Friends

Friends are a funny thing.
You can always tell which ones are good. Neal is a good friend. So is Autumn. Both a re really cool. Steve was my best friend too at one point. Not sure he isn't now, but he is right up there. I just never see him anymore, and he makes the effort occasionally. Weird.
I am on a mission to get Neal the heck out of Hollywood. It blows ass there. I saw some of the reports comnig out, and obviously stay in touch with a lot of people too. Lots of field operators stay in touch with me, and they are all looking for something else. Sad really. I am glad I am out.
Oh, I also hate the District Attorney's office....but more about that later....

Obi Won Kenobi

I think it was Obi Won Kenobi that said "There is Mos Isley. Never will you see a more wretched place of scum and villany".
It's pretty much the same with Las Vegas.
I have a 48 hour rule there. 48 hours is about my limit in Las Vegas. It is great fun, but teh drain on me is intense. No, nothing to do witht he unusually high levels of alcohol that I consume everytime I am there, but it is the lights, camera, and non stop action that gets to me. I didn't party that hard, but it was just always going.
The Hard Rock Hotel is awesome. We ate a restauarant called the Pink Taco. It is great. Steph saw me on the webcam that is there (http://www.hardrockhotel.com/peep_pinktacocam.php) and I was waving to her.
Motley Crue was playing there on our first night which was fun to people watch. I didn't go to the conert, but we had a good time anyway.
Room was great, people were fun, and I got to know my co-workers a little better too which was nice. It seems that everyone is a little less guarded away from the office, and for someone new like me, that was a good thing, so I can 'break the circle' and get involved.
It was fun...for 48 hours!

Vegas, Here I Come!

10 corn dogs, 100 tater tots, and 6 beers later I finished corn dog day at Ryan and Kimbers. A good time had by all. Ryan has a great house and his friends were cool. I think I could have done the 'Triple Double" (only needed 4 more beers) but Steph had to go to work so we had to leave. Bummer.
So I am off to Vegas today. I wish it were for fun, but it isn't. It is for Globalshop. Hey, it's still Vegas though.
I will be back on Tuesday night, so I won't be updating for a couple of days.

I'm an Uncle !!

Phil and Alys gave birth yesterday (well, Alys did!!) and they had a beautiful baby girl! So I am and uncle again! You count Madison and Austin as my niece and nephew of course, but this is the first time one of my own brothers of sister has had a baby! Here's the scoop:

Poppy Armstrong Date
March 18th, 2005
7lbs 4oz
born at 6:03am

I spoke with them briefly today, and they sounded, as any new parent would be, delighted. They were also pretty knackered understandably, which they better get used to!!

All this makes me get more excited about being a dad again myself. I love little kids. They are great with ketchup.

Corn Dog Day!

Today is National Corn Dog Day. What the hell is that you ask? Well, it is a day where, on the first weekend of March Madness (a basketball tournament for all you Brits reading this!!) there is a sponsored party at someone's house where there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, comsumed all day except Corn Dogs, tater tots, and PBR beer. It is a truely good time. I have only attended one and that was a few years ago. It was a great time and fun was had by all. The more adventerous amongst the attendees will attempts what is known as the "Triple Double" (another basketball phrase). This is where, within the course of the day, you consume 10 corn dogs, 100 tater tots, and 10 beers. I did this on my first attempt, but it is a killer. Suprisingly however, it is not the dogs or the beers that kills you but the tater tots. I looked it up, and here are the number of calories that are in a triple double...

Triple Double Calorie Stats
> Tater Tots (100) = 2222
> Pabst Blue Ribbon (10) = 1420
> Corn Dogs (10) = 1800
> Total = 5442

If I don't get another post in....it is because I died today from a heart attack...

Son of a.....

So I got home last night, and Steph was there and handed me an envelope when I walked in the door ! It was a lovely audit by the IRS. SHIT !!!!! Check this out though, it was not from this year....Oh no....It was from 2003 !! What the hell! They say I owe them $4K, and you know, after going through it all last night, and checking it out, I think they might be right. I completely forgot to pay the full tax on my stock withholding. I had federal withheld but only at 10%. Apparently, when you earn over $74K a year, which my stock jumped me to, then you are in a higher tax bracket, and are taxed more. How the hell was I supposed to know that.
Schizzle. Not good.
Oh well, I think I can get at least $2K for my unborn son, and scrape up the rest from the couch...

Ya know, I was thinking about Mel Gibson in the shower at lunch. I have a few moments here, so I thought I would share...but by that I meant I was in the shower thinking about Mel, not thinking about Mel in the shower.
With last years release of the Passion, it caused a lot of ruckus, ruckus that called Mel Gibson an anti-semite. I personally do not think this. However, if you look into the film history of Mel Gibson there is a trend of his characters rebelling against and killing English people. Thats right, Mel Gibson is racist towards English People. I will take you on a magical journey to prove my point.
Let us start with The Patriot. In the this movie Gibson plays a South Carolina American man during the American Revalution against...get this, THE ENGLISH! In this film, Mel Gibson says that war is not the way, that is until one of his sons (the really, really white one...I mean, its like looking at the moon) is killed by an English officer. This takes Mel down a sadistic path of redemption...because what is more redeeming than killing Her Majesty's armed forces? Oh, Mel even takes an axe and "filets" a young english officer. Ah yes, the joys of war.
Next we have "Chicken Run". A nice film with family marketing to attract young impressionable children. And thats what Mel wanted! Mel plays...An American chicken stuck inside an English chicken coup. Mel promptly retaliates and kills EVERYONE! EVERYONE! (so thats not quite how the movie went, but I think thats what Mel had in mind)
Next up is the tale of a Scotsman named William Wallace in a movie called "Braveheart". A movie in which the English body count goes way beyond the fingers on my hand.
Next in line we have a film called "Lethal Weapon"...there are no mention to the English in this movie, but you can see that look in Mel's eye. The look that says, "I will one day make a moving pictue show about the death of my Lord and Saviour, but until then, I will make movies with lots of nudity and dead english people".
Damn that Mel Gibson!
How about that for random !

I haven't held the title of "Uncle" before

So I spoke with Phil today and he seemed to be doing well now. He and Alys are looking forward to their new little bundle of joy with great anticipation. They had a false alarm a few days ago, and I guess Phil completely worried about everything, but I told him it was normal and not to worry. Just remain calm and you'll see that everything goes well. Women have been having babies for thousands of years now so I am sure they will get through. He also quit the wacky backy too so that is a good. Great time to do it. He seems very focused on what his priorities should be in life, and those are the baby and Alys.
They'll do fine., and I can't wait to be an uncle. They are also looking forward to find out what it is, as they didn't find out yet.

Well I talked myself off the cliff

Wow. Yesterday was pretty hostile !!
So it would appear that I was not in the best of moods yesterday when I was blogging. Having said that, it is always good to read emotional stuff...Makes you feel alive. Isn't that what a blog is supposed to capture? Isn't it more than just words on a page. It would be very dull if that is all there was. I am glad I wrote it, I don't' regret any of it, and it is certainly all true. It is good to read. I will commit to writing more emotionally from now on. You remember at school when they made you do that crap called 'freewriting' where you just had to keep writing and writing without stopping at all, even if you couldn't' think of something? Well that is what this turns out to be. I always thought it was funny because I always took it as an opportunity to hand in papers to my teachers with the words 'fuck' and 'shit' on them, and not get into trouble. They would always ask why, and I just told them it was what I was thinking. Does that mean I was a very inwards thinking, retrospective kid, or just a little bastard who like to push my teachers buttons? Hmmm, I am thinking it was more the latter, but isn't that the point of free writing? I think so.
This has been real...As it will always be from now on.

Mondays

Why is it that every Monday...Well most Monday's always seem to fly by. I mean, I would think that if you quizzed someone in the street they would say that Friday is the quick day to pass. Don't get me wrong, Fridays are quick, but it is the first day of the week for me that seems to fly by without notice!
I speak with Sam, by "ex" cousin about 2 or 3 times a week. Nice guy. Grounded in faith. It is nice to see someone who is not distorted by what is IN the world. Funny how the cultist traits appear over here in certain ex-family members rather than over there where there is a solid belief system.
Over here, folks I used to care about (and deep down still do probably) tell themselves something is okay and then it is okay. It is funny how naturally faith-driven I am. Don't' get me wrong, I have fault, and plenty of them, but I have never tried to convince myself something was right that wasn't. If it was wrong and I did it, I raise my hand and say I did it. I have never tried to twist things to make the faith fit my lifestyle. Paying your taxes, for one. I would love to see tax returns for the last 10 years for certain people. Just because. I would love to hear someone define 'forgiveness'. That's a joke. If there is one thing I have always done it is forgive. Maybe this rant, in some way, is me still holding on to some aspect of the old life, but I cannot help but feel bitter about what happened. Simon the sperm donor, has been my self description for a while. My marriage was never going to last. I see that now. This one will. I have an inner strength that was actually brought to the forefront when the past two years transpired. I have not been nasty. I have not been vindictive. I have not been hateful. I have said some things that I should not have, and there have been some times when I have wished bad things, but I have never been out to take a child away from someone. I miss my daughter terribly. I miss her every day she is not with me. I get her 13% of the time. My ex will not even give me ONE extra day with her, and has even squabbled down to the HOUR about when and where I can have her. That comes directly from her mother. My ex has a streak in her that I could always see in her mother, but I could never see in her. I see it now. I was fooled for that long, sadly. Was it worth it? Yes. Look at Naomi. How could it not be. I have seen people who do bad things, and I have seen people who justify what they do, but that tag team has no limits. I don't' know the history behind her mother coming over here, but sometimes, with all the spite that has gone into my situation, I wonder how much of the truth I know. I know about affairs (mother and daughter), and I know about huge lies that have been covered up. I know what it takes to be good, and what it takes to be bad.
Am I just bitter? Today I am. I always am after I give Naomi back. I get to see that little Angel for 4 days a month. No parent should have to go through that. One day she will ask why, and I will tell her. I will tell her everything. The good, the bad, the ugly. Everything about me. Everything about her mother, and everything that happened. She can make up her own mind. That way she never has to ask me "why does mommy say bad things about you" and others like "dad, mommy doesn't like you does she?". Why the f*ck would a four year old ask me that??? Four year olds don't ask questions like that unless they are REALLY hearing it. I am supporting her financially, and I am also supporting her mother. She has decided school is best. So she has a free ride at daycare as I pay for everything. She doesn't have to pay for her own house (as it is being rented), and she doesn't have to pay for the house she is living in (because it is Steve's). She is a damn moocher. Mooch mooch. Funny how the pattern seems to be coming full circles, and does anyone else see the similarities between that and, oh, I don't know...Her mother? Wow. Uncanny huh? If only Steve were an airline pilot...
Oh well. I am done today.
This day has gone quickly though.

BBQ Day

Great day today!!
We had a bbq at our house today with a lot of our friends coming over. We had Autumn, Kimber, Ryan, Neal, Heather, Grace, Tenchi, Kenny, Darla, Austin, Josh, (+ 2 friends), Dave and Brent (Steph's friends from Hollywood), Jack and Tracey and Lucy, Joann, Madison, and baby Austin.
It was a great day at about 75 degrees. We bought a new bbq because our old one was sooooooo bad it had mold all over it. It was the Chia BBQ.
Great day. I am too tired to type any more.

Hot as hell

Sorry I have been away! Really busy actually.
Well, I still love my job!
I am going to be traveling quite a bit too which will be nice. Gotta plan it so I am here when Jack is born, and we'll see how the rest pans out. Maybe I will get enough miles where Steph and I can take that vacation we have always wanted to.
Mt St. Helens semi-erupted a few days ago which was interesting. Everyone was freaking out. So everyone over-reacted again.
Michael Jackson is on trial and showed up to court yesterday wearing pajamas. Sweet. I do believe that he is not going to last very long in prison. Which is good.
What else have you missed. Nothing much really. United were knocked out of the Champions League, and so were Arsenal, but Chelski made it through which sucked !
Oh, and it is 80 degrees today in PDX.
Wow.

Too Much Beer

I have been drinking too much beer.
not good.

Break Ups

break ups suck.
Autumn broke up with her long time 'friend' Rich yesterday. It pretty much was upsetting to see someone ike Autumn, who is so nice, and would be fantastic for anyone to have, treated poorly by someone else.
Long story which I won't get into now, but needless to say I think she is better and stronger for it. Steph and her stayed up talking until 3am (I went to bed at 2am) and are still in bed, so it must be good. We proposed that she come and stay with us too when her contract at her current place runs out in June.
She'll be fine...

It's A Boy

We went for the ultra sound today and found out that we are going to have a son !!!
How cool is that. I tried to call everyone (even Gran) and told them. I couldn't reach dad (what's new!) and tell him, so I will try again tomorrow. We are so excited.
Baby Jack has all his features, has developed nicely, and is coming along well. He is approximately 14oz right now, which is a little heavier than a can of coke.
Awesome. If words could paint pictures you would see the biggest smile on my face right now.