I've always enjoyed this time of year.
Yes, it's the time of year when my birthday takes place, but it's always been more than that, especially in lieu of the old man jokes that started up around three years ago or so.
Part of it is I really enjoy halloween. Sure, I don't go trick or treating anymore, but as this weekend proved, I still enjoy getting dressed up and giving people a scare. I also think it's a riot to see what costumes people come up with, hence why I do like to pass out candy when given the chance.
Part of it is the time of year. Yeah, I like the heat and all that, but this is the only time of the year when you get to see leaves change colors, and it can be quite amazing.
Okay, they can change color in the summer too, but that's usually more because of a drought than anything else. Or the campfire incident. Either way, that hasn't been the case this year since we've had enough rain to make Noah jealous.
It's just fun. And this weekend summed up why I like this time of year so much.
Friday was the test-run for my costume. For those NOT in the know, I was going to be dressing up as a scary scarecrow and Rachel was going as a sexy Dorothy (btw, she nailed it if you ask me). My costume was supposed to be the more elaborate of the two, requiring some makeup work and a mask in addition to the damage we did to a hat, a button-up shirt, an old pair of jeans, and some utility gloves.
In the end, we probably spent as much time on hers as it took a while for her to find thigh highs for her legs that worked and looked good, but in the end, she looked great and we had a good time overall. Sure the party itself wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, but we went to her mom's and made our own party and had a ton of fun playing beer pong, making jokes, and watching random videos on youtube.
It was probably more fun than it should've been.
However, I was very proud of the costume. As I started to say before I distracted myself, Friday was the test run to see how the reaction would be to it. Rachel and I headed over to my mom's house because my sister wanted me to scare the shit out of the kids, and for the most part, I did.
Vanessa ran screaming once she saw me, Evin tried to ignore me before heading upstairs to hide behind the cat perch, and Natasha? She just stared and smiled at me, asking me what I was doing and telling me to take off my mask before brutally assaulting me with a doll, then later trying to chew on my jeans. All in all, a success.
The party itself? All I heard was people talking about the costume and wanting to take a picture with me. We were asked repeatedly where we got the costume, and more than once we were complimented on the work we did. Did I win scariest costume? No, but that's because the contest was rigged.
How? Rachel's sister threw the party and rather than have everyone vote, she only had her friends vote, who apparently decided that someone wearing a Freddie Krueger mask with one, not two, but one gloved hand was scarier than what I was wearing. Now I'm not the one to be bitter, especially when everyone I came across was telling me that my costume was scarier, so I'm not going to hold a grudge, but you decide.
Freddy
Me
I don't think it's much of a contest, but really, who am I to judge. In the end, the voting was rigged and I'm not going to sit and dwell on it. The compliments speak for themselves.
All in all, we had a ton of fun at Rachel's mom's afterwards though. Rachel and I played beer pong against Josh and Donnie, winning that game before losing to her mom and stepdad. Granted, they took liberties it seemed with some of the rules of the game and we almost came back to win. In the end, we were there til almost 5am then went to sleep.
Yesterday was my birthday, and I give all the credit in the world to Rachel. She wasn't feeling that great most of the day, but wouldn't let that get in the way of us enjoying the day together even though I feel bad dragging her around so much when she didn't feel good.
We went to Red Lobster since I had a gift card courtesy of Kelley and I once again ate my weight in shrimp. We then set off for Kohls, where I finally got a pair of new work pants and Rachel got me a pair and a tie from Payton as well. Then we set off for Southpark Mall in Strongsville where I picked up a new pair of shoes for work and going out and Rachel got me a couple of Jeff Dunham magnets with Walter and Achmed on them.
Then we took a nap before Payton got home, which was when Rachel finally felt better.
The thing that consistently amazes me about her is how I had a great weekend, yet because she didn't feel great yesterday, she felt like she ruined my birthday (which she didn't). She actually attempted to apologize, whereas I felt bad because I dragged her here and there when she didn't feel good.
In the end, she talked about getting an ice cream next weekend. Hey, who am I to complain?
All in all, I'm happy. I had a great birthday with a great woman and I really couldn't ask for more. I got what I wanted for my birthday, and that was to spend it with her.
The following is a rant on sports talk radio...do not read further if you could care less. You've been warned.
One of the joys of being a sports fan is being able to talk about what you just saw. It doesn't matter what sport it is, or if your team played well or bad, there's always something to talk about.
Over the years, sports talk radio has grown from a niche market to being one of the most dominant types of talk radio. Whether it be local broadcasting or national, someone's always talking about sports at any given time. Mix in an increasing willingness to put out personal opinions on everything going on, and you have the potential for a very entertaining time.
One of the big perks I had when my mom was a travel nurse was being able to check out sports talk radio in the different markets, whether it be Phoenix, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh. I can even pick up ESPN 1000 out of Chicago at night and listen to them on occasion if I want. I could hear how different, or similar, the programs and hosts were compared to our own.
At one time, WTAM 1100 had a pretty robust lineup of sports programs in the evening, especially in the summer. With time, that station has dramatically reduced the amount of sports-related programming to focus more on political while it's competitor, ESPN850 held a firm hold overall due to its affiliation with ESPN.
And all was well in the Cleveland market. While they didn't seem to know who they wanted on in the afternoon (switching from Greg Brinda, Mark "Munch" Bishop, Kenny Rhoda, Michael Reghi, and now Chris Fedor, Bruce Hooley, and Brinda), the programming was at worst tolerable. In the morning you had Mike & Mike until Tony Rizzo came on with "The Really Big Show," then transitioned to Jim Rome, then the afternoon parade. My favorite was "X's & O's with the Pros," mostly because those guys just seemed to have a good time.
Then it was announced that a new station was coming to town, 92.3 "The Fan," which sounded from the get-go that it would be a "me-too" kind of station, along the lines of what I heard coming out of New York and Boston (whose fans are always pissed off about something even though they've won what seems like 54 championships between the two cities in the last 25 years). What that typically comprised of was one guy trying to talk like a normal fan while another guy just says random things to get a reaction, usually unrelated to sports even.
However, I was willing to listen first before I judged the new station, all while hoping ESPN850 didn't make wholesale changes to its lineup in a panic move.
Well, the first week "The Fan" was on the air, one of the morning guys made at least 5 different homosexual references, usually just at random it seemed. In essense, if someone did something he didn't think made sense, he called him gay. He also took the opportunity to make fun of Tristan Thompson, who'd be a rookie if the NBA ever stops being dumb, for deciding to enroll back in school. In fact, every time I've listened in the morning, the same guy just seems to be interested in talking over the other host, who's actually trying to talk about sports.
Meanwhile, ESPN850 was busy tripping over itself to "catch up" with the new station as if it had already made a huge impact. It ended "Afternoon R&R" with Reghi and Rhoda, moving them to later in the night, ended "X's & O's," moved Fedor from the "Really Big Show" to the afternoon slot with Brinda and Hooley, and kept one of the most annoying voices ever, Aaron Goldhammer, on the air.
Now I realize it makes for good radio when there's someone who disagrees with the main host, such as Hammer with Rizzo, but Hammer takes it a step further. He's not from Cleveland (one of my big issues with "The Fan" as well since a good portion of the hosts are from other markets), hates all things Cleveland, and is constantly dumping callers off the air the moment they disagree with him or attempt to argue with him. He's the "new-age" sports fan, the type that relies on numbers and computers to determine whether a player is good or bad, rather than watching said player actually play. He thinks because he's working for the station, he has all the power in the world.
Fedor isn't much better. You try to point out a flaw in his argument, and he cuts the fan off, giving them NO chance to state their case. Of late, he's been preoccupied with pointing out how Peyton Hillis is the most overrated football player in the league and that Colt McCoy is a terrible quarterback. When a fan tried to point out the offensive line not playing well, he refused to listen, saying it didn't matter before dumping the call while the fan was making their point.
The point is, I'm actually to the point where I can't listen to sports talk anymore. All I hear is doom and gloom and when someone tries to be positive, they get cut off or called ridiculous for being that way. Someone tried to say most fans would take 3-3 for the Browns record at this point, and the host immediately ridiculed the guy asking if they thought the team was getting better or worse. When the guy said it seemed to be improving, the host started laughing, dumped the call, and went on a rant about how horrible the team was.
Way to show some guts. Make your point after you hang-up on the caller so that the caller can't counter what you have to say.
In the end, what I think about it isn't going to change anything. Sports talk is degenerating who can talk the loudest and say the most outrageous thing and there isn't anything that's going to make it stop anytime soon.
In the end, I still love my teams and it doesn't matter what some idiot says on the radio.
Today is going to be another random collection of thoughts, although I'll get to the main reason I'm writing in a little bit.
The last couple of weeks have been, well, less-than desirable weather-wise around here. We've had a ton of rain, very little sunshine, and typical cool temperatures. It's fall. It happens like that around here. That said, this year has officially become the rainiest year in history, and that's with two more months to go.
I bring this up because I always hear people wishing the weather was different depending on what season we're in. In the winter, people wish it was warmer. If it's summer, they wish it was cooler. If it's spring/fall, they wish it would stop rain and transition to the next season already (although lately we haven't been having much of a spring).
I've recently been seeing a lot of "what happened to summer" posts go up. This amuses me because it's usually from the same people who were complaining about how hot it was.
It's pretty much human to want things other then what we have though. We hear it all the time in the winter. It needs to be warmer. It needs to stop snowing. It needs to be this or that. I'll give some people credit. They know what temperature they want it at and say that instead. But most just lament that it isn't winter/spring/fall/summer anymore and that it should be summer/fall/spring/winter again.
For me, it's simple. I don't like the cold, dreary days much myself, but they don't bother me much either. I like all the different seasons and feel fortunate to live in a part of the country where we have the change of seasons. It makes us much more adaptable to the different climates out there. Just watch what happens when it snows in Dallas. Those people don't know what to do with half an inch of snow. We see half an inch of snow and scoff at it because we've driven through two feet of the stuff on a regular basis.
Heat? Rain? Cold? Snow? Flooding? Tornadoes? Drought? We've dealt with it all to some extent, and while it may not be 110 degrees every day in the summer like it is in Arizona, it still gets pretty damn hot in the summer sometimes.
That all said, if I had to choose, I'd stick with summer. I like getting outside and while playing in the snow is fun, driving around here can get kind of dicey. People drive slower in the rain than they do in the snow these days, a result of so many people having all-wheel or four-wheel drive, making them think they're invincible in the snow.
However, this entry isn't really about weather. It's about something that has struck a chord in a variety of ways with a variety of people.
It's about whether people should be allowed to own exotic pets and if so, what should the regulations be?
This all stems from an incident in Zanesville where the owner of an animal farm was found dead, his collection of wild animals let loose and roaming the area extending from the farm itself. It's been since determined that the owner, Terry Thompson, let the animals free, then shot himself for reasons unknown.
What followed has incited animal rights activists as law enforcement issues, citing lack of proper equipment, time, and concern for the safety of the surrounding population, shot and killed a majority of the animals. The animals included tigers, lions, bears, monkeys, wolves, and leopards. As of this morning, 49 of the 56 had been killed, with 6 being captured by Columbus Zoo workers. The remaining animal is a monkey believed to be carrying a virus of some sort.
This is one of those stories that's hard for me to simply pick a side on. I love animals and believe in protecting their rights. However, I also believe the public safety is important as well, especially since a caretaker described the loose animals as aggressive, leading most to believe that they would attack on sight. In fact, after the initial call was made and an officer showed up on the property, he was approached by a bear immediately. Feeling it was a threat, he unloaded his gun into the bear.
Now the outcry stems from people who don't understand why the animals weren't tranquilized and transported to a safe facility. This is understandable. In a perfect world, the sherriff's office could wait for the proper equipment to be delivered, zoo officials to arrive, and safely transport the animals out of the area.
Unfortunately, life isn't perfect. The animals were loose in an area that while not heavily populated, was still populated and within a reasonable distance of four schools. The animals had been free for quite a while and had time to spread out into more populated areas. In the end, law enforcement officials determined the safety of the population was more important than preserving the lives of the animals.
Let's look at it this way: if the officials decide not to kill the animals, what do they do? If they don't have tranquilizers, how do they handle the situation? Stay back and wait for tranquilizers to arrive and hope no one gets attacked? What if someone does get attacked? What if in waiting, a few people get hurt or killed by these animals? We'd be hearing about how officials should've killed the animals.
You can't have it both ways.
Could it have been handled differently? Absolutely. That said, you want to be mad? Be mad at lawmakers who refuse to pass stricter laws on keeping exotic animals captive in the state. Ohio has some of the weakest laws in the country regarding the housing of exotic animals and has had repeated incidents. Remember Sam Mazzola and his wrestling bear act? People like Thompson and Mazzola have been fined and jailed repeatedly for various violations, yet were allowed to continue to operate their "businesses" for various reasons.
In short, regular people shouldn't be allowed to keep exotic animals as pets. They shouldn't be allowed to keep them in flimsy containment areas such as Thompson's. This wasn't the first time an animal had escaped from his property, just the worst and most malicious. What was he trying to do by letting them free, then killing himself?
Lawmakers need to tighten the rules so that irresponsible people like Thompson and Mazzola aren't allowed to house these types of animals. What happened to those animals wasn't right or fair, but it's more the fault of people who try to keep these animals as "pets" than those who have to decide whether to try and capture them or kill them in the name of safety. People like Thompson should have their permits revoked if they get in trouble for any reason, not just slap a fine on them and let them carry on with things. The animals themselves deserve better, especially since it's come out that he's been fined for abusing the animals he was keeping on his property.
Unfortunately, a lot of people won't see it that way. All they'll see is the pictures of dead animals and call officers "brutal" and wrong for what they did. And that's a shame. Police officers aren't trained to capture large cats, bears, and monkeys. The only thing that I think should've been done differently is as soon as the officer had an encounter with the bear, someone should've called the Columbus Zoo immediately and had them come out with better equipment to try and capture more of the animals and only kill those that were an immediate threat to someone's life.
That's not what happened and everyone involved has to live with this experience for the rest of their lives.
Let's be honest. The animals in this case deserved a better fate than they received.
Oh, and Thompson's wife? She's just as bad as him.
I suppose the only saving grace from all of this is is Thompson was found to have bite marks on his head, apparently from one of the large cats. To me, it's only fitting. He mistreated the animals for years most likely, and in appreciation for him letting them out, they decided to take a bite out of him.
Too bad they didn't finish the job.
Okay, so that's morbid, but seriously. I hate people who mistreat animals and a majority of the people who run these "farms" mistreat their animals.
That's my two cents worth on the matter.
Social media has made it easier then ever for us to keep in touch with people. We can talk to people we wouldn't otherwise have time to talk to, find people we grew up with, and make new friends.
Chances are, if you want to know what someone is doing, you'll find out via Facebook, Twitter, or whatever other service they may use. With some, you get very specific details about their day-to-day life.
We all have at least a few friends who carry it even further. I know I have days where I post quite frequently, especially when I'm happy (as in relationship things) or agitated (when work gets crazy). That said, I have my limits on what I post and I believe there are things that others do not need to know about. For instance, if Rachel and I are having any kind of dispute, I'm not going to go on Facebook and start posting about the argument.
Not everyone feels that way though. In fact, far too many feel the need to go online and air out all their dirty laundry for everyone to see, at least those on their friend's list (and friends of those friends if you haven't changed certain privacy settings).
For instance, if you get into an argument with a friend, or they insult you, and you decide to post online about it, it doesn't take much for someone who's a mutual friend to see it. Next thing you know, that person feels the need to defend their friend and starts a whole new argument. Pretty soon it snowballs and it's coming from every direction.
But you know what? You can only blame yourself. You chose to make it public (even if your page is "private"), so you can only be mad at yourself if others decide to jump in on things.
The worst part is people like that are repeat offenders. They constantly post about every last little thing that goes on.
What cracks me up most is those people ALWAYS say they hate drama. They hate people who cause drama. They hate people who think drama. Yet they're always involved in some sort of drama, usually of their own doing.
Here's a word of advice: if you do something stupid, and people tell you you're stupid for doing it, don't go online and complain about people calling you stupid, then give details about what you did to get called stupid, then later complain when others have jumped in and called you stupid for complaining about being stupid.
If you go out, get drunk, and end up in jail for any reason, that's not something that needs to be shared online. If you do share it, don't go acting surprised when people criticize you for it, especially if you've been in trouble before.
Granted, the simple solution on most sites is to block people who post like that constantly, which I have been known to do.
Look, you may be a friend, but I don't care what happened to you, or if people think you're a bad person, or if you are getting yelled at by other people for what you did. I don't care. Most people don't care. The only people who care are yourself and those who actively involve themselves in things.
Don't get me wrong, some people feed off of involving themselves in other people's lives or judging them without knowing them. It happens. The worst thing you can do is give them ammunition though. Don't want to hear about it? Don't talk about it. Block the people causing a problem. Simply put, a real friend won't turn on you unless you do something legitimately bad to them.
So let it go. Don't put it out there for everyone else to see.
Please.
Moving on, but sticking with the social media theme, I seem to remember when Facebook made it's recent rash of changes, a bunch of people cried out that they were moving on to Google+ and were leaving Facebook behind. They were tired of the changes, tired of the security issues (that I didn't know existed), and tired of things being changed on them with no notice.
In that time, of the 78 people I know on Facebook, 4 people moved to Google+, 3 of which were either family or my girlfriend. So all that crabbing, all that complaining led to, well, nothing.
I don't care for what they did. I don't like Top News and Recent News being all discombulated the way they are, but after having some time to get used to it, a couple of things occurred to me. Yeah, the changes suck and sorting through it all is a pain in the ass, but it's not the end of the world. Yeah, some things don't work the way they should, but it's not the worst thing that could happen.
Fact is, Facebook can do whatever it wants to its service. It's free so while we can complain, there isn't much that's going to change unless people stop using it, kind of like Myspace. Everyone migrated off of there to Facebook a few years back and the site never recovered. They changed to become more like Facebook, but the exodus was complete. The few that still use it are in the vast minority.
For a while, it seemed like the cycle was going to repeat. Facebook was going to piss people off so much that they had no choice but to leave it for something else. Google+ started to make some noise so a few joined in, but Google+ has its own issues. For one, one of the engineers made the mistake of posting a rant about the service that made its way around the internet. If a Google employee doesn't like the service, why would everyone else feel comfortable using it.
In the end, the noise about Facebook has all but disappeared and Google+ hasn't gained any ground on it.
**From the "That's Amazing Department"**
* Last night, the New York Jets faced the Miami Dolphins in MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, reviving what used to be a tremendous rivalry. I say used to be because frankly, the Dolphins aren't very good. Before the season started, everyone wanted the quarterback to be traded away and the coach was nearly fired. The Jets haven't exactly lit the world on fire this season either, going into the game at 2-3 and Mark Sanchez looking completely lost at quarterback. There was one play that defined the Dolphin's season last night though. Up 3-0 and driving down for a score, Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore threw for Brandon Marshall in the end zone. Darrell Revis intercepted and returned it 101 yards for a touchdown, essentially ending the night for the Dolphins in the 1st quarter. Problem was, Marshall never had a chance at catching the pass as Revis had his head buried into Marshall's side, pushing him away from the play, before turning around to make the pick. In short, Revis committed blatant pass interference, it wasn't called, and everyone knows the Dolphins don't need the help. In short, it was amazing.
* On August 24, the St. Louis Cardinals were 10.5 games out of the wild card. Tomorrow, they play game in the World Series, at home, against the Texas Rangers. This despite the Rangers having a better record simply because the National League won the All-Star game. Listen, I know they want that game to matter (it still doesn't), but home field should always go to the team with the best record. Now the Rangers get to play in a National League park for the first two games because of an attempt to make a meaningless game meaningful. That's amazing. However it doesn't take away from the Cardinals overcoming a 10.5 game deficit to win the wild card, then take down the Brewers in the NLCS despite the Brewers having the best home record in baseball this year. THAT was amazing.
* Yesterday my computer went on the fritz after updating it via automatic updates. This pissed me off immensely because it wasn't the first time this has happened (yes, I still use Windows XP because I'm not forking over $200 to upgrade to Windows 7 when I plan on getting a laptop in the future). Initially I tried to restore it, but it didn't work, so I said eff it and went over to Rachel's. This morning, I resumed trying to fix it. I tried another system restore, and while waiting for it to finish, ate my Cap 'N Crunch, and watched some of the MNF game. I went back in and saw it finally made it to the start-up screen (before I had to run it in safe mode for it to make it past the loading screen). Upon logging in, I received a message saying the restore was incomplete, that the system reset itself while attempting to restore the files. This baffled me, but as of now, it's still functioning so I'm just not going to mess with anything at this point time. I just hope if it goes off for any reason (power outtage, 2 year-old pushing the button) that it comes back up. That said, it deciding to work, well, it was minorly amazing.
I had a thought today after telling my other tech she wasn't allowed to use a tissue, which was actually a joke, so relax.
We react differently in certain situations depending on whether we like someone or not.
Think about it before you sit there and say it's a load of crap.
When you like someone and they ask you to borrow something or help them something, you're quick to help out. When you don't like them, the response ranges from a disinterested dismissal of them to coming just short of completely telling them off.
How about some examples? Sure, sounds good to me.
When someone you like wants you to help them:
Helpless in Portland: "Hey, I need a hand trying to move this table."
You: "Sure, I'll give you a hand."
When you don't like them:
Helpless in Portland: "Hey, can you come help me move this table?"
You: "Yeah, let me tell you what I'm not going to do. Oh, and the weather in Portland sucks too."
You know it's true. When you are cool with someone, you'll stop and pick up something for them on the way to hang out. If they need you to give them a ride somewhere, you do. When you aren't cool with someone, all you can think of is how big a freeloading waste of space they are and if nothing else, ignore them.
People in general are nicer to those that they like. I for one have a very hard time being nice to someone I don't like. If they're lucky, I'm indifferent towards them.
Most aren't very lucky.
It was just a thought I had.
Another thought that I've had a lot lately is the thought of Rachel and I getting married someday. Now, we're not to the point where we've talked in great detail, but we've started to discuss the idea of it and while there are things that are scary about it, it also fits what we both want down the road, and that's an actual feeling of being part of a family.
I have to thank the myriad of questions I received for getting us to talk about something that we've both been thinking about. See, a couple days ago I put up a post saying I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Rachel. Immediately people started asking if wedding bells were in the future. To clarify that I had NOT proposed (yet) to Rachel, I put a post up on Facebook saying that we were not engaged to be married. This sparked a conversation between myself and Rachel where we discovered that both of us had actually been thinking about it already.
And I have. While there isn't a timeframe on anything, the thought of being married to Rachel has been appealing. We get along great, we very rarely have issues with one another, and we always have fun when we spend time together. Add in that Payton seems to adore me and you have an ideal situation from my perspective. So yes, I can see myself spending the rest of my life with her.
Now some will pop up and say "it's only been 4 months, isn't it too soon to think about it?"
I think the answer to that is it's not something you can put a timetable on. You can't necessarily say in two years we'll be married, or that it would be wise to try to be married sooner than that. The big thing we've agreed on is that we want to be able to comfortably afford a wedding before actually going through with it. What that means is we may have a long engagement before actually going through with the wedding.
The biggest thing for me though isn't just how great Rachel treats me, it's how well Payton has responded to me. The child is now to the point where I'm not allowed to leave and if I try, she tries to block the way. Tuesday she did just that, getting upset and standing in front of the door when I went to leave. Then she decided she was going with me to work instead.
Last night after the two of them arrived at my apartment, Payton was sitting at the kid table in my living room (yes mom, I'm bringing it soon I promise!) and I was in the bedroom. After a minute, Rachel mentioned to me that I was being beckoned. I listened, and sure enough I heard the distinct "Come here Dave, come here!" from the living room.
Later, I was required to lay on the floor with Payton while Rachel checked out halloween costumes.
***Column Intermission***
One of the coolest things about my new phone (MyTouch 4G Slide) is the ability to tether it to my computer and piggyback off the 4G when I don't have internet access at home. I wasn't sure if it would work, but when I hooked my phone into my computer and finished setting up the driver, sure enough, my computer was live and I could browse just fine.
I'm absolutely astonished at what phones can do nowadays and this is just another one of those things. That and having an amazing camera on it.
***End Intermission***
Then, when it was time for bedtime, I was required to lay on the floor next to Payton's bed while Rachel laid down in the bed with her.
That's one of the things that brings me a lot of joy. Yeah, we should probably be working on breaking her of needing someone there for her to fall asleep, but there's something special about her needing me next to the bed when she goes to sleep.
That said, I think about it and realize I completely took being a kid for granted. Sure, you had to go to school, but you didn't have bills, didn't have to go to work, and could play outside as much as you wanted (as long as you weren't in trouble). Your responsibilities were limited at best.
Payton's life is something to be envious of. People always want to play with her, she gets in trouble and is still adorable, and all it takes to make up for driving her mom crazy is a kiss on the cheek and an apology. Hell, she even has her own Jeep that she drives like she owns the place.
Damn kids. They always get to have all the fun.
I'm a lucky guy.
No, I really am.
Now, my girlfriend might argue with this because frankly, any time I try to compliment her she doesn't seem to believe it, but every last word I say in this post is the truth in my eyes, so if she or anyone else doesn't want to agree with it, they can suck an egg.
First and foremost, she's beautiful. Of course her eyes get noticed first, but I don't just see them for the color they are, but for what I see when I look in her eyes. I've always loved the way she looks at me and how it makes me feel. It's always made me feel a little more special.
I love her smile, so I enjoy making her laugh and smile even more, especially since she laughs at the stupid jokes I tell from time to time. There's just something about it that makes me feel good inside, which is why it makes me sad when she's down and she can't seem to smile.
I love her hair. Sure, it probably drives her crazy because it's long, it's full, and it's a bit on the curvy side, but I love it. I don't care whether it's up or it's down, I like how she looks.
I love how she dresses. It's really true that she looks just as good in sweats and a t-shirt as she does when she dresses up. I like the way she looks overall though. I'll be the first to admit, she looks damn sexy to me and it's part of why I love looking at her so much (that and the things mentioned above).
I love making her laugh. There's just something about it that makes me happy when she's laughing and joking back with me. I love knowing that she's happy that I'm around, that she likes being cuddled up with me at night.
I love doing all kinds of different things with her. For once, I have a girlfriend that I can be happy with whether we be at the store, at a baseball game, at Cedar Point, just relaxing at home, walking through the park, or whatever else we end up doing. There has yet to be a point where we've done something and I haven't had fun with her.
I love that even when we have disputes, we can find a way to resolve things and understand each other. I love that she may get upset at something I do, but in the end, I at least have a chance to explain and apologize to her.
I love that she's there for me no matter what I need, if anything.
I love that we can come to a decision on something relatively quickly with minimal fuss or discussion. There have been quite a few things we've done that in any other relationship I've been in, they would've been enormous headaches, yet with Rachel, they've been simple and quick.
In short, I love her and while we haven't talked marriage as of yet, I can see myself marrying her. I can see myself spending the rest of my life with her and that is the honest truth. I'm happier with her than I've ever been.
She's the best.
It was brought to my attention that I made several errors in one of my recent blogs. I neglected to mention that the other night, Payton came up on the couch with me, sat just like me, and began telling me all about her experience when she was at the Disney on Ice show. She told me all about seeing Tinkerbell, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and the Alligators fighting.
She made sure to point out that her shirt had Tinkerbell on it.
I can't believe I didn't think about this when writing before.
I also forgot to mention Tara when talking about ex-girlfriends. I have no idea how I left her out, but I did.
And it was especially funny to hear Kelley rant about how in my "Cast of Characters" section, I mention she wants to cut me without mentioning that it's usually after I've antagonized her for several hours before she says that to me.
There are also a few grammatical and spelling errors, but I probably won't fix them right away, if I do at all.
I just wanted to set the record straight.
What I won't correct is how I feel about Rachel. All the things I said I stand by, even if she disagrees with me.
I love the woman and all the things she brings to the relationship.
Whenever I start a new blog, which isn't very often, it often takes me a while to get all the settings down the way I like them.
I'm also prone to changing how the blog looks several times over until I find something I like.
I can't help it. I'm OCD about certain things.
For instance, when Rachel read my first entry, she noted that it had been posted after 1pm, when in actuallity, I had posted after 4pm. This reminded me that I had forgotten to change the time zone setting in here, something I did when I started my work blog as well.
I'm someone who likes to tweak things overall though.
When I was writing in my web site (which can be found at http://www.oocities.org/wservo9; keep in mind I can't edit the site anymore), I used to change the background, the font, the layout, and the names of the pages quite regularly. In fact, you can see how it evolved over the years if you read from start to finish.
When I began using Myspace, I used to change the blog settings all the time.
If I could in Facebook, I would have at least 3 times, but they won't even let you punctuate the damn thing anymore, so why bother trying?
Another thing I won't do is promise I'm going to write as much as I can because, well, I never do. I usually write a lot initially, but then it tails off, so I'm not going to promise a damn thing this time.
One, I want to make sure I'm clear to write about a lot of things since much of my free time outside of work is spent with Rachel and Payton. I don't want to put something up here that Rachel maybe wanted to keep between the two of us and end up upsetting her. Two, I tend to forget stuff when I actually sit down to write, which right now is only at work until my internet is back up again.
In fact, the first month or so will probably be a lot of posts going back and remembering things that have happened up until this point, so if you know me really well, it'll end up being really boring at first.
Not that it will get very exciting in the future. I'm not exactly known for excitement.
Oh well. See how much I care?
I've had to endure some painful lessons over the years.
Some of those things are of my own doing, some of them aren't.
I like to believe I've learned a lot from those experiences as times has gone by, but I've also always believe that you can't just sit on your laurels, you have to keep learning and understanding the things that go on around you.
I apologize in advance since I tend to become contemplative the closer I get to my birthday. Some of it is realizing that I have been around for a while and have seen a lot, some of it is wondering when things will start breaking down. I sometimes like to fool myself into thinking that I will go farther in life without the physical breakdowns that others endure because I was such a late bloomer, but who the hell are we kidding?
I was never exactly known for being tough. I've always dealt with minor bumps, bruises, and whatever else I did to myself because walking in a straight line was too much of a chore for me.
The fact is, I'm going to be 31 at the end of the month.
31.
Not old old, but enough to inspire the occasional joke from my girlfriend and those that have known me for a long time now. Hell, my friend Lennie has been calling me old for the last 5 years.
I've been working for almost half that time too.
Think about this: when I started working at CVS, it wasn't CVS, it was still Revco. Yeah, Revco. Granted it was only that way for about a year or so, but still, it was that long ago. Hell, I watch some of the old Indians highlight videos from the mid-90's and chuckle when I see the Revco logo on the wall.
When I first started there, I was very different from how I am now.
I know, those who've read other things I've written will immediately recognize that I've written that several times, but it's the simple truth. I really have changed a ton since those days. Back then, I still had the sarcasm, but I usually kept it to myself. I didn't talk in high school. I kept to myself as much as possible.
After working at Revco/CVS, I started to breakout of my shell a little bit, but it would take several more years before that completely happened. Another fun fact? I didn't immediately start in the pharmacy. I started on register, then moved to stocking shelves and such. After a few months, I was pretty much the one doing all the planograms in the store.
It wasn't until the following year in August when I was thrown into the pharmacy due to the need for a night time tech. I began training under the watchful eye of Debbie, who is still at the same store, and especially Steve, the pharmacist that eventually became a father figure for me. Yeah, Tom was a pharmacist there, but he wasn't exactly someone to look up to or go to for training or help.
In less than a year, I became pretty efficient at the job and since the pharmacy wasn't the busiest place at night, I was also given the title of shift supervisor along with my friend Mike. This meant that while I was filling prescriptions, when I wasn't, I was down on the floor doing planograms, getting change, closing out the store at night, and so forth.
In 1999, the first big change occurred. Okay, second after CVS bought Revco. My mentor, Steve, was transferred to the store in Berea because it had just become a 24-hour store (fun fact: the store was actually the combination of two previous CVS locations in Berea into one big store) and they were having a hell of a time with things. It wasn't long after he left before he started asking me to transfer over there.
It too a lot of haggling before they finally let me go in November, 2000. 11 years and counting now, I've been at that store. I've seen numerous people come and go and have to say, it's been quite a ride.
When I transferred over there, I had just turned 20 and still hadn't officially dated anyone.
Yeah, it's pretty sad to realize that I went through all of middle school and high school without actually dating someone. Okay, so there was that one or two week period where I technically did, but we never hung out and it never went beyond a few phone calls (the whole thing had been set up by a friend at the time who told me the girl thought I was cute). So I generally don't count it.
Anyhow, I didn't start dating until I was almost 21, and even then, it wasn't like I was setting the world on fire with my choices in girlfriends. My first one, Tabitha, wanted to just sit around and do nothing while I worked, then complain that there was nothing to do. My second one, Megan, decided to go take a vacation to Virginia, meet a guy down there, not tell me about it until after she broke up with me, and even then, didn't tell me until after I found out she moving down there to be with him.
My third one, Eve, was a pothead. My fourth one, Nikki, had the most potential to that point, but couldn't get herself together for any real long stretches of time. She spent most of her time sleeping, cleaning up the one tiny piece of dust that spotted while crawling around on her floor, and complaining because she couldn't find work. At least she apparently got it together after we broke up. At least last I heard, which was a couple years ago.
After that, things start to run together. I don't recall dating for a while until Samantha came along, and she was the biggest disaster of them all. A closet alcoholic, she was rude, she was mean, she more than likely cheated several times, and in the end, I could only blame myself for putting up with it for so long even though I knew she wasn't good for me or to me.
There was another decent gap after that before I met Shana, who burned out almost immediately after we started dating, so who knows how much that actually counts. After that came Lauren, who for one month, seemed great for me, until she finally revealed that she didn't like being around her guy so much and that she didn't tell me because she didn't want to hurt my feelings, so it made more sense to let it get to be too much and just break things off with me.
Then came Corinne, who after seeming like a good fit, turned out to be a not-so-good fit and someone I thought would be at least a friend, until she decided to go in a blog on Facebook and tell everyone about how she didn't get the talk she deserved and that she had learned all kinds of things thanks to "superdouche." I was kind of glad she showed her true colors that way and that soon rather than endure a friendship for a long period where someone's constantly talking behind your back.
Then we come to Rachel. A girl unlike any girl I've ever dated. A girl who in almost four months has treated me better than all the other girls I've dated combined. A girl that has all the qualities I want and then some.
Let's take a minute and gush about her for a minute.
First off, she's beautiful. Her eyes are amazing, her smile is amazing, and I love the little smirk she gives me when she's up to something. Second, she has an amazing personality. For the first time, I genuinely feel like I have someone in my corner, someone who will be there for me if I ever need someone. I have someone I can talk to when I'm down or if something's bothering me. I have someone who laughs at my incredibly stupid jokes even if I don't even think they're that funny. I have someone who has yet to get tired of me, even after almost four months of constant time together. I have a girlfriend who goes out of her way to make sure I'm okay, who will buy me something that I want even though I protest because she knows I appreciate the gesture. I have someone who was willing to go see "The Lion King" in 3D.
In short, she's amazing in every way imaginable. Her daughter Payton is too. That child makes me laugh and even though she's a kid and sometimes does things to irritate both of us, at the end of the day, you can't help but smile at the things she does. The most gratifying feeling is going the weekend without seeing Payton, and upon Sunday night, she's running up to both Rachel and me, hugging us and saying "I missed you" over and over again.
I could not ask for more from a relationship and I can't wait to live with the two of them and see what the future brings next.
Okay, so now that I've traced that, what other changes have occurred in the last several years?
I've owned/driven 8 different cars.
My first car was my mom's 1980 Buick Regal. It was the banana boat. You figure out why. I also drove her Cavalier from time to time because it was pretty sweet. My next car was a 1989 Ford Escort. It lasted all of a few months before I managed to take out the frame thanks to the snow. After that was a 1990 Cavalier, which lasted a year longer than I thought it would (it lasted a year). Then I got my first *new* care, a 2000 Escort ZX2, which I drove for about 6 years before it unceremoniously died in my friend Mike's driveway when I was attempting to leave after house-sitting for the week. Then I drove my mom's 1999 Ford Ranger for a while until a drunk driver decided to use it as a brake while it was parked in the street. Then I was driving my mom's 1998 Escort (apparently I liked Escorts, who knew?) until I was able to get my current vehicle, a 2003 Buick Rendezvous, which does not help the old man jokes one bit.
I've lived in several places
When I started working, I lived in Brunswick. In March 2000, we moved to Cleveland, where my mom still lives. For a brief period, I lived with my first girlfriend in Lakewood, til I realized that she wasn't interested in paying rent, or bills, or anything else that was substantially important. Then it was back home until I started dating Nikki, at which I lived with her for a few months before I realized she wasn't interested in being awake during the day. Except to clean. Then in July, 2010, I moved into my apartment in Willoughby Hills, where I'm staying now until I can move in with Rachel (which I'm incredibly excited for).
I've had one cat through all of it
My cat Kisa has been through the entire ride with me from the moment I received her in 1994, through all the moves and changes. She's going to be 18 soon and while you can tell she's old, she's still fairly feisty and hopefully will be around for a few more years. The last year or so, I've also been joined by Pook. He's around 2 and, well, he's special. Like me.
I've attempted school a few times now
My first attempt came after I was done with high school. That fall, I enrolled at Tri-C and was doing fairly well until my dad decided that stability is for the dogs in the winter of 1999. After his meltdown, we were forced to move, but during his meltdown, it was virtually impossible for us to have any kind of sense of stability. It took its toll on all of us.
My second attempt was after I broke up with my first girlfriend. I came back home, cut my hair off, and attempted to get back in school. Naturally, the house decided to catch fire, we were relocated to a hotel in Westlake, and between work, the house being rebuilt, and me being an idiot, I couldn't do it.
My third attempt was more recent and was short-circuited by my teacher deciding that showing up for class was optional.
For those keeping score, it's school 3, David, 0. I will be making another attempt after Rachel and I move in together, this time I'm contemplating going in for law enforcement. I've always had an interest in it, but I think this is more feasible than thinking about pharmacy since it would only take me until I was 40 to be done with all that.
So much more has changed, but those are the things that jump out the most to me.
Right now, I'm happy. I have a great relationship with an amazing woman, my family is doing relatively well, I have a stable and rewarding job, and I really can't complain about where things are and where they're heading. I just look forward to the future right now.
And endless shrimp at Red Lobster.
And Halloweekends at Cedar Point.
And a Browns game.
And cuddling with Rachel and Payton, even if Payton takes up most of the bed.
And Pook running like hell from Payton, then coming back out looking for more.
Catch my drift?
I've dabbled in the world of blogs in the past.
I was content using Facebook's note system for the longest time. Before that, I used to write in a web site on a regular basis.
Now Facebook is going stupid and Google+ doesn't have a blog, so I've decided that I'm going to use this as a forum to vent about various things, at least the ones that aren't work-related (well, the stuff that could get me in trouble; I'll save work stuff for the anonymous blog I keep).
About the name of the blog...it's a reference to the old man jokes I get all the time from friends, and specifically, my girlfriend.
I admit, some days I feel old, but most days I don't. And while 30 (almost 31) isn't exactly over the hill, when you're among the oldest of your friends, you hear about it occasionally.
So I just wanted to take a minute and introduce myself here. I'm not sure how often I'll be blogging since my internet is still off at home, but I'm figuring I'll be able to sneak in one every now and then.
Those coming to this from Facebook and Google+ will already know who I am, so no need to read all the following crap. I'm Dave, I'm 30, I live in Willoughby Hills, I have a wonderful girlfriend named Rachel (who has an equally wonderful daughter named Payton), and I work 6 days a week generally.
I'm a smartass and can be opinionated, hence the need for a blog.
If you don't like what I say, that's fine. If you feel the need to tell me you think differently of something I write about, go ahead. If you feel the need to tell me my opinion is wrong, then keep on moving.
Generally, I'm a happy person. I have my off days, but for the most part, I enjoy life and look forward to what's going to happen next.
If you want to know more, well, you'll just have to wait and see if I write about it, or find me on the sites mentioned earlier.
