these people who believe in god/higher power don't really know the tenets or history of what they believe

NYC trafficking

2010-09-21T23:03:00.010-04:00

wow, it's been a while. i've loads of excuses. work has been long hours, more than likely you've heard about TheMom passing, i'm lazy, etc. any of those fit, but now i've slid into a slower paced assignment, and i should have a bit more time to update you diligent readers who keep visiting.so we'll start with a rant. i'm currently located in the seemingly atrophied town of schenectady. i arrived

i believe i am "becoming"

2010-08-31T12:25:00.003-04:00

I beat my machine it's a part of me it's inside of meI'm stuck in this dream it's changing me i am becomingThe me that you know had some second thoughtsHe's covered with scabs and he is broken and soreThe me that you know doesn't come around muchThat part of me isn't here anymoreAll pain disappears it's the nature of my circuitryDrowns out all i hear there's no escape from this my new

Movin out

2010-05-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

For the sake of TheNephew, i'm slowly moving out of my childhood room (i know, i know). I've collected quite a few books, gadgets, and movies over the years. Posters, clothes, international trinkets and monies. This is a photo of me relaxing in one of my three hammocks in the storage unit i've rented to hold my shite. It's far more room than i need, i only wish i had a 24-hr key so i could

blown away by scale

2010-05-10T22:35:00.002-04:00

i am currently located in bellaire, ohio, TheUnitedStates, earth, TheSol system, TheOrionArm, TheMilkyWay, TheLocalGroup, TheVirgoSupercluster, TheKnownUniverse. each of these descriptions is EASILY several orders of magnitude larger than the previous one in the list. that is, ohio is at least 10 times larger than bellaire; TheUnitedStates is at least 10 times larger than ohio; etc. that is

nomadic tendencies turns 5

2010-04-30T00:06:00.000-04:00

wow, it's been a while. i'd like to blame being busy as to why i haven't updated. i'd like to blame trips to the hospital. i'd like to blame work. despite all of those being partial causes, the biggest cause was laziness. a brief update on the latest news...in november, i finished work in egypt and went on holiday in jordan and spain. i have pix i still have to post. TheMom had a heart

oh, the people i work with

2010-03-22T07:44:00.000-04:00

recently, the site labor had to take a random drug test, so they werehanging out in the trailer awaiting the urge to pee, when they brokeinto conversation about current events. these are blue-collarmillwrights and a white-collar nurse (administering the drug tests) andmostly all of them are born/raised/work in florida most of their lives.i don't have a clear definition of what it is to be a

my whatzit

2010-03-18T07:30:00.002-04:00

so, my trip down to tampa was more sociable than usual. what seems like eons ago, i was working in trinidad, and i’d taken a book about how to make people like you, or how to start conversations or meet people or something like that. i don't remember much about the book except that the author used several really weird terms like "have sticky eyes" and "have a whatzit". the one thing i took

PTVR's back...

2010-03-04T21:50:00.001-05:00

...now i'm off to bed for a 5:00AM wake-up call. check it out here.

back from the not-here area

2010-03-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

ok ok ok, I'm sorry. I know I have no excuse, but here they areanyways...november: TheMom had heart attack #9, I had to fly home, then it wasgetting her back to her normal jovial self and in the process gettingher addicted to modern warfare 2. we even got her her own XBOX liveaccount. if you want her screen name, let me know.december: well, it's december. christmas, my birthday, trying to

this guy is a cock

2009-12-22T13:36:00.002-05:00

i'm sorry for the lack of updates. what with vacation, TheMom going into and out of the hospital, and the holidays, i've gotten quite busy (and a bit lazy). i will be posting to PTVR this week as well. i was going to add this guy (and still might), but i wanted you to see it first. this guy claims to be pretty much the strongest man in the world bless by allah. i say claims because he's "

out of commission for a while

2009-11-26T07:58:00.002-05:00

i have LOADS of stories and pictures and great times i had on vacation, but that will have to wait. the vacation was cut short because TheMom was in such a hurry for me to come home, she went and had a heart attack. she's currently at TheOhioStateUniversityHospital (possibly the longest NT name ever) where we are camping out to see how things go. i'm sure there will be loads of support since

abstruse goose chases cars

2009-11-16T03:15:00.003-05:00

i think this comic could be a fairly accurate representation of my love life, except that instead of chasing, i THINK about chasing. i only think because if i chased, i might run into situations like this and have an aneurysm.

in jordan

2009-11-16T03:07:00.002-05:00

well, i've been in jordan for 4 days now. i decided to come to aqaba without doing much research, and that's my bad. it's good for divers, and i was contemplating getting certified, but that went away after i came to my senses. aqaba is pretty small, and i've walked most of it. i have booked a tour to go to wadi rum tomorrow afternoon. i'm taking a four hours 4WD tour, then they are dropping

well, the tickets are booked

2009-11-08T10:01:00.002-05:00

i booked my tickets to take my back-to-back R&Rs. sadly, they are paper tickets, and TheGeneral thinks jordan is as unsafe as egypt so i need special authorization which was given today. now i just hope they can ship the tickets in time. i'm leaving egypt just before noon on the 12th on my way to aqaba, jordan for a few days. i might think about possibly taking scuba lessons, i have a week to

new ZUMEL post

2009-11-02T05:45:00.002-05:00

i'm currently writing up a post about the Delta Hash House Harriers Inaugural Black-n-Yellow Taxi Relay. it was a fabulous time, great stories, but trying to get it all down is tough, so much to remember that the race itself was making blurry. until then, there is a new post up at the ZUMEL.

Jesus and Mo and the Irony Meter.

2009-10-21T11:23:00.001-04:00

ZUMEL returns

2009-10-21T10:11:00.001-04:00

well, i've decided to try yet again to find the time to post more to ZUMEL. that being said, there's a new post http://zacanese.blogspot.com

when you mock

2009-10-15T10:11:00.002-04:00

you must know how to do it correctly. see, will ferrell and Co put out a humorous health care PSA about health care reform several months ago. whomever made this PSA to "mock" him didn't do quite as well as i think they could have.the thing is, will ferrell, is a fairly smart man AND he's funny. he can use sarcasm and wit to get his point across, to emphasize the stranger parts of whatever

R&R alpha - (day 14/15) - the end is nigh; ney... the end is here

2009-10-14T05:38:00.005-04:00

it's october 14th... tomorrow, TheWayne and i would head our separate ways after an awesome time in germany and the czech republic. but it's not QUITE over yet. we woke up to try to hit "mike's bikes" for a bike tour of munich. it was rainy, and we were a bit late, so we missed the tour. as per usual, we walked a lot but my blisters were doing better now, or my brain had just rewired the "

more comics

2009-10-12T07:19:00.003-04:00

R&R alpha - (day 12/13) - things are getting blurry

2009-10-11T15:30:00.001-04:00

12-october-2008 after having passed out around 5AM, we stirred a bit around 9AM, did some basic diagnostic tests, and realized we were still in non-functioning states. we tried again around 3:30PM with better results; that is, this time we made it out of our respective beds and managed to clean ourselves up. as i've stated before, TheWayne is a bit of a wandered, and that was the plan for the

R&R alpha - (day 11) - KFC and the hookup

2009-10-09T09:45:00.001-04:00

(as usual, all pix are clickable for more detail) i woke up on the 11th wanting to die. my feet were still completely gooned after more than 12 hours sleeping. TheWayne was wanting to go out and sight-see, so i pointed him to the camera, and told him to come back, and i'd force myself to walk to get lunch. around 1:30PM, i tried another bandage technique, and hobbled my way out of bed into

matt's new beard

2009-10-08T09:52:00.003-04:00

you gotta check out my buddy, matt's, blog. he decided to go on a spiritual trip via his beard. he's currently sporting "the recesssion". it's quite spectacular. awesome stuff. go goad him on, and tell him i sent ya. Matt's New Beard

R&R alpha - (day 10) - staying in manhattan

2009-10-08T09:45:00.006-04:00

wow, it's been a long time, but i REALLY gotta try to get this done before the anniversary. for a recap, check out the previous posts (they were funny, it'll be worth it). the beginning, pfand, drucken, PROST!, fünf, checkpoint charlie, and yalla bina. there, now that you're all caught up, off we go again. keep in mind, all pix are clickable for more detail.so, it's now 9-October, and we

random catchings-up and such

2009-10-04T13:41:00.011-04:00

WOW! it's been a while since i've updated. i hate it when that happens because i fear i lose readers, and i LOVE having you readers. so, here's what's been up lately.i went to sharm el-sheikh for two days at the end of ramadan. i had fun, but i would've had more fun if there were people to share it with. the first day, i went straight to the beach-side bar, got obliterated, went to my

political pix

2009-09-23T04:23:00.002-04:00

i went to one site that led me to another that led me to Tumble Dumble. from Tumble Dumble, i found the two following pictures that i thought were fantastic.

my two cents

2009-09-22T14:47:00.002-04:00

i know very little about health care. i believe that i have a good health care plan through my company, but i've been lucky enough, that in my 8 years with them, i've never really had to use it. still, i can empathize with those who have absolutely no safety net, those who worry if they can afford to go to the emergency room. so, for my two cents... check out this video, and someone call the

this is just SO wrong!

2009-09-22T04:00:00.001-04:00

and that is why i love the interwebs!

mr. deity

2009-09-20T12:21:00.001-04:00

i just found this vid from a prof i had in college, and i have to say, IF god exists, i think (if he's worthy of existing) he has to be pretty much the same.

BULLSEYE, muthfucka!

2009-09-19T05:03:00.002-04:00

see more Funny Graphsthis graph say it all. granted, it's not scientific (it may be, but i'm not verifying the numbers), but from everything i HAVE heard it is relativistically right, that is, there are far more NORMAL flu deaths annually, than there have been SWINE flu deaths since it came out. get over it!

new post update

2009-09-18T08:41:00.002-04:00

there's a new post up on at Past The Velvet Rope for any and all interested.

nomadic tendencies PSA of the year

2009-09-17T05:49:00.000-04:00

Save the Boobs: Best PSA Ever - Watch more Funny Videos

new PTVR post

2009-09-03T05:59:00.001-04:00

just a reminder, there's a new post up at PTVR, if anyone is interested in spreading the word. i THINK i'm caught up enough that i might be able to actually get an NT post post up soon. work, life, blogs... it's all too much at once.later.

roller-derby and graphs

2009-08-31T08:23:00.004-04:00

i'm proud to say, i have a friend who is trying to roller-derby. how frickin' cool is that? i'm sure you ARE ALL visiting her original site, but now you should join me in following her progression from n00b to however-far-beyond-n00b she gets. check her new site out here. now, i GOTTA go visit her... like in real life. rock on!AND completely unrelated... i like this graph.see more Funny

sappy post for the year - phantom kiss

2009-08-30T03:43:00.003-04:00

ok, so last night, i had a strange, if not short, dream. i was with someone of the female persuasion, and i can think of no reason why it was her. we were at the wimbledon tennis competitions at some sort of log cabin-ish thing. the dream was very to the point. i was holding her, we were about to kiss, she asked "why?", i said "just for fun" (i'm such a salesman, even in my

it's been almost two weeks?!?!

2009-08-27T06:50:00.001-04:00

i'm sorry guys and gals. i can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since i updated. i hate it when that happens. i'm filling in for 3 roles at work right now, and going to loads of meetings... i HATE meetings. i'm a technical guy, my role is technical, but the ones i'm filling in for are admin and managerial, and i SUCK at it. i don't have the patience to deal with people trying to make the

INNNNNNNDOCTRINATION!

2009-08-14T08:27:00.003-04:00

One Indian, One Normal - Watch more Funny Videosi don't think these girls are smart enough to be acting. i fear they are this ignorant and, thus, dangerous. this is like brain-washing fundamentalism and general lack of education. is india in africa? why aren't your eyes slanted?

new blog unofficial opening

2009-08-12T12:42:00.003-04:00

with the graphical help of Chump, i've started a new blog to direct some of my ire toward. it is completely biased towards me. it's my club. people who piss me off (and there are a lot of them) don't get in, people who impress me are shown past the velvet rope. pretty simple. i've been thinking on this blog for almost 3 years now, trying to find the perfect format. it isn't quite there yet.

a roundabout story

2009-08-12T04:12:00.003-04:00

here you find another "cowbirds in love" comic, though i don't find this one extremely funny. the reason i post it is the story that goes with it from the author. click on the picture to go to the page and read his story the frame.when i read that story i had a bit of a flashback, and found i was laughing at myself. when TheMom had her first heart attack, us kids were kinda stuck fending for

meat is murder

2009-08-11T16:14:00.002-04:00

i have a question to my vegetarian friends... and on that note, i have no vegetarian friends, so could you pass this link on to them so i could get their opinion. from this article it seems we may be only 10 years away from test-tube meat. that is meat that you would buy, cook and eat, that was grown in a laboratory rather than fed on a farm and slaughtered. this meat would be able to be

stirling (and the end of the scottish R&R)

2009-08-11T12:35:00.001-04:00

for the sake of me getting this out of the way, and on to other posts, i'll give a cliff's notes version of the rest of my scotland trip accompanied by lots of pix (all clickable to embiggen). after all, pic = 1k words.still in the edinburgh area: midway through the trip, we decided we were going to see rosslyn chapel (click for some pictures since i apparently didn't take any). i'd never

cowbirds in love on mad scientists

2009-08-10T12:26:00.003-04:00

it's so true how so few understand the difference. another good webcomic i recommend, the mouse-overs help sometimes.

rehabilitating mr. wiggles

2009-08-09T06:09:00.002-04:00

i just found this webcomic today, i figured i'd share it with you. it's your lucky day.

the arabic project, phase 1 : COMPLETE

2009-08-06T06:27:00.003-04:00

that is my name there. i personally think my last name (the part on the left) looks bad ass, like a crown or something. i'm sending out the names i did off the top of my head today. if you didn't get one and wanted one, i apologize, i'm an ass. send me an email or a comment, and i'll make you one up for you. it's good practice for me and kinda fun. i verified all the names with native

i've been dubbed

2009-08-01T11:24:00.003-04:00

yesterday, i made my friday trip to ThePC to meet up with the hash group. once there, we had a few beers and realized that there wasn't really enough to people to run the hash, so we "hashed" to TheKiwi's place where he had some lamb chops he wanted to cook. the turnout is low lately because a lot of the people are away on summer holiday or R&Rs. we've agreed that we will definitely run next

my fear

2009-07-29T10:35:00.003-04:00

i want to buy a house. for some reason, i want to buy a house so bad. i think it would be really cool, just the idea of having a house, a place i go back to that is mine. i don't have much to furnish it with (2 hammocks, flat-screen TV, stereo, XBOX360, a load of books, and the latest gadgets i've acquired on the internet), but i think that would be cool, too. i think minimal would work for

the hash booze cruise

2009-07-27T11:07:00.004-04:00

two fridays ago, the hash group had dwindled a bit. many are away right now on their summer R&Rs, so it was down to just TheEweTrollop, TheKiwi, and me. TheEweTrollop had been trying to organize a small boat outing, so thursday, he calls me up at work and asks if i'd be interested in going sailing the next day rather than hashing. i thought it was a good idea, since i had a good time on the

a friend's blog

2009-07-21T05:37:00.002-04:00

a college friend of mine, TheTrinnyDecca, started up a new blog recently. since i think she's a funny writer with some good stories, i'm plugging her here hopefully to give her my very own version of the colbert bump. i'm also putting words into her mouth by saying, the more people who visit, the more often she will post, so let's make hers a proportionally growing blog. check here out at

you wanna do WHAT to WHOM?!

2009-07-20T05:29:00.002-04:00

i rarely find something this strange and/or funny and have my camera at the same time. this was one of those few days (though if i didn't have it, i could've walked to my room to get it). this is a sign in the outdoor mall downstairs from my hotel. there is a "defile" outlet store in the the mall, which i thought was strange in itself. there's also a "subway" jeans store, so called, because

an experiment in arabic

2009-07-19T12:42:00.003-04:00

i just made a list of friends' names and did my very best to write them in arabic. i had some trouble with a few since, for example, arabic doesn't have a letter "P" so i have to use "B". also, it doesn't have a "V" so i have to use "F". also, the vowelage in arabis is pretty nuts. they kinda don't use short vowels. there is a letter for "A" but the same symbol is at times a long "A" and at

quickly... some cool stuff

2009-07-18T10:57:00.002-04:00

i'm crazy sunburnt from my afternoon sailing trip yesterday. good stories to be told, but that'll be in a day or two. until then, i ran across these and thought they were pretty cool.i SOOOO want this zombie shirt. fantastic marketing!and this link talks about a renewable energy concept that would totally rock to see implemented. it's based on bikes being used to charge batteries which then

the benefits of networking

2009-07-16T06:08:00.003-04:00

i have a strange time relating to people socially. one way or another, most people are going to annoy me in some fashion that my brain-box obsesses over until i'd much prefer not be in their presence. i didn't notice this trait until being on certain assignments for so long. for the first 4 years with TheGeneral, i worked primarily maintenance jobs; that is, you hop in, work 7 days a week, 12+

another bad haircut

2009-07-11T07:05:00.004-04:00

maybe this is why i didn't cut my hair for 15 years. bad barbers. here is me with my latest haircut and my "stern" look. i've never had to deal with it until now, but a lot of the guys i work with have to go out and find a barber on the road that can do a decent job. you can't just pop down to zeke's and have him give you the same haircut he's given you since you were 10. probably the

the battle for all boykind

2009-07-09T10:17:00.004-04:00

i love this picture TheMom took of TheNephew as he battles the surely hideous yet unseen water monster (power washer) armed only with a trash can lid and a hammer. actually, TheMom asked if TheNephew would like to help out with the deck by hammering down any nails that have come up over the years. when he got bored doing that, he just fought the sprayer.

my impulse buy

2009-07-09T05:37:00.002-04:00

well, TheSteadman was ragging on me for reading "monk" books since i've run out over here in egypt. i'm currently stuck with the bible and the qur'an left, and my "learning to read and write arabic" book. so, last night i was in the room and TheSteadman was online in between jobs so we started talking. i'd asked her earlier to take a picture of her holding her kindle, and if she could also

once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing

2009-07-08T05:34:00.000-04:00

i'm posting this as close as i can to 12:34:56 on 7-8-9. well, at least my time (add 7 to the post time)coolness. more updates coming soon.

scotland R&R - edinburgh (mostly in pictures)

2009-06-29T06:34:00.000-04:00

april 10th, i landed in edinburgh airport for a much needed 12-day vacation. i was extremely lucky in that i had several friends who were able to meet me there as well. TheEJ was able to come over for a few days, TheJay made it for the weekend, probably the smartest female i know, friend-from college, and former roommate, TheJulie came over the visit her husband, TheBill, while he's working at

i do have a reputation to uphold

2009-06-28T03:55:00.002-04:00

and this is my kind of commercial. too bad it was banned. and i didn't think i could like guinness any more.Banned Commercial For Guinness - Watch more Girl Videos

mccain and i are sharing wavelengths

2009-06-28T00:32:00.003-04:00

three or four days ago, i was socializing with my new hash friends when i came up with the idea that instead of fighting north korea and iran and china, we need to just break through the propaganda and censorship. we need to find a way to provide OTHER countries with free internet access or wi-fi. we can use technology rather than force to help the people see a more realistic and less biased

HHH (hash house harriers)

2009-06-27T15:58:00.001-04:00

well, the rumors are true. the thursday night before last, i drunkenly and accidentally joined a running club, or more precisely, "a drinking club with a running problem". it's a bunch of rogue ex-pats that are a part of the hash house harriers (click for more info). i was talking to a welsh couple, TheGeoff and TheJanice, that TheMech and i had met at ThePortugueseClub (ThePC) a while ago.

my EGYPT accident

2009-06-21T10:25:00.003-04:00

today on the way home, we were involved in an accident. it's the worst so far that i've been in, but that's still a far cry from the carnage you can see on the egyptian highways. we all had our seat belts on, and TheDriver did the very best he could to avoid an accident that wasn't his fault. i'm proud of him, we're still alive with no injuries.we were on a feeder road onto the alex-cairo

when is terrorism not, AND when it's your time, it's your time?

2009-06-13T07:17:00.004-04:00

two articles i've come across lately that have piqued my interest enough to get me to read them. the first, here, has to do with how americans label terrorism. it is a sad and blatantly racist judgment made by the american people. in short, when is terrorism not? when it's done by a white christian, that's when, or at least, that can be strongly inferred when comparing the two recent cases in

my treadmill 5K

2009-06-12T07:18:00.002-04:00

yesterday i attempted to gauge my 5K time on the hotel treadmill. first i weighed myself then i put on my "running" music which consists of some speed metal and hardcore rock (static-x, chevelle, etc). i hit the "5K" button, input my weight, and randomly chose "level 5" not really knowing the specifics of level 5. now, when i run my normal 50 minute run, i set it at 7.5. i'm not sure if

will wonders never cease?

2009-06-10T11:01:00.002-04:00

last night, around midnight, i was curled up in my blankets in my refrigerated room just the way i like it, when my phone rang. it took me a ring or two to realize what was going on, then figured it out, saw it was midnight, and answered this strange phone number. TheMom drunk dialed me. apparently, TheYoungerSister got TheMom a wee bit loopy down at the pool bar on "bananas in the bush" and

looking for a word

2009-06-05T09:55:00.003-04:00

i had the day off today, so i golfed and then went to the pool, and finished a patterson book, and drank a few beers. after i finished the book, i tried to write which has been vexing me lately. i'm blocked, i got nothing, and in my forced writing, i wrote that possibly i'm a functional sociopath. then i realized i didn't know what a sociopath REALLY was, so i looked it up. i thought i was a

$1500 for a night at the playboy mansion?

2009-06-04T13:57:00.002-04:00

i have a hookup that could've gotten me to the playboy mansion this weekend for $1500. free shuttle from the hotel, all the drink and eat you can handle through the night, full access to the mansion, nekkid ladies everywhere, AND it's a charity event for spinal injuries. now IF i was home this weekend, do you think this would be worth while. granted i'd have to get a hotel for a minimum of one

kat deluna is full of herself

2009-05-28T05:59:00.004-04:00

i've been wanting to make another blog (to eventually ignore probably) about people are just kinda completely useless. it would be simple, a list of 5 or so people per week that just generally i find intolerable, and then one person (alive or dead) that is just cool or good or necessary. still, when i think about this page, i try to think of a name or format. originally, (the idea came to me

my medicine

2009-05-25T04:36:00.005-04:00

i'm a carrier. i don't REALLY get sick. i get a cough, and that's about it. the problem is, i'm not sick enough to miss work or school, so i go and get other people sick. i do apologize to those people. well i found out yesterday that TheSiteManager was sick. he must've been contagious a few days before as i've had a dry cough for about 2-3 days. 2 days ago, TheCommManager and i had to go

biblical observations III : samson was CRAZY pussy-whipped (and possibly severely mentally retarded)

2009-05-23T10:23:00.006-04:00

i'm back into reading the bible since i'm out of books. i'm just about to finish JUDGES when i come across samson. i didn't realize that samson was actually a king of israel. well, that might not be technically correct but i'm not exactly sure what he was judging since israel was being oppressed but all the neighbors at this time (and that is another observation post). so i'll call him a king

a brief respite in sharm el sheikh (meant to post this ages ago)

2009-05-18T06:25:00.003-04:00

View Larger Mapat the end of march, at 7:30 thursday morning, TheMech and i had TheDriver take us to sharm el sheikh since there wasn't much going on mechanically onsite. sharm is an awesome resort town on the red sea across from hurghada. the trip was originally going to be one day only. a balls-to-the-wall drive up, party our heads of, and then drive back. after a long, fairly boring ride,

perfect timing

2009-05-16T15:44:00.005-04:00

7 days down... that wasn't too bad, and tonight as i was walking back from dinner, i ran into 3 guys from another company that TheMech can i met a couple months back. they are in town for a week to finish up the job they started. we are gonna go out tomorrow night to catch up. so i get to socialize AND not break my 7 days. things are looking good. and just a warning to all my peepz out

day 6/7, these shoes are made for walkin'

2009-05-15T14:16:00.002-04:00

day 6 and all things are go. no shakes, no "sober hangover", no nothing. the only thing different is that sober, i realize why i drank. this city is boring, this job is basically done, my hotel is... adequate. there's absolutely nothing exciting in this area that doesn't start before maybe midnight (the discos), but i have to be up for work around 6AM so that doesn't work out. so i guess i

7-day sober, take 2

2009-05-10T03:59:00.003-04:00

ok, several days back, i endeavored to go 7 days without drinking. i'm doing this to allay fears friends and family might have, AND it's healthy. as luck would have it, the next day, i was waiting outside the hotel for TheDriver, when a guy walked past who looked eerily familiar. i immediately thought it was a colleague i'd met almost five years ago in spain, but couldn't figure out what he

erase wisely

2009-05-06T10:05:00.003-04:00

this is from a webcomic called "brown sharpie". it's full of crazy math comics that i rarely understand, but occasionally there is one simple enough for me to laugh at. this is one of them. if you don't get it, act like you are erasing a chalkboard side-to-side, and think about what your butt is doing. i had a very few cute female teacher's aides in college, and this was the highlight of my

hole-in-my-hand update

2009-05-05T09:55:00.001-04:00

i added updated pictures to the NSFTWS post below. my hand, though it may not look better, is getting better. i can make a fist with no pain, the swelling is confined to the immediate vicinity of the wound now, rather than the whole hand. looks like i'll get to keep my hand after all. i just seem to have bad bug luck. i'll tryto get scotland pix up soon, i have a post i'm working on about my

in related, good news...

2009-05-03T09:04:00.004-04:00

while i was on my R&R in scotland that i have yet to post pictures of, i believe it was TheEJ and i got into a conversation on my drinking and how she might be a bit worried about me. i told her i've had more drink-free days since christmas when we talked about it, than in the past loads of years. she then emphasized "day" as in single, which it was. i've not gone two days without a drink in

NSFTWS (that is, not safe for the weak-stomached) photo

2009-05-03T03:24:00.005-04:00

i hate to do this, but i have to. i like to keep you guys updated with what's going on in my life, but when it comes to cases like this, TheMom freaks out, so i hate to do it, but i have fans to appease. i apologize in advance as the swelling and the wrap are impeding my impeccable typing skillz.ok, so in india, i was the host to a lovely brood of bot fly larvae (my india post). they are

the alpha (and the omega)

2009-04-30T04:53:00.002-04:00

a favor from my peeps back in oHIo

2009-04-29T04:49:00.002-04:00

i just found this, and because it's free, i'm asking you a favor. maybe after a journey to kahoot's or a night out on the piss, if you happen to cross the middle line near a white castle... PLEASE, someone try one of these for me and tell me how they are. i know i'm a freak, and i like white castle. i also like BBQ pulled pork. there's an extremely remote chance that i'll be done here in

i'm no longer cultural ambassador to egypt

2009-04-27T06:48:00.004-04:00

like i ever really was, but still, i think i cemented that several nights ago. TheMech came back to site to help with a small outage we had to do before we could make any more progress on the second unit. since TheSiteManager wasn't sure when i was coming back from R&R, he booked TheMech to come back and assist. i arrived early than TheSiteManager had expected, and thus, while TheMech was

back from scotland

2009-04-21T09:47:00.001-04:00

ok, i just back to my hotel in alexandria. scotland was an absolute blast. i have aobut 500-600 photos that my OCD requires me to rename before i can upload and share them with you, so i'll get on that right now. should be more updates on scotland, TheMech and my trip to sharm el sheik before he left and the continuation (and hopefully finale) of the oktoberfest posts coming soon. until then,

R&R alpha - berlin/dresden (day 8/9) - yalla bina

2009-04-08T04:08:00.006-04:00

it's now the 8th of october. we've fairly unpickled ourselves from oktoberfest. TheTav had to shoot off home (he had facebook dates to keep), and for some security reason that i'm sure he made up, he couldn't go to prague (our next stop), with us because he hadn't told him mommy, i mean, his company first (if you're reading this TheTav, i'm just fukking with ya). man, there were a lot of

R&R alpha - berlin (days 6/7) - checkpoint charlie

2009-04-04T06:41:00.005-04:00

we woke up late on the 6-october and with a slightly late checkout, we were on our way to berlin. we'd gone as far as getting a hertz rental car reserved, but nothing for a place to stay once we got there. we figured, big city... lots of tourists... plenty of room. we got directions to berlin which is pretty much "go north". when we picked up the hertz that we asked for hertz neverlost on, we

R&R alpha - oktoberfest (day 5) - fünf

2009-04-04T06:37:00.002-04:00

since i'm going on another R&R very soon, i'm going to try to get through this R&R in the next few days. it'll be tough, but here's to hoping. you can catch up with the previous R&R alpha posts here at the top of the post.'fünf' is german for 'five'. it's appropriate because this was the 5th day of our trip. i also like it because it sounds like a word for 'fart', and everyone like fart jokes

in other news...

2009-04-03T10:19:00.002-04:00

TheRing is finally paid off.

i can feel it comin' in the air tonight

2009-04-03T10:11:00.002-04:00

the flight is confirmed, the hotel is booked. this time next week, i'll be about an hour from touching down in edinburgh, scotland for a 10-day extravaganzical R&R. TheEJ is coming out to visit for a few days, as is TheJay (college/titty bar buddy and former roomie), TheJulie (college friend and former roomie), and TheBill (TheJulie's husband). TheBill is there for school or work or something

somethingstore.com

2009-04-01T09:19:00.004-04:00

like i need another way to spend money on useless things. i stumbled upon the something store today, and bought $100 worth of "something". can't wait to get home and find out what it is.

a post of schizophrenic proportions a.k.a. the boredom of waiting

2009-03-23T04:50:00.004-04:00

we came in to work today as we are pavlovianly trained to. alarm goes off, hit snooze a few times, roll out of bed, brush teeth, get dressed, and wander down to the car in a typical zombie-state. we knew there was nothing for us to do at work today. as mechs, we are waiting for the controls and electrical people to catch up. we came in on time because we thought there'd be a meeting about

the man under the bridge

2009-03-22T04:11:00.002-04:00

View Larger Mapabout a mile from work there is a strange little hiccup in the road where it goes under a bridge crossing the canal. you can see it in the picture here. it's just a quick bend in the road, but people drive on this road faster than they should and egyptians have no qualms about overtaking around blind turns, so this is actually a dangerous part of the road. due to the speeds

happy PI day

2009-03-14T14:29:00.001-04:00

by the way, i just wanted to say happy pi day (3.14) and happy birthday to albert einstein.

my day off at a war museum

2009-03-14T08:06:00.004-04:00

yesterday was the first time in ages that pretty much the entire team had the day off, so we got together by the encouragement of TheTrainer1 to go about 1.5 hours north of here to one of the last battle sites of WWII. i'm not a history buff nor am i really interested in war or war relics, but i figured it would be something to do to get me out of the hotel. we left the hotel around 10:00AM to

samson vs. delilah

2009-03-12T06:47:00.003-04:00

here it is, the video you've all been waiting for... me getting my first significant haircut in 15 years, taken in maadi last year. many were disapointed, but i deflected a lot of that disappointment when i let them know i donated it to locks of love.

a new ZUMEL post

2009-03-11T10:05:00.003-04:00

if you are bored, i put up a new post at my other scarcely updated blog, ZUMEL. in this latest post, i attempt to teach you, my faithful reader, whoever you are, how to speak arabic using ZUMEL as a go-between. i'm hoping whoever reads it has a mic and will send me an email reading my attempt at teaching.

carl sagan and a non-sequitur revelation

2009-03-08T06:55:00.002-04:00

i just thought that was cool. while rifling through some papers, i found a drunken scrawl of a revelation i'd written down ages ago. i'll never be normal, in that, i wonder why women dance more than men instead of wondering why i don't dance with women

how big IS 1 trillion?

2009-03-07T05:05:00.002-05:00

i was reading today that the next year's proposed budget is $3.6 TRILLION! from that article, i found a link to another page that really puts a pseudo-tangibility to how big that number truly is. click on the $100 bill to get a feel for 1 trillion.

why, trent, why?

2009-03-06T06:21:00.001-05:00

i hate to do this to NIN, i love the band, but i guess everyone has skeletons in their closet. here it is... nine inch nails on dance part USA. i'm so sorry!.

i want to get skinny

2009-03-05T06:42:00.003-05:00

not for my health or anything noble like that. i want to get skinny so i can wear some of these cool clothes i found from a shop in seattle, called buddhaful. damn all the cool clothes only being made in XL at the largest. this timurese hoodie has an awesome design on the back and sleeves plus it has thumb-holes and a ninja-style hood.i'd also like this indhi holster. i like messenger bags