I was on the border and all I got was this lousy meal

This weekend continued Kim's birthday celebration. Friday night was fun because I took her to Medieval Times for her bday dinner. Overall, an enjoyable experience. It's always fun when everyone calls you "lord." Last night Kevin, Rachel, Moose, Cindy, Kim & I went to On the Border for dinner. I'll let Kim reveal more about the events of these 2 days, but I want to reveal my input for last night. From now on, I'll take my stomach elsewhere when the hostess of a restaurant is wearing sweats and a ratty sweater. Tonight Liz met us for some apps and drinks at Bennigan's. Food was sub-par, but conversation was entertaining.

So this is my last week in hell. I am so excited to get out of there and not hurt my back anymore. I'm really looking forward to teaching starting next Monday. I know I won't be rich, but it's the best thing to happen to me in over a year in terms of employment. Also, I received a call from Brick Township on Friday for an interview on Tuesday. There are apparently a few positions open, but the secretary I spoke to only knew one was a third grade class that would start January 3rd and last until the end of the school year. It would be under contract and would include benefits. I'm hoping things go well and I can pick up one of the openings. But I'm keeping things in perspective. This would be the third time I'm going there for an interview, so I hope it's a charm. Also, if I don't get one of the jobs, I know I still have the job in Bloomfield until the end of the school year. Whatever happens, it's better than retail.

Bengals got destroyed today and I also realized how much I hate watching pre-game shows and ESPN in general. Every week it's the same stories: Michael Vick, Deion Sanders, Jaguars in the Super Bowl, and it's a bunch of guys trying to overanalyze every aspect of the game. Oh crap, the WNBA playoff highlights are on. Gotta go.

motherfucker

i hate this goddam computer. i just wrote 3 long paragraphs and this piece of shit decided to flake out. fuck gateway. fuck earthlink. fuck pop-up blocker.

drink

Happy Birthday to Kim! You're the best!

what the hell is wrong with me

This was a hobby of mine & Rob's during childhood-cutting up crappy collector cards and producing these. I just found a bunch today, but this is classic.

ivan ho

My game at ght was rained out today, so I don't have to work. Unfortunately I didn't sleep well and woke up early. I only found out it was postponed about 5 minutes ago. Kim, her mom & I are supposed to go out to dinner for Kim's pre-birthday celebration, so I pretty much have nothing to do until then.

On a positive note, I only have 2 more weeks at my current retail job. That's right! I have secured a strange teaching position in my hometown. I'm technically a sub, since I'd be getting paid sub wages and won't get medical coverage, but I'll be in the same school Monday thru Friday until the end of the school year. So whatever teacher is out on a given day, I'll cover him/her, or if they are all healthy, I can just observe one of them or act as an assistant for the day and still get paid. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be making a ton of money, but it is more than my current job, and it's getting me closer to having my own classroom. So I am psyched. My first day is October 4th.

Thank you Kim for finding out about the HRC show. I am really excited for that since their music has grown on me as they release more cds, and I've never seen them live before. Should be a blast.

I may try to do something with my website, but don't count on it. I need an epiphany in order to make it this eye candy that doesn't take an hour to load.

carson palmer is wayyy better than carson daly at qb

I haven't blogged in some time, and during that time, I missed the opportunity to wish my mom a Happy Birthday(yesterday)! I had to go into work early for truck. Yay, so I'm real tired now. I may have a chance at being a sub for the rest of the year at one school. If I can find out enough details and they can guarantee me working every day, then I'm out of retail. word. I can't think of anything else to say right now, so I may try to take a nap and could be back later.

un-labor day

I received a call last nite notifying me that I didn't have to work today, which was excellent because I was scheduled from 3-11. So I sit here now and don't have to leave for work in 20 minutes...Some news on the teaching front...Got a rejection letter from Glen Ridge on Saturday, which was a stellar way to start the day, but I soon got over it. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if the principal will tell me exactly why or if he would recommend something for me in the future. I will also call Clifton to make sure I'm on their sub list and tell them to start calling me asap. My mom informed me about a possible job in a Catholic school. The lady who works at the local deli works as a preschool teacher for a school in Clifton, and the current 4th grade teacher will be moving by December. Another person I have to call tomorrow. So there is still a dim chance I may end up with a full-time teaching job by the end of the year, otherwise, I'll at least be subbing. I also saw an ad for Sylvan Learning Centers and they need teachers, but no one was there today, so I'll call them tomorrow. I hear you can pretty much make up your own schedule there if you're part-time, so that may be good to do some days after school.

This morning, my dad and I were tossing around my new Bengals football, and one of my throws hit a wire, as our throws had done hundreds of time over the years, but this time, the wire came down with the ball. Oh crap! Luckily, it wasn't a live wire. We think it's a phone wire for the house across the street and told them, but their phones and cable were working fine. Apparently she called the phone company to have them come by and do something with it. This ended our football season prematurely.

Pick a winner

I had already done my predictions for the upcoming NFL season about 2 hours ago, but my awful computer froze as I was saving my post. So here I go again. My predictions last year were not so good, so once again, I advise you not to follow my advice or be offended if your team is picked last.

AFC East
New England: Still the best team in the league until proven otherwise.
Jets: I like Justin McCareins much better than Curtis Conway. Plus, Chad Pennington's healthy.
Buffalo: Bledsoe will never win with that offensive line.
Miami: I think they have good receivers even without D-Boston, but losing the majority of offense from last season will affect them quite a bit.

AFC North
Baltimore: Their gonna keep winning with their defense, but I'm not sold on Boller.
Cincy: A tough call based on an unproven pro QB, so they can even take the division or finish 3rd.
Pitt: Duce Staley adds hands to an already-excellent receiving corps.
Cleveland: Jeff Garcia will be a major upgrade, but I really hate Kellen Winslow.

AFC South
Indy: Can't argue with that offense, but their defense needs to prove itself.
Tennessee: The good news is they don't have Eddie George, but the bad news is they don't have Eddie George.
Houston: I thought they were tough last year, and they're going to be better.
Jacksonville: I'm sick of everyone picking them to make the playoffs.

AFC West
KC: See Indy, but make the defense much worse.
Denver: Losing Portis will hurt, but they still have a strong defense.
Oakland: Can't be much worse than last year, but they'll be competitive this year.
San Diego: Can you say the new Bungles?

AFC Wild Card Round
Jets defeat KC
Tennessee defeats Baltimore

AFC Divisional Round
New England defeats Jets
Indy defeats Tennessee

AFC Championship
Indy defeats New England

NFC East
Philly: Finally got their receiver.
Washington: A new QB & RB will make them scary.
Dallas: The good news is they got Eddie George, but the bad news is they got Eddie George.
Giants: Kurt Warner+concussion=fun to watch.

NFC North
Minnesota: I think Michael Bennett is underrated, plus their defense should be better.
Green Bay: Favre still has it in him, but their secondary can be picked on.
Detroit: Everyone thinks they'll be better, but they have the touhgest schedule in the league.
Chicago: Rex Grossman is their starting QB, and I am scared for them.

NFC South
Carolina: Same basic blueprint will give them the same results as last year.
New Orleans: They're going to surprise people this year with a great offensive threat.
Atlanta: I think they're overrated, and I hope I'm right about this one.
Tampa Bay: I put them last, but I don't think they'll be under .500.

NFC West
Seattle: My surprise team from last year won't sneak by anymore.
St. Louis: Will do some damage like last year, but won't go far into playoffs.
San Francisco: My surprise team for this year plays with the right attitude as witnessed by me against the Eagles late last season.
Arizona: I remember when they were a bad team, but had a good defense.

NFC Wild Card Round
Minnesota defeats St. Louis
Seattle defeats Green Bay

NFC Divisional Round
Philly defeats Minnesota
Seattle defeats Carolina

NFC Championship Game
Philly defeats Seattle

Super Bowl
Philly defeats Indy, and if they don't then they don't deserve to make the playoffs for the next several years. They finally the piece they needed, so if the choke this year...

conspiracy theory

To give you a little background before shedding detail on a miserable, yet interesting work week: Over the course of the past few months, our store has had a large turnover in management. We just got 2 new assistant managers from the same store, and they suck. One lady is supposed to be the executive assistant(next in line to manager), but she's clueless...So, Wednesday morning I go into work and look at the stockroom to find empty boxes and garbage all over the place. I start swearing and yelling and a coworker agrees with me. I was about ten minutes from walking out. I decided I should first get a throw-away camera and take pictures of the mess that was left by our lady manager, since the actual store manager has been on vacation the whole week. I take pictures of the mess and of a display she made with pet litter and pet toys. The problem was that she left seasonal allergy signs on the display with the pet stuff. Snap. More pictures. I take a few more pictures of the stockroom and start walking out when Mike and Julio show up. They walk into the back and have the same reaction as I, and Julio never gets mad. We ended up cleaning everything up, but laughed quite a bit and goofed off as well. In fact, for lunch, the 3 of us went across the street to the bar to have some drinks and eat while no one else at work knew. It was a pretty sweet reward.

Well, today, the room was a mess again, and I was just tired of cleaning. I did a few more things to cover this lady's ass before the manager comes back for Tuesday. Mike and I ended up sneaking out about an hour early. It's pretty funny. He had given his 2 week notice about a month ago because he has side jobs to focus on, but they took him back part time. His influence has given me the same attitude that he had right before he officially quit. Anyway, if I don't get the job in Glen Ridge, I'm probably going to leave the store if I can be guaranteed I will get to sub at least 4 days a week.