Analysis Of “Half Of My Heart” By John Mayer
| Half Of Heart That Wants To Love | Half Of Heart That Doesn’t Want To Love |
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Docking
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my dog, Wiki. I was hesitant about getting a dog with no tail. His tail was viciously chopped off when he was a puppy for hunting purposes, I’m sure. I’ve been watching his tail, hoping one day it could grow back but they don’t.
According to Wikipedia (not my dog, the online encyclopedia of which Wiki was named), they do it so the dogs don’t get hurt during hunting, to prevent rabies, and to make them faster. I just think it’s a cruel practice that should be made illegal.
Almost ALL first world countries ban it with some exceptions. A lot of other countries that you would think wouldn’t care also ban it. However, it’s legal in the United States. We’re in the same group as Afghanistan, Argentina, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Malaysia, etc. I have been wanting to blog about what’s wrong with America. Docking is definitely on there now.
Mosques Near Ground Zero
It’s getting old hearing all these people complain about the Mosque they’re building TWO BLOCKS AWAY from where the WTC used to be.
The fact is that it’s protected under the first amendment. However, that won’t get through these people’s minds. It’s protected, there’s no debating it, no matter what people say or do.
The closest thing people tried to stop it was to get the building declared a landmark. The landmark commission voted 9-0 that the building is NOT a landmark even though debris from the WTC touched it. Most the buildings in NYC would then have to be declared landmarks if that was so.
It’s on private property, it will be private church, how can government try to stop it? It’s protected under the first amendment, there’s no debate. Also, there’s separation of church and state which some people seem to forget.
It baffles my mind, it’s so hypocritical to rant and rave “PATRIOTS, PROTECT OUR COUNTRY, FREEDOM ISN’T FREE, THE TERRORISTS WANT TO TAKE AWAY OUR FREEDOMS… yada yada yada.” Yet, they’re protesting to take away the freedoms of other people? I don’t get it. They need to listen to themselves. What freedoms will we have if we keep taking them away, one by one, in the name of terrorism?
And some people forget that some Muslims died on 9/11, too. To cave on this would hand the terrorists a victory. They would have disrupted those people’s freedom to speech and religion. Are we supposed to treat Muslims different than everyone else? I don’t think so. That’s NOT what this country is about.
New Adventure 2010
As some of you know, I found another job. Today is my last day with a company who I’ve been with since August 2006. My first real experience job. My first job out of college. A company who actually gave me a chance.
It’s been great for the most part, I do have to say. I’ve learned a lot. I am who I am today because of them. Working with a small business has given me the opportunity to work in a lot of areas, which I like. I think I’m a well rounded person.
I’m leaving behind a few friends, which I don’t like to do. However, I’ve seen quite a few friends leave. Hopefully we will all keep in touch. This company has changed so much since I started here.
I’m trading in my scooter for my Prius and a longer commute and a smaller company. I know I will do well there just as I have here.
I figured out that I’ve been spending four years at a time at places:
- Four years at high school (Broadneck)
- Four years at college (Frostburg)
- Four years at this job
Twelve years of my life in only three places.
I can’t help but feel so happy and so sad at the same time. It’s kinda surprising, I’m not as emotional as I thought. I haven’t cried here yet. I cried at home but not here. I guess, when I’m here, it doesn’t feel like it’s hit yet. I cleaned out my stuff. I took it home yesterday. I’m riding my scooter for the last time here, at least as a full time employee.
A new journey awaits, a new chapter in my life.
Done With VHS
I wanted to watch one of the movies I had on VHS the other night. It turns out my VCR I had since I was like 14 had died. I’m not 100% sure it was the VCR but it’s not like I can go buy a new one.
In light of this I have decided my VHS days are over. I have quite a few movies on VHS I have to rebuy on DVD. I hate that. One of the reasons I don’t want to buy a blu ray player. It’s pretty not cool that we have to keep buying the same movie over and over because they switch formats. I’m glad one format won in the blu ray vs HD war.
Anyway, here’s a list of all the movies I had on VHS. I’ll probably try to sell all of them for like $20 on craigslist or something this next week.
- Star Wars Trilogy (originals, episodes 4-6)
- Star Wars Trilogy (digitally remastered, special edition, episodes 4-6)
- Planet Of The Apes (old, all movies, movies 1-5)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (old, all movies, movies 1-3)
- Indiana Jones, Raiders Of The Lost Ark
- Indiana Jones, The Last Crusade
- Isn’t She Great
- Niles Loves Daphne (a tape I made with all the great moments of Frasier and Niles & Daphne)
- mini tape to VHS adapter (for my old camcorder)
- a head cleaner (LOL, remember those?)
- Not Another Teen Movie
- Drowning Mona (the movie I wanted to watch)
- Jurassic Park
- Fatal Attraction
- Ordinary Decent Criminal
- The Great Gatsby
- Big Business
- Clue (already bought DVD)
- Bad Company
- Dick
- Mr. Holland’s Opus
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- 9 To 5
- Driving Miss Daisy
- The X Files (movie, first one)
- South Park Bigger, Longer, & Uncut
- Junior
- What Lies Beneath
- Presumed Innocent
- Austin Powers (first one)
- X Men (first one)
- Last Action Hero
- The Sting
- Grumpy Old Men (first one)
Ahh, VHS. You were so good to me. I don’t have any way to record shows now… not like I have done it in years. On Demand has covered me in that department. We don’t have TiVo or DVR or whatever. But, I guess I won’t miss you.
2010 Resolutions Update I
Here’s a list of my 2010 resolutions and where I am:
- Get over feelings I have (yeah, I don’t feel that way anymore, and frankly I don’t care)
- See Aunt Ruth & Aunt Janet more (ugh, I saw AR like 3 times this year, AJ like no times… I suck)
- Eat less meat and find more things to eat that are vegetarian (I find it really hard to do this, I’m eating more fish but it gets hard at restaurants, I find myself eating fish or multiple sides)
- Finish the garage (everything else but the driveway is complete)
- Get Candi off the cone (her paw is almost 100% healed but this will sadly be never done)
- Settle Dad’s estate (not under my control)
- Fix the Camaro and paint it (runs fine, needs an oil change, paint = DONE)
- *you know*
- Ride the scooter to work (whenever I can, I do)
- Host at least three parties (haven’t even had one yet, a few mini parties, maybe in a few weeks)
- Snowboarding, master the bunny slope and be able to get off the lift without falling (nope)
- Go see a general practitioner (done, I have high cholesterol)
- Donate money to charity (haven’t been able to donate to anything since I have bills to pay and people I need to support)
- Go on vacation and take more weekend breaks (Vegas, went to OC, plan to go on more little trips)
- Get better at debating (I’m well in the loop)
- Make more friends (I made a few this year, I want to make more)
New goals:
- I may delete my facebook page
- I’ll be setting up my own wiki of my life
- Take more pictures… maybe… of parties I attend and stuff
Verizon FiOS Destruction
That Comcast commercial is completely true. FiOS really does do a lot of destruction when installing their crappy service. I blogged about this when I got FiOS installed.
A bunch of friends and I were up for a movie the other weekend but FiOS OnDemand was down. This was at like 11:00 PM on a Saturday night. Like prime time for watching a movie. We called them up and they said they were doing maintenance… on a Saturday night. FAIL.
Our HD box has also been finiky. It’s pretty slow. You have to be very delicate when choosing menu options. For instance, I can’t go down to Recently Viewed stuff or else it will freeze. If I want to see something I stopped earlier, I have to navigate back to where I found it. FAIL.
Anyway, the main reason I’m blogging is because FiOS totally screws up the streets. I saw their van a few months ago installing their crappy service on Broadwood Drive in Rockville (a street that I commute on). They had to navigate traffic around their crappy little cones in order to drill the street to lay their crappy wiring. I should have called then but I thought they’d actually clean up their mess.
When I take my scooter on this road, there are bumps everywhere and uneven pavement. There’s even a place really bad where I have to completely slow down. It’s like a reverse speed bump. The scooter doesn’t like it. Neither does the Camaro.
So I finally thought about calling them the other day. I thought they were going to hang up on me but surprisingly, they created a ticket for it. I had to give them all my Verizon account information. Not sure why they needed that but whatever.
They called me back the next day and basically said it wasn’t their problem. The city of Rockville had to fix it even though they were the ones who installed it! My tax dollars going to another greedy corporation for stuff that THEY’RE responsible for fixing. It’s like the oil rig explosion in the golf… except this is 2,398,438 times worse… just kidding.
Janny’s Review Of Droid Incredible
I’ve been playing around with the Incredible for about a week now. I got it earlier than it was released and got a pretty sweet deal (two Incredible’s for around $300). I signed another 2 year deal with Verizon for 700 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data, etc for about $180/month for two phones.
I took pictures of everything on my flickr.
After having it for a week, I have to say, this phone does rock. Here’s a list of stuff that’s cool and what’s not.
Cool Stuff:
- Android Market has tones of apps. Pretty easy to use interface too.
- It’s FAST. I mean FAST. It’s probably faster than my internet connection at work.
- It knows which direction I’m facing! It’s that precise.
- The traffic on Google Maps is awesome. It has like all the roads, even the Pike and 28! You can also zoom in and out with your fingers. It also has satellite view.
- It got a lot of information from Facebook. Once it recognized the name, I was able to port over their information (even their avatar) on my phone.
- The camera is pretty cool. Here’s a picture I took: Dimitri At His Desk
- The five desktop screens. I’m worried I’m going to run out of room for my shortcuts and widgets.
- The desktops are cool. I have mine set on a phone one with water that I can tap. There are lots more downloadable on the Android Market.
- The GPS on this thing is AMAZING. As you’ll read, I have a compass app which pinpoints my precise location. It also knows what direction I’m facing. I’ll never be lost again.
- The browser is pretty brilliant. You can zoom in and out with your fingers. It resizes everything for easy viewing.
- The icon on the top shows new messages and emails, which is nice.
- It has a pretty loud ringer. That’s what I hated about the Voyager, it was too soft.
- It’s light weight. It’s lighter than the Voyager. It fits naturally in your pocket and hands.
- Getting and placing calls takes getting used to. If your face isn’t near your phone during a call, it recognizes that and it pops up a screen with talk time, end call button, and phone pad. It also says what city the phone is registered on on Caller ID.
- Good software to read pdf, doc, xls is really good. I wouldn’t want to write a paper on the phone but I probably could.
- The app Note Everything, saves stuff to the card so I can easily get it from the phone via USB or card reader.
- I can easily send more than 1 picture at a time.
- Of course, multitasking!
Not So Cool:
- I can’t figure out how to pull up my contacts while in a phone conversation. I needed to yesterday. I had to hang up, pull up the number, then text it.
- If you have your mail sync with your phone, if you send or delete a message, it won’t save it in Yahoo Mail. It doesn’t put the message in the trash upon delete and there’s nothing in my sent folder in Yahoo from any email I sent with the phone.
- I haven’t figured out a way (I don’t think there is one) to save individual texts. It has it in a long conversation, which is nice since you can see what was said, but I can’t delete individual texts, I’d have to delete the entire conversation.
- Android Market has a lot of repeat apps… they may have over 50,000 but how many of them are actually unique?
- Some of the cooler apps cost money where as online they are free.
- The FaceBook App needs some work. It limits what I can view on people’s profiles. Nor does it have events yet. It would be cool if it automatically put events in your calendar.
- Maybe I just haven’t figured it out yet, but the Google Maps needs a layer for gas stations and food and stuff.
- Maybe it’s a bug in the widget but it doesn’t show the sun until around 11AM on my phone… it’s still the moon.
- It asks for birthdays in my contacts, but it doesn’t notify me of birthdays or anything, so that’s pretty useless.
- The keyboard is quirky and takes some getting used to. I added a few words that weren’t words and I’m not sure how to delete them from the library. I (as well as Brian) often does a “.” instead of a space. I miss the Voyager full qwerty keyboard with actual buttons.
- Not all apps rotate when you turn the phone. The desktop doesn’t even rotate. YouTube videos have to be viewed horizontally.
- I couldn’t figure out the camera at first. I didn’t know how to take a picture. Then I tried the bottom button, and that worked. That’s the only thing I use that button for. You can use it to maneuver screens but it goes in the opposite direction you’d expect.
- Battery life isn’t so great. But if you get the Task Killer app, that saves a lot. Before I had that, my battery would barely last a day. Now it lasts until I put it on the charger at night.
- Figuring out the ringer is kind of annoying. It only has three modes (which are called profiles): Normal, Vibrate, and silent.
Apps I Downloaded:
- 10001 Cocktails (Which came in handy in OC… I looked up some drinks and ordered them. The bartender was impressed!)
- Advanced Task Killer Free (A must! You have to get this in order to close your apps. If not, your apps will run in the background sucking up resources and batteries.)
- Air Horn (To make as much noise as we can!)
- Bubbles (Just a goofy application to create bubbles and pop them.)
- Compass (VERY precise. Gives you longitude and latitude as well as the address of where you are. It identifies EXACTLY where I am.)
- DrunkBlocker (So I don’t accidentally call people when I’m drunk.)
- FlashLight (Pretty cool, so you can see where you’re going.)
- Google Sky Map (Awesome app!)
- MeetroDC (So I know when the next trains are coming.)
- Moon Phase (Tells what phase the moon is in and when the next full moon is.)
- Note Everything (A notepad kind of thing which also has a white board.)
- Shazam (To identify songs.)
- Twidroid (For Twitter.)
- Urbanspoon
Basically, the phone is awesome. Totally worth it. It took a lot of getting used to. It took Brian an hour to figure out how to get my ring tones and it took a long time to figure out how to customize the desktops. I’d give the phone an 8.5/10.
Sick
I really don’t know how I contain myself now. Why I’m not screaming at the top of my lungs. I just fucking blogged about the need for government regulation and for government to step in and do something less than two weeks ago.
Since then two more people died because of another mine collapse and eleven people have lost their lives due to BP’s oil explosion. And not to mention the countless thousands of fish and wildlife that will die because of this oil rig explosion which could be worse than the Exxon Valdez.
Hypocrites. All those tea partiers preaching their “Drill Baby, Drill”… where are they now to help clean up this mess? Where are the Republicans who touted “Drill Baby, Drill”? Why aren’t they protesting in Arizona over the recent immigration law which allows government to get in your face if you “look illegal”? Or in Oklahoma where Republicans passed legislation to make a sonogram mandatory for getting an abortion which is clear government intervention? Or what about the entire Bush presidency?
The oil spill, the mining “accidents”, the hypocrites all make me sick.
I boycott Exxon because of Valdez and now looks like I’ll be boycotting BP.
This shit shouldn’t happen.
The Need For Government Regulation
As I stated in my previous blog post, the need for government regulation has become increasingly more important. After previous administrations, so much government regulation has been taken away or not enforced. The deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, toys from China, the coal mine incidents, the economic collapse, ENRON, deregulation of our finance, energy, communications, transportation, etc. Many times after the fact have we realized maybe there should have been something put in place or enforced so bad things don’t happen, like with the current recession.
What comes to mind most recently (besides the coal mine explosion) is what’s going on with Toyota. Just the other day Consumer Reports came out and said the Lexus GX is unsafe and should not be bought. Now Toyota has stopped sales of its Lexus. It takes an independent magazine by a union to do enough safety tests to realize that a vehicle is unsafe for the road? The NHTSA didn’t find it? Even the Prius gas pedal wasn’t found by our “government regulations”. WTF?
Everyone thinks government regulation is a bad thing, but they are put in place for a reason; to make our cars safe, to make where we work safe, to make our food and water safe, to make our buildings safe, etc. To ensure that we won’t get hurt physically or financially by companies, to protect us.
We need government regulation because without it, we will get hurt. It happens time and time again when regulation is taken away or not enforced. We need a go between of companies and people and the government is the only thing to do it right. To look out for the people because that’s who the government represents. Contrary to what the SCOTUS says, corporations are NOT people.
It can’t just be a “states rights” thing either. Prime example, look at all the influence the coal industry has in West Virginia. Massey kicked the unions out. The unions couldn’t even help with the rescue effort. Massey got away with operating an unsafe mine and 29 people lost their lives because of it.
I know all these “don’t tread on me” people claim differently but the government is supposed to have the best intentions for the American people. That’s its job.
Recent Mine Explosions
If the recent deaths in the West Virginia and China mines isn’t enough to make us switch to alternative energy, I don’t know what is.
China said by the end of the year 8,000 less efficient and less safe coal mines will be closed. Their mines are less safe because they don’t have the OSHA requirements that we do. However, the United States does face disasters in mines still as shown in recent and past events.
Alternative energy like wind and solar don’t nearly have the dangers that mining coal does (and oil drilling for that matter). Alternatives saves more lives and reduces climate change, which saves our planet.
If we do keep using coal (signs point to yes), we should most definately enact more restrictions on companies who mine. Massey Energy got fined $382,000 last year, according to the Washington Post, for safety violations, allowing coal dust to pile up, and not having sufficient fire gear. That shouldn’t happen in this country.
Back in 2007, I said the same thing with the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine. There should have been more harsher regulations in place. I even blamed Bush for easing safety enforcements which could have prevented deaths in that incident (and, perhaps, the recent incident).
Quickie Quote From Bill Maher II
Bill Maher said something last week that was 100% true. Too long for twitter…
“You ever watch House or Gray’s Anatomy? It’s like ten or twelve doctors for just you. All they do is treat you and then they go home and fuck each other and think about you. That’s the fantasy.”
Makes a strong case for watching Nurse Jackie instead of House.
The Recent Passage Of HCR In 2010
Unfortunately I don’t have much time to write about this since work has been real busy. I just wanted to say a few things about the bill.
I don’t like the whole thing. I’m not in love with it. I don’t like a lot of stuff that’s in it. Having said that, I do believe it’s the best we can do right now and if I were a member of congress, I would have voted for it. I wanted more in the bill like a lot more regulation on insurance companies and a robust public option (let alone ANY public option). But like Kucinich and other progressives, I had to put those wants aside and realize this bill is the best we can do now.
People who won’t compromise get in the way of democracy. The entire Republican party basically refused to compromise. They couldn’t see the good things about the bill like no exclusions on preexisting conditions and adults can stay on their parents health care until 26. Even Bart Stupak wanted to vote no on the bill unless Obama issued an executive order for no funding on abortion (which that was assumed in the bill anyway… I guess Stupak just needed it underlined and in BOLD).
Stupak did compromise and he did vote for the bill (to which he does deserve a thank you). Republican’s couldn’t and I believe they’re on the wrong side of history yet again.
Now, what I’m scared of is people not knowing or realizing that this bill helped them, just like how some people don’t realize that Medicare is a government run program. I’m worried that those teabaggers will not realize that when they get sick, their insurance company can’t drop them like they used to before this bill.
I’m also worried that when (big IF) the Republicans regain power in 2012, they’ll get the credit for the bill when it takes effect in 2014 (kinda like Obama took credit for the new GI bill which Bush passed). I’m also worried that they won’t get the bad rep for NOT supporting it.
I do hope that progressives won’t give up on wanting a single payer universal health care system like the other first world countries. Nancy Pelosi declared HC solved. Progressives don’t think so. I just hope they don’t give up the fight. I know I won’t.
Enough ranting… I also wanted to point to a good resource about information about the bill: www.politifact.com . It’s a bipartisan site with lots of good stuff.
Dennis Kucinich’s Vote For HCR
So Dennis Kucinich decided to change his mind and vote for the current HCR bill. He rode on Air Force One, had a talk with Obama and Pelosi and decided to switch. Ever since he’s been getting flack for it.
I don’t really think he deserves it. Bloggers have been bashing him, calling him a Washington Insider, etc. I know why he did it, and it could be the right thing to do. I totally agree with him, the bill is a tremendous give away to the insurance companies, but at least it’s something. If I were Kucinich, I’d probably do the same thing. You also have a lot of progressives that support the bill like Alan Grayson.
It’s by far not the right bill, but Kucinich has hope that it’ll be a start. He has hope that there will be other bills introduced that will make it better. Congress just doesn’t have the vote thanks to centrist and bought out Dems for it to be better right now.
I’d follow Kucinich anywhere. I have complete faith in him. I really wish he’d become more popular and have a shot at POTUS. I think he does the right thing, every time. He’s one of the few representatives that I actually trust.
I really hope he doesn’t have a good Democratic challenger in the primary. We need him and we need more people like him in Congress.
Elitist Songs
I’ve been wanting to blog about this topic for a while, but some songs just get on my nerves because they are so elitist. A few come to mind:
- All American Rejects – Gives You Hell – So, should I be ashamed of working 9-5? Most people do. The fact that he gets to party all the time and wake up in the evening, I don’t think I could be jealous of that. And he’ll probably die young. Besides, if the guy DIDN’T miss the person who the song is about, he wouldn’t be singing it, would he?
- Jay Z – Empire State Of Mind – Jay Z’s saying I couldn’t make it in New York. What does “make it” mean anyway? And you’re not the “new Sinatra”, Mister Z. I know a lot of people who don’t really like your music.
- Pink – So What – Now this song really makes me angry. Who can actually sing it after they lose their husband? Not me, I’m not a rock star. And I don’t party every night like that light purple character.
- Joe Walsh – Life’s Been Good – All “Joe The Artist” sings about is his money and his fancy life in which he drives a Mazaratti and tears down hotel walls. Who does that?
- Shawn Mullens – Lullaby – Really? We’re supposed to feel sorry for a rich girl who grew up getting everything she ever wanted? And who is currently a singer making bank? Really?
- Chris Brown – Kiss Kiss – An eighteen year old with a Lambo… yeah, that’s realistic. He’s from a little town in Virginia. Damn, who are his parents?
- Will Smith – Miami – Ah, yes, another case of a celebrity going on vacation 1,583 days a year. Must be nice.
- John Mayer – No Such Thing – I guess super stars don’t need to know about the real world. Mister Mayer should get a real job and see what it’s like for the rest of us working class.
Quickie On A Chat At Lunch
Thought I’d share a joke we had at lunch the other day…
Dimitri was off on vacation last week, Patrick had said he emailed him some things. Dimitri asked what Patrick emailed him.
I said, “He emailed you ‘Did you get my email?’… Then Dimitri would say, ‘What email?’ ‘The email I wrote that said ‘did you get my email?””
Eh, typing it, it doesn’t sound as funny as when I said it during lunch. Fail.
Candi’s DNA Results
As a Christmas present, my sister got Brian and I a DNA test for Candi. The test is available at Canine Heritage.com. It tells what kind of breed(s) make up your dog.
The results came back the other day and Candi turns out to have some Dachshund, Chow Chow, and German Shepherd in her. She has no primary or secondary breeds. She’s more than likely a very mixed dog.
Doing some research into the breeds they found (we all thought she was at least some Beagle, by the way), I compiled a list of traits from the three dogs they found in her.
Dachshund
- Chases things with determination
- Devotion & loyalty to owners
- Prone to separation anxiety
- Show above average intelligence
- Clever, lively, & courageous
- Challenges larger dogs
- Does not like unfamiliar people, may growl & bark
Chow Chow
- Extremely loyal
- Curly tail
- Prefer to watch for strangers by entrance
German Shepherd
- Sheds all year long
- Very smart
- Willingness to learn
- Loyal nature & bond well
- Over protective of family & territory
- Probably gets the bird on her head & colors
She’s just a puppy!
Random Thoughts 2/1/10
- This one probably deserves a post in and of itself. Bri and I are looking to expand our family. We want to adopt another dog but we’re running into a lot of difficulties. We can’t adopt a puppy from a shelter because one of us needs to be stay at home. You’d think with the economy being bad and a lot of unwanted animals, they’d be lenient.
- Bill Maher blogged if Democrats really wanted to pass health care, they should be against it. Makes sense and I agree. Republicans are the party of no and the opposite of everything the Democrats are for.
- I’m almost done three of my 2010 Resolutions.
- Re Big Love: If Bill would embrace the Progressive idea of Universal Health Care, he wouldn’t have to worry about his wives/children being dropped from his family coverage. But he’s running as a Republican (and Right Wing Christian) and we know their views.
- I think the iPad is a joke and will fail regardless of Apple’s following. It doesn’t do anything new.
- I REALLY hope the economy rebounds soon. I’m tired of it day after day and it’s really hurting me, even though I have a job, believe it or not.
- I have a few money making ideas. I’m waiting for a few things in order to get started.
- I’m REALLY scared for our country if we can’t get the recent Supreme Court decision undone. Alan Grayson is leading the charge in introducing two new bills to try to stop it, and an online petition. This issue should be bipartisan and Obama was correct in bashing the Justices in his State Of The Union.
- Also, it’s a relief that Scott Roeder was convicted. It had me REALLY scared that in our country we might be crazy enough to let off a murderer.
A Murphy’s Law Day
I finally decided to blog about an instance of a day my coworker and I had a few weeks ago. It’s a day where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
Let me start out by saying, I’ve told this story to a few people, including my husband. As I was telling it each and every time, I even thought I was lying.
It started out, Dimitri decided to order lunch from one of our favorite lunch haunts, Kenny’s. I ordered over the phone in advance so we could just pick it up. Dimitri decided to grab their lunch deal there.
We went to Kenny’s around 12:00, lunch time. We parked where we usually park, in front of Kenny’s Sub Shop. We walked in to get our lunch. No line or anything. In the midths of paying for our food, the lady from the counter said “Uh oh, some body’s car is being towed”. It was Dimitri’s.
He ran out to tell the tow truck not to tow his car. I was still trying to pay for my food. The tow truck driver said to give him $50 in cash to drop it. Dimitri said he didn’t have it. The guy then said to go to the ATM around the corner.
Dimitri went back into Kenny’s and told me what he was doing. The guy, not to my knowledge, was still proceeding to tow the car. Dimitri was gone, maybe five minutes, getting money from the ATM. I was in Kenny’s, thinking the tow truck driver would keep his word and all would be okay. The tow truck driver then started to drive away. I started to run after him, trying to flag him down.
Dumbfounded, I called Dimitri. While he was coming back, I stopped two cops that were heading into Kenny’s. I asked if they saw anything wrong with the spot. There was no sign for handicap parking or anything. There was a sign a few spaces in front of Qdoba, but it didn’t label the spot we were parked in. The cops were totally on our side and said there was no reason anyone should have towed our car. We then decided to call the same tow place that was on the Qdoba sign, on the off chance it was them who towed it. They didn’t have record of Dimitri’s car. We then called the police. The two officers were nice enough to give us the number. The MoCo police said they’d come investigate.
We called the tow truck place again. We even had the cops on the phone telling them to bring the car back, that the space was a legitimate space to park. They said they didn’t have anyone that could tow our car back. Whatever. We had to go there.
I quickly ate my lunch before the cops showed up. I also called Mike to come get us, but the cops came there before Mike could. When they got there, they looked around and found a tiny sign as you go up the hill saying “Qdoba Parking Only”. NO sign or label on the space or the spaces around it. We had parked there 293 times before.
We asked the cops if they could give us a ride to the tow place. They were nice enough to agree but what a pickle. The cop didn’t know the area and we had to call the place several times for an address and directions. My GPS messed up and thought I was on a road I wasn’t… Yay, Verizon. After driving around a few times, passing the sub shop like three times, the cop finally found the place. A little crappy place that operated out of a trailer, of which had no steps. The gate was chained up with a pad lock. The fence looked like it was ready to fall over but at least the barbed wire at the top was intact.
The same dude who towed us walked out and said it would be $115 to get the car back. Dimitri said he said $50 then towed him away. The guy, total jerk, the very definition of a-hole, said he needed $115 to get the car back. Dimitri kept his cool and asked if there was an ATM around since they didn’t take credit cards. The guy said there was a credit union close and pointed us in that direction, and, for our hassle and his arrogance, he knocked off $15.
We then walked to the credit union. As luck would have it, the ATM was out of order. We asked people walking by if they knew of another one. We even stopped by a few little restaurants to see if they’d run a card and give us money, with no avail. Some people said in some government building a few blocks over. We went there, walked right in and were promptly stopped by security.
We then had to walk all the way to the main entrance and sign in, go through a medal detector, be patted down, and have a security guard personally walk us to the ATM. We finally got the money and headed back.
When we got back, the dude at the gate said it would be $115. Dimitri said the one dude before said $100. He had the dude get on the phone to the other dude. He finally agreed, $100. If not, we would have to walk all the way back to the ATM again, so at least that went okay.
They let us retrieve the car so we went back to work. The whole fiasco took two hours.
Ugh, anyway, at least nothing else went wrong that day.
Vacation Tweets – Las Vegas 1/14/10 – 1/20/10
Here’s the list of tweets from my Las Vegas vacation!
Wednesday January 13, 2010
- Officially on #VACATION! 5:11 PM EST
Thursday January 14, 2010
- Arrived in #Atlanta. Almost two hour layover. Weak. 8:48 AM EST
- Had nothing but problems with #Delta so far. My flight is delayed. Leaving #Atlanta at 11:30 now. 10:16 AM EST
- Flight delayed again. They don’t even have a plane for us. We’re to go to another gate, unknown yet. MASSIVE #DeltaFail! 11:12 AM EST
- Finally boarding! Almost ready. #DeltaFail 1:20 PM EST
- Idiots and their big bags. We’d be up in the air if it wasn’t for their cheap asses. #fail 1:34 PM EST
- #Vegas trip update: We’re stuck in the plane, on the runway. There’s something wrong with the intercom system. Joy. #fail 2:39 PM EST
- We have arrived! #Vegas 6:53 PM EST 3:53 PM PST
- JAY LENO is here! Brian is getting tickets now! I can’t believe it! #jayleno #vegas 8:40 PM EST 5:40 PM PST
Friday January 15, 2010
- This is #fail. It’s 6 AM here and I’m wide awake. 9:15 AM EST 6:15 AM PST
- At #M&M World. Then #NYNY to grab a bite. 2:40 PM EST 11:40 AM PST
- Seeing the #Titanic exhibit at the #Luxor. 4:52 PM EST 1:52 PM PST
- Now at the Auto Collection at the Imperial Palace. Worried we might run out of things to do in #Vegas… Probably not. 7:42 PM EST 4:42 PM PST
- Just had sushi at a Japanese steakhouse. Now waiting for the #volcano to errupt at the #Mirage. 9:47 PM EST 6:47 PM PST
- Just saw the Pirates show at #TI (Treasure Island). Currently enjoying a tasty ice cream at #McDonalds. 10:50 PM EST 7:50 PM PST
Saturday January 16, 2010
- Just took a bath. This hotel towel smells like coffee. Probably going to get breakfast now. 11:31 AM EST 8:31 AM PST
- Ran into two #Ravens fans so far. Going to watch the games at the sports bar here. They have big screens. #GoRavens! 12:07 PM EST 9:07 AM PST
- Sports bar at Circus Circus sucks. Have to find another one. 4:01 PM EST 1:01 PM PST
- Kurt Warner is tough! #Cardinals 6:38 PM EST 3:38 PM PST
- #WTF is that s**t call on Lewis??? Bull! 9:33 PM EST 6:33 PM PST
- #Colts obviously have the refs on their side. #NFLFail 10:17 PM EST 7:17 PM PST
- I JUST GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN WITH JAY LENO!!! 11:49 PM EST 8:49 PM PST
Sunday January 17, 2010
- Is #Minnesota starting to self destruct? #Cowboys aren’t looking too good. 2:47 PM EST 11:47 AM PST
- After all the #Cowboys did for the #Vikings, for them to just smear it in their faces is just cherlish. I lost some respect for #Favre. 4:02 PM EST 1:02 PM PST
- Seriously, #Chargers? You need to win. You’re the only ones who know how to beat the #Colts! 7:18 PM EST 4:18 PM PST
- Heading out to #Fremont Street! 8:04 PM EST 5:04 PM PST
- Brian won $1.55 on a shot machine waiting for our table at Tony Romas. 8:39 PM EST 5:39 PM PST
- Checking out a gift shop at Fremont Street and awaiting the show. 9:33 PM EST 6:33 PM PST
- Finding some really cool glasses in souvenir shops… Too bad I don’t pay for my glasses. #vegas 9:44 PM EST 6:44 PM PST
- I just gambled and won the cost of my souvenirs today. Bri just made $15.60! #vegas 10:48 PM EST 7:48 PM PST
- Up $15.22 tonight already. Going fo more now. 12:10 AM EST 9:10 PM PST
- Brian’s excersizing his prob and stat knowledge and is hitting it big in roulette! 1:22 AM EST 10:22 PM PST
Monday January 18, 2010
- Rainy day in #LV. Off to get some food. Hoping my luck will change tonight. 1:10 PM EST 10:10 AM PST
- Brian just won $1.40 playing Triple 7’s at Caesars. 3:28 PM EST 12:28 PM PST
- Bought souvenirs. Just checked out the fountains at the #Bellagio. 6:09 PM EST 3:09 PM PST
- Going to Mandalay Bay to check out the coral reef. 6:44 PM EST 3:44 PM PST
- Having dinner at #PlanetHollywood in Caesar’s Mall. 8:17 PM EST 5:17 PM PST
- Waiting for the fountains at the #Bellagio again. This time at night. Then off to the Monte Carlo. Frank Caliendo tonight! #frankcaliendo 9:20 PM EST 6:20 PM PST
- Got upgraded on Frank Caliendo tickets! We’re now in the seventh row! Woo! #awesome #win 12:13 AM EST 9:13 PM PST
- Just got our pictures taken with Frank cliendo! Woo! #anotherwin #awesome 2:01 AM EST 11:01 PM PST
Tuesday January 19, 2010
- At the top of the Stratosphere! Ahhh! It’s really high! 2:41 PM EST 11:41 AM PST
- Oh yeah. Three #Ravens fans now. Ran into another one on the Stratosphere. 3:17 PM EST 12:17 PM PST
- Apparently our hotel hasn’t gotten out of the stone age yet. 1 800 numbers cost money when you dial them. #fail 4:58 PM EST 1:58 PM PST
- Just had dinner. All you can eat pasta for $10. Now walking around the Adventuredome. It’s leaking because of the rain. 8:37 PM EST 5:37 PM PST
- Going down stairs to #gamble. 10:59 PM EST 7:59 PM PST
- Lost Brian in the #Casino. Can somebody put a fricken bell on him or something? 12:13 AM EST 9:13 PM PST
Wednesday January 20, 2010
- People in the same boat as we. Trying to finish their beverages before check point. #airport 10:56 AM EST 7:56 AM PST
- All checked in and waiting for boarding. Our flight is on time! Ready to go to #Detroit. Bye, #Vegas. 12:00 PM EST 9:00 AM PST
- Just landed in #Detroit. Other flight leaves in like 20 minutes. May not make it. #DeltaFail 4:48 PM EST
- Barely made it to our flight. I don’t think our bag will have the same luck. 5:01 PM EST
- Finally landed at Reagan. Need to take #metro now. 6:35 PM EST