The One with the Incredible Change of Luck

So, Thursday was the day of defeat and I moped around early in the morning before semi-reluctantly getting ready for work. The training over the next 4 days was going to be pure Hell with Idiot Boy assigned to sit beside me and I wondered who I'd angered to be stuck like this.

The garage still smelled of the burned shirt and I hoped against hope that the linger smell would usher in a change of fortune for me. But I don't think I have that kind of luck.

My stomach growled and grumbled a bit as I got ready to pick up my carpool buddy. Last Saturday's breakfast had been a chore to digest apparently and my "diet" for the rest of the weekend as well as Monday and Tuesday had consisted of the occasional banana or fruit bar, water, and some green tea to soothe the grumbling. The only other person I know with worse "luck" than mine had cooked at the charity breakfast and it only made sense he'd given me some form of food poisoning. This is a guy who used to be a prison guard and got sued by a prisoner after he whacked him in the head while attacking another guard. He'd then been arrested a few months later when his trailer had become unhitched on a hill and he'd called for some friends to help him hitch it back up. He was arrested for being a nuisance (he was tying up traffic, but still...). And here my stomach was still "of a mood" 5 days after his breakfast....

I eventually got to work and it wasn't as bad a drive as I expected. Sure, there was an accident to avoid, but that's a thrice-weekly occurrence these days. The Sun has returned to Vancouver, so everyone's driving IQ has dropped into single digits. Don't believe me? This is my Friday route home...

But I digress.... I'd survived the drive and here I was at work, eating breakfast and watching the sports highlights (our new morning tradition) and praying Idiot Boy wouldn't join us again like he did yesterday when I wore the bad luck shirt. I was definitely in a sour mood, but my workmate/friends didn't much care because they knew they'd see little of me today with the training commencing.

I got back to my office and started getting all my materials ready for the training. I had a 200+ page manual I was supposed to read and had been given 4 hours' notice. I also wasn't allowed to take it home because of all the confidential information inside. So, I skimmed. And the entire I time I skimmed through it, I wondered how Idiot Boy would handle all this material. This is a guy who usually got confused if an assignment had more than one 'step' to get the work done. Sad, really, but then he's an idiot.

The guy who sits at the next desk arrived just before our work day begins and smiled as he told me he heard a good Idiot Boy story. No, we don't call him that at work... well, I try not to.

Idiot Boy was fired.

My luck had turned. I'll never have to see him again.

When I got home, I breathed in the still-lingering smell of what used to be an unlucky shirt.

The One About the Burning Shirt

I may have mentioned long ago one of the lonely female classmates of mine who had a bit of a medical emergency in class one day --and how I was sitting beside her when she collapsed off the chair...

Well, it happened twice while we were in school, but the second time I knew enough about the problem that it didn't escalate to a collapse like last time and I was able to help her out pretty damn quick. But there was something I noticed the second time it happened...

I was wearing the exact same shirt both times.

It was one of my favorite shirts from my old job (From Hell!), where I acquired quite the "logo" collection over my 7 years. It was an extremely comfortable one and (I think) fit quite nicely.

After the second medical incident, I put the shirt away to wear later in the future, once I was done with school. No more bad luck rubbing off form this shirt!!

So, Wednesday it came out from the bottom of my shirt drawer to see sunlight for the first time in over a year. One of my favorite shirts and a year goes by between wearings.... the bad luck's gotta be gone, right?

Just after lunch at work a guy collapsed in a heap in the kitchen, not 10 feet from me. He chugged some ice cold water after a 1-hour workout. At my old office (from Hell!), a friend of mine collapsed at the front of the classroom while giving a lecture and had to be sent to hospital.

And my grueling 4 days of intensive training had me assigned to sit beside.... Idiot Boy.

Yep, that's it! I was almost crying my eyes out just thinking about having to spend 4 days with the guy who ruined school for me sitting right beside me! FOUR DAYS!!! Four freakin' days!!!!!

The shirt came off at home, fell into the bottom of a trash can, got doused with lighter fluid and away it burned!!!

Hopefully, the bad luck has been exorcised for everyone.

The One About a 4-Year Anniversary

Work keeps me busy enough that posting is irregular. This is the last warning....

Deal with it. Life's still an adventure for me.

Easter weekend came along and I had a sudden realization. It's been 4 years since the original 'Sex Caffeine' incident occurred.

The Sex Caffeine incident was essentially the event that lead to the beginning of this blog back in 2003, even though it happened a few months in advance of the first blog entry.

4 years since the odd blow up and (almost) 2 years since I last talked to her. It's sometimes hard to believe I could have someone in my life at such a high level of.... intensity... and now not speak to them for such a long time.

Could I finally be maturing and reaching out toward my (29 dammit!) age? Naaahhhh.

In fact, there's a fine lookin' young thing who started at work this week who's caught many an eye. I just keep telling the Boys I'm scouting her out for them.

Hehe.

The One with the Actual Favorite Vids

So, I added a "fave vids" YouTube link yesterday, but despite the actual links I give it, it just spouts off whatever key words it likes. So, one of those over there -------->

...is actually a "favorite" video.

Here's some others:

If you've ever played 'The Sims' this is a music video made with some of the latest expansions for Sims2. I'm not completely caught up with the expansions for Sims2 (there's 'University', 'Nightlife', 'Open for Business', 'Pets,' and 'Seasons.' There are some additional content packs as well for various holidays. Good $$ for Electronic Arts, yes? Anyhoo, enjoy the video.


I was actually searching for a different video when I came across this. It's a fairly simple animation, but if it were from the school I went to, it would've been one of the best. At around 2:10 you finally see the scope of what's happening and at 2:20 you get the emotion. In other words, it's really good! So, enjoy it too!


OK, this is the video I was looking for... Well, an extended version of it. This game is the reason to own a X-Box 360. Yeah, the Halo series is great, but 'Gears of War' is the sole decider in a 360 purchase. And it looks even better on a HD-TV! Before anyone says "360? Phhbbbbtt!! Get a Wii!" I love the Wii. But Gears of War is the 360 game. So there. And an FYI, the song is 'Mad World' by Gary JUles (remake of a Tears for Fears song, no less!)

The One With The New Look

Yeah, OK so I've changed the look of this blog for I think the third time in 2007. Hopefully it's the last, but no guarantees and I may have yet another change in mind before the month is done. Deal with it. Change is good.

Work's been pretty good. I've had a couple rough commuting days and those days I really think twice about working so "far away" especially when I question whether or not I'll see my kids again.

I have noticed that there seems to be a theme amongst the drivers in a particular town/city. I know Richmond (which I fortunately never have to drive through or to) is notorious for drivers who stop whenever and wherever they make a right turn. Abbotsford (which I occasionally drive to) has drivers who do less than half the speed limit or more than double the speed limit, which apparently is the only way to catch the lights to get through town. Go figure. Mission is known for drivers who will turn right to get in front of you and who cannot figure out how to accelerate up a hill. Imagine driving up a hill in San Francisco behind someone who's easy on the gas pedal in an attempt to get to the top. Annoying. My discovery over the past 2 weeks is the Maple Ridge driver: the most important thing on the drive is the cell phone. I've been in 2 near-misses with people going through red lights while chatting away and have lagged behind more people who don't feel it necessary to do anything besides coast and talk. I've seen three cars go off the road because they're so distracted by their phone conversation that they didn't notice the bend in the road. I also almost got slammed into by a truck making a left in front of me. He pulled over to let me by and the entire time he was behind me, the cell phone never left his ear.

That was a long paragraph.

I'm still looking for a different job, but I'm not burning any bridges while I continue with this one. I've made some friends and already had some there. I also found out one of the heads in my department went to high school with me (although a few years younger than me). My Dad said he heard there's another high school friend there as well, but no one could quite recall his name and a yearbook search followed by an email directory search turned up nothing. Apparently (according to my Dad) he hung out with "some Chinese kid" which I took to mean a Korean friend in junior high. In my high school, if you weren't white or East Indian, then most people could probably know your name. Oriental or African? I can still name the 5 in my graduating class.

This post has become a bit of a ramble, but now you all know I'm still alive. And looking at a new look.