Odds, Ends, and things in-between

Well, here we are, over one month removed from the last post here. Where have I been? Mainly moving, and working odd hours. Up until about a week ago I had been working back-to-back overnight shifts, 12 hours from Friday night to Saturday morning, and then again Saturday night to Sunday morning. I’m sure that’s nothing to certain people (doctors, for example), but I’m just not used to it. I got started on a few posts, but couldn’t finish them due to my brain just going bye-bye for the night.

My Mom said everyone should move every 3-4 years, and I tend to agree with her. The reason behind this is that it gives you an excuse to clean up and get rid of some of the junk that has accumulated over time. I had things in the storage closet outside that I had no reason to keep around, such as empty boxes from products I’ve purchased. I had a few empty cardboard boxes from the last time I moved – complete with newspaper that I used. I had receipts from purchases I made a decade ago. Why? I’m sure I couldn’t tell you. But I can tell you I spent several hours shredding the receipts (Word to the wise: spend money on a good shredder. I had to stop several times because my cheap-o shredder kept getting stuck).

The amount of money I spent moving was crazy. Not with the move itself, but with the fees involved – everyone loves to charge you something. There are the moving fees that the cable company charge, that the fees that the electric company charge – not to mention the usual fees when you live in an apartment – pet deposit, security deposit, registration fees, etc. Luckily the Internet makes this process rather painless. Also, if you think those “move for free” services are scams, well; I had a rather nice experience with them. Yes, they’ll tack on silly little fees such as if you’re moving from a second floor to a third floor apartment (I was), but these guys were fast and efficient. I must’ve spent several weeks packing – the movers packed all my boxes and furniture, drove to the new place, and then unpacked all my boxes and furniture in the span of about 90 minutes to 2 hours. Not bad!

Local delivery restaurants – I’ll expand upon this in another post. I just think its silly the fact that the new local delivery restaurants basically have the same menus as the ones where I used to live!

On cheaters and alleged cheaters – 2007 saw several sports records matched or broken. Sadly, the people and/or teams involved with these records have been involved with cheating, either admitted or alleged. New England Patriots – first 16-0 season in the NFL (though not the first undefeated season). They admitted to videotaping other teams play calling signals in order to get an edge. The all-time home run record in baseball was broken by Barry Bonds, who has been linked to steroid use, and is now being investigated for lying to a Federal jury. Then there’s all the other sports controversies – Michael Vick and his dog fighting, the Mitchell report (Google it), and others. These people and teams are making millions of dollars and are pulling this crap. Meanwhile, ER doctors, firefighters, teachers, military personnel risking their lives overseas – these people usually only make enough money to get by. If one of them was involved in dog fighting, they would go away for a long time. Someone like Michael Vick? His 22-month or so sentence will probably be cut in half since he has the money to work the system. Geez.

On yelling advice to random strangers: this is just a bad idea. I went out shopping the other day, and while driving through the parking lot, almost hit someone who was backing out. They simply weren’t looking where they were going. I screeched to a halt, stopped, and backed up so the person could leave. They didn’t – they just sat there. Finally, I drove around them and parked nearby. I shook my head as I got out of the car – annoyed at another careless driver. “Oh well,” I thought, as I turned and headed towards the store. “Calm down!!! It’s not the end of the world!” This I heard yelled by the driver of the other vehicle as they drove away. I certainly wasn’t angry as the other driver seemed to think I was. What if I were unbalanced? What if I were a criminal? There’s always that horrible chance that someone telling me my business would cause me to lose it. In my experience, giving advice to a stranger doesn’t end well, especially when it’s advice they probably don’t want to hear. Telling an angry/sad person to cheer up, or similar advice, usually doesn’t sit well with the other person. Not that I’m against giving advice (heck, I do it all the time here), it’s just that in this day and age, you never know how a person is going to react. Stick to giving it to people you know (and most people reading this are people I know).

On me, posting on this blog: I hope to produce more. Even if it’s a “this is what happened to me today” post, I hope that you’ll be hearing more from me in the future.