Yup, it's official. I'm elderly.

NP: Guns 'N Roses, "Welcome To The Jungle"

A little something I left out of the last entry...

Sign in front of a church: "Stay In Shape -- Walk Daily With The Lord :-D"

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That sign had an honest-to-God emoticon on it.

NP: System Of A Down, "Inner Vision"

Some observations on the first night of the 2003 Taylor, TX BBQ Cookoff:

- Somebody needs to have the instructions for use of some payphones (you know the ones, with the "$0.25 per minute to anywhere in the US") printed clearer. For a minute, I could've sworn that I had found the one out of every three pay phones that is actually a decoy (to quote a poet on Def Poetry). Let me tell you how that works. The instructions on the phone were the classic "Pick up phone, listen for dial tone, then put your money in and call" routine. So I go ahead and do that. The phone NOW asks me for a bank or credit card number before connecting me with an operator who helpfully tells me that I should put the money in after I dial the number. She then goes on to say that the phone should return my money to me, which the phone most certainly does not. And the gas station guy can't do shit about it because the phone is not owned by the gas station. Go figure.

- "Duck sausage" has absolutely nothing to do with waterfowl.

- According to most college kids in Texas, the belief that Bud or Miller Lite is best poured back into the horse is sufficient grounds for anathematization.

- Seriously, most BBQ cookers are really nice people.

- Stand Of The Night honors go to the Bevo Burners; who, obviously, are Aggies, if the Dixie Chicken and "HOWDY" signs and the 6-foot model of Bonfire (complete with t.u.'s finest frat house, which, for the uninitiated, is a burnt orange outhouse with an Austin city limits sign on it) weren't big enough hints. I felt like I was 22 again. Really good drumsticks there, too.

Stay tuned for more from the full day's festivities.

NP: Rancid, "Listed MIA"

o/~
Goddammit, man, I almost had it
Well, I did it again
Yeah, I do it out of habit
Well, I'm numb, it ain't no fun
I'm less than zero when you add up the sum
I'm checking out, yeah
It ain't no doubt, yeah
A courtship built from anger is what it amounts
I almost had it, I almost had it
I came so close, man
I almost had it
o/~

Just got the last word today.

Their excuse: "We don't feel your background is sufficient to match the needs of this job."

What I heard: "We still hate you and haven't finished dancing on your grave yet. Crawl back into your hole, you fly-infested bucket of crap."

Well, fuck you anyway. I can find work somewhere else, and most certainly for people that don't string you along and break your heart by treating you like this.

Jackasses.

NP: The Refreshments, "Banditos"

The Follies continue, held over for another exciting day.

So I get into work at 8, because that's the time the guy told me to report in at, right? I get there, pick up my temporary badge, and wait, seemingly confident that somebody will be by to pick me up.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, someone finally shows up to escort me further into the bowels of the building, where I find out a few interesting tidbits:

1) The guy I talked to who told me to come by at 8 is out of the office today
2) They still don't have all their ducks in a row
3) They're blaming the bottleneck on the headhunter agency I got this job from

So they send me home. Again.

I head straight home and get on the horn with the account manager at the headhunter's. And I find out that they tried to call me earlier, but when they did I was already on site cooling my heels. According to them, they're now waiting on executive approval from the client to get my badge ID. As a result, my position is "on hold" while they extricate their lettuce from their donkey.

I swear, the Navy is looking better all the time...

Quote of the Day: "I shouldn't have to live in a world where all the good points are horrible ones." -- Black Mage, 8-Bit Theater

Today was supposed to be the first day back among the gainfully employed for God knows how long. I was going to have myself a rich full day and head home, without any major incidents.

If you believe that, you must be new around here.

Right away, I run into trouble. I can't get into the main network because my account was disabled, due to my last leave under less-than-ideal conditions. Which means I can't do jack but sit and watch until they get all their ducks in a row regarding the background check and what not.

So I found myself in possession of a half-day off. Which would be nice, but I'm contract and need this money badly.

Then to top the day off, the debt counseling service I'm with sees fit to tell me they never got any of the money that I paid them. So I dash off to the nearest branch office to get my bank statement to fax to them... but it turns out the lobby's closed. Which necessitates a dash almost clear across town to get the necessary papers and back to where I can fax.

I mean, I had the money taken out of my account, the least you can do is know where the heck it is.

NP: Bass-heavy techno from my upstairs neighbors, who are kind enough to lend me DVDs to watch

Link of the Indeterminate Time Period:

When you know it's time to unplug...

NP: 38 Special, "Back Where You Belong"

And in other news today, my ronin days are drawing to a close.

Although the thought had crossed my mind, I'm not joining the military at this time. I'm not ruling them out either, just in case this falls through.

I don't know what the people I have praying for me told the Good Lord, but He has seen fit to put me back at Dell. Namely, in their internal help desk. It means I'll be red-badging again, but as my friends in the UK point out, it's better than "sweet FA" (and no, the FA does not stand for Football Association).

One hurdle down, more to go.

For you anime fans in the house: My regular group's watching Scrapped Princess, and I will be surprised if one of the upcoming episodes is not titled "Pavane For A Scrapped Princess". This Needs To Happen (tm Bill Simmons).