Saturday, October 31, 2009

In Deep.




Jesus, after today's cooking adventure, you'd think some lucky man would marry me.

I bought my first deep fryer today.

I can fucking make restaurant quality egg rolls and fried wonton noodles now.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Perq's


I went out last night to a dive bar in Huntington Beach called Perq's to watch a friend play drums in a band he's in. It was jam night at Perq's, but they did their regular classic rock set with every song they normally do. Their set was good highlighted by their cover of Wild Cherry's "Play that Funky Music" aka the audience participation song. The next band only did blues. I pooped out on the second band's third song and bailed. It was after 11.

It was the first time since I went to the South Coast Rep for a Yelp event that I went out. I didn't drink anything. I got to talk to Manny after the gig about what was going on in his life and about what happened to him after he was laid off in 2000. Life insurance. Ultimately, the business was something he grew a distaste for because of so many uneducated people and he then got into industrial sales. He's one smart cookie.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I don't know

The Spaniard got in contact with me after almost 2 years had passed. I don't know why guys contact me after years for sex. It kinda bothers me. Why? Because I rather be in a relationship to get sex regularly than to go through all the trouble of finding a great partner every time I want it. I know, I know... I have to find the great sex partner before I can have he relationship I want, but then I keep finding guys with excuses and I really hate excuses.

Married, separated, working hours, distance, kids, family. Life gets in the way. One of these days the stars will align and it will happen. I feel it.

Last weeks date was OK, but he was a workaholic with control issues. The guy was telling me he was active and went to the gym 2-3 times a week but he had a gut and generally looked out of shape. When I got to the coffee shop, I didn't wait and bought myself a soy late soon after I arrived and didn't wait for him at the front of the shop. 30-60 minutes later, (because I checked the time on my cellphone out of boredom. I know- bad) after discussing appreciation of cars, his business, my unemployment, music, food, and Yelp.com after taking notes on the coffee shop we met at, he invited me to Lawry's Carvery for dinner. The half of a french dip sandwich I ate was undercooked and made me sick. I went to the bathroom and he bailed saying his neighbors said he needed to pick up a key and he'd call in a few days. When things get tough, do I want a guy who can't handle it? No! And I read his excuse to leave as "kiss off". There was little chemistry due to his inflated ego and I didn't really find him attractive. And he didn't call me again nor am I going to pick up the phone to call him either. Bye-bye.

Helen Keller

I once had a manager that gave me a placard for Christmas which read:

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows ... Helen Keller".


Basically, it says to stay positive.

It's been exactly two months since I was laid off. Yesterday, I received a phone call out of the blue from a recruiter about a FHA shipping position. Today, I found a VA shipping position online. It's not exactly the work I want, but it will allow me to pay my bills and get on with my career without having to move to Texas. I'm so over qualified for these jobs, but you never know...

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Life Goes On

I had a first date last night with a guy named Ron from Costa Mesa. It was the first date (as a result of my membership on plentyoffish.com) I've had in a while since I was spooked by that sadomasochist in MV (from okcupid.com - another free dating website I'm no longer on). We went to a local coffee shop, but not Starbuck's. All of my Starbuck's dates in the past had been disasters. I didn't want that stigma bouncing around in my head, so a day before, I changed the venue he had me pick.

The coffee shop was fun and the date was fine, but a little awkward in places which I'd say was pretty normal as far as first dates go. We sat there talking and drinking at the coffee shop and I thought everything was going OK, when he asked me to go to dinner at SCP. OK, I'm game. We take both cars it's maybe a little over a mile away. He took off before me and I get caught in the light signals. He thinks I've ditched him - not true. So I walk up and he's on his phone. He says he's calling me, but my phone never rings. Hrmm.

Eat dinner and the french dip was a little too undercooked and it went right through me, so I excuse myself to go to the bathroom. He said he would wait. I know I took longer than I should and I felt bad about it. I bet he thinks I snuck out the back door. When I get back to the table, he's gone. Seconds roll by and he calls while I'm composing a text message and he says his neighbors called him to pick up their house key. Ehy? Maybe that was his way of getting out of saying goodbye and he set up the call while I was walking up in the parking lot. By now, it's between 8:30 and 9PM when the mall closes. I gave him my card earlier and he said he'd call in a few days. I don't know... I just don't know. Strong beginning, OK middle, weak finish to this date. Jesus... how much roast beef did I actually have between my teeth? LOL.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Healthy Insurance Ideas...

Sometimes simple ideas are the best ones.
  • What if it were illegal for health insurance companies to charge to more than 10% of an individual's or family's total monthly gross income for comprehensive health care?
  • What if it were illegal for insurance carriers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions?
  • What if there were no such thing as a co-payment or a deductible?
  • Knowing that smoking and obesity are a contributing factor in 30% of health care issues and 50% of all American's are overweight, what if people who smoked and were morbidly obese were required to be under a doctors care until they were deemed healthy?

Would that make health insurance more affordable? Would that get more people insured?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

MSN Astrology Today: What makes you nuts?

Gemini:
Mercury is your planet, Gemini, the guy with the wings on his head and his feet, symbolizing his quicksilver abilities when it comes to mental and physical speed. So, understandably, nothing makes you crazier than someone who just won't cut to the chase when they're telling a story or refuses to take a shortcut when they know they're running late - although it's hard to imagine how they could resist, with all the tapping and fidgeting you do while you're waiting.

Cancer:
Safety, security, and your home and family are what matter most to you, Cancer, and there's nothing you love more than spending an evening at your place, surrounded by loved ones, snuggled up under a quilt. So what makes you nuts? Being dragged out by a well-meaning friend who's decided that you "need more socializing." That's grounds for . . . well, for all kinds of things. Second, though, is having to eat someone else's cooking, which is seldom, if ever, as good as yours.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Daily Affirmation

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.

6:1

I just heard there are 6 jobs seekers for every job posted.

It feels like it.

No positive responses, just auto generated "We received your resume" emails.

Hrmmm.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Bombing the Moon on 10/9/09

From the NASA website:

"LCROSS launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on June 18, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. PDT. The LCROSS shepherding spacecraft and the Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage rocket executed a fly-by of the moon on June 23, 2009 (LCROSS lunar swingby video stream coverage) and entered into an elongated Earth orbit to position LCROSS for impact on a lunar pole. On final approach, the shepherding spacecraft and Centaur will separate. The Centaur will act as a heavy impactor to create a debris plume that will rise above the lunar surface. Projected impact at the lunar South Pole is currently: Oct 9, 2009 at 4:30 a.m. PDT. Following four minutes behind, the shepherding spacecraft will fly through the debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before impacting the lunar surface and creating a second debris plume.

The debris plumes are expected to be visible from Earth- and space-based telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger.

The LCROSS science payload consists of two near-infrared spectrometers, a visible light spectrometer, two mid-infrared cameras, two near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. The LCROSS instruments were selected to provide mission scientists with multiple complimentary views of the debris plume created by the Centaur impact.

As the ejecta rises above the target crater’s rim and is exposed to sunlight, any water-ice, hydrocarbons or organics will vaporize and break down into their basic components. These components primarily will be monitored by the visible and infrared spectrometers. The near-infrared and mid-infrared cameras will determine the total amount and distribution of water in the debris plume. The spacecraft’s visible camera will track the impact location and the behavior of the debris plume while the visible radiometer will measure the flash created by the Centaur impact.

NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is overseeing the development of the LCROSS mission with its spacecraft and integration partner, Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, Calif. LCROSS is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, commercial-off-the-shelf components, the spacecraft expertise of Northrop Grumman and experience gained during the Lunar Prospector Mission in 1999. Ames is managing the mission, conducting mission operations, and developing the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman designed and is building the spacecraft for this innovative mission. Ames mission scientists will spearhead the data analysis."

This made a bunch of questions and emotions well inside of me.

1) Ultimately, this means life on earth as we know it is not sustainable and people are looking for alternative natural resources.

2) Great, now we're litering the moon.

3) Is this a good idea?

4) Whats the next steps if they do find water on the moon?

5) If they do find water on the moon, will they go from building the international space station to building the international moon outpost?

6) Where is the money to build this going to come from?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Me editing the Sports Editor...

This is good example of why newspapers are dying. Read: New book on Steelers creates stir

The sad, sardonic ramblings of a sports editor compelled me to edit him.

New book on Steelers creates stir
Louis Brewster, Sports Editor,
From: The Sun: San Bernardino and the Inland Empire
Posted: 10/05/2009 09:36:52 PM PDT

As a high school football player, Dennis Paulson was an undersized nose guard at Fontana during the Steelers' glory days, an era he relives in his first book, "The Fo." The paperback dropped in August and is the subject of some buzz, mostly in Fontana. It's the second book with Citrus Belt League football as the backdrop following the 2004 book "A Citrus Test: Football in Black and White" by Obrey Brown.

Whether or not it is well-received depends on the reader. One of the book's main characters, former Steelers coach Dick Bruich said he's not going to read it and stated, "I lived through it. Why do I want to read somebody's take on it?"

Lance Ozier, the current Fontana football coach, hasn't read it and probably won't "until I get a free copy. I know what went on. I'm not paying to read about that."

One who did read the book and was close to the Fontana program said, "It was full of half and quarter truths." That may be evident only to those who played on the Dick Bruich teams or were very close to players and coaches.

But as the author of the novel, Paulson is entitled to his own observations and opinions. After all, this is not an autobiography nor a history book. It's about his personal account of football when Fontana was atop the world.

Paulson apparently wants to option his book to make it into a movie. Which brings up the interesting question: What Hollywood type is best suited to play Coach Bruich? James Denton as the early Bruich, with Tom Selleck as the more mature Bruich? Or are Jack Black and Vince Vaughan more in the Bruich mold? ...

If you find Dennis Paulson's distant memories of playing high school football something hard to swallow, imagine what he feels like as a former coach for San Bernardino Valley College.

In the past, we've taken those in charge at San Bernardino Valley College to task for their seemingly ho-hum attitude toward athletics. A once-proud program is struggling to establish credibility in the community.

So give it up for Kevin Emerson, who directed the Wolverines to their biggest win since the late Patrick Swayze in "Red Dawn." It didn't look good initially when he officially was hired hours before the first practice.

But the 19-game losing streak is over and we expect SBVC to be competitive in the American Division of the Mountain Conference.

Chris Rock Quote on The View 10/7/09

Chris Rock commenting on David Letterman's past bad behavior today on ABC's The View:

"If the bad guys are after you, you call the cops.
If the cops are after you, you call a lawyer,
but if your wife is mad at you, there is nobody to call."

If you love her, you conceed and apologize, make amends, don't do it again and move on.

And if you don't? You simply move on.

I got the 'Review of the Day' on Yelp!

From my Twitter:

Hey! Hey! RE @yelpoc - I got the ROTD on www.yelp.com today! http://tiny.cc/aFbVW