It happened a couple of weeks ago.

I went to the Sprint store with my brother 2 weeks ago to upgrade his phone, since I’m leasing his iPhone. And it turns out that they were out of his preferred phone. While I was there, I addressed a matter. It was time I address some very poor judgement that I used 2 years ago. I had never used the tablet. Sure every once in a while, I took it out and used the LTE internet. But I was always so concerned about going over the limit that I kept it home. And on the home Wi-Fi. So, I was paying $20+ a month for something that I didn’t use. I’m a man of integrity, so I kept my end of the contract. And this last summer, I paid the contract off. And while we were are the Sprint store, I cancelled the service. I told the clerk that I never used it. And that was the end of it….

It is possible to pay off a cell phone contract and cancel service without drama…

Finished one wipe, now on to another

Yesterday, among other things, I finished reinstalling all the software from the last time I wiped my tower. Everytime I think I want to try another version of Windows, or even the latest and greatest Windows 10, I always end up back with my previous version. I guess I still like the start menu that I can arrange and sort the folders. I know there will come a time when I’ll have to go to Windows 10 and stick with it (which is why I still keep the flash drive with the installer on it updated). But it could be worse. I could go with Windows 8.1…

Anyway, I was on the phone with my Dad, who got Mom’s laptop when she passed away. And the time has come to wipe it. A lot of her memories are on it, I’m sure. But, I’ll make sure to back everything up before I wipe it. The laptop has potential. But mother was not the most computer literate, and there were serious spyware issues. With all of her machines. When she gave me her previous laptop, the first thing I had to do was wipe it. Anyway, the 32gB usb Flash Drive for it has been ordered from Spamazon.

They lost yesterday…

The Seahawks lost yesterday. Bet they’re still atop the NFC West. We can’t win them all. But there is always next week. And unlike the Browns or the 49er’s, they haven’t already been mathmatically eliminated from the playoffs already…

The Sounders FC are now in the MLS cup. This is the first time that they’re in the finals. They have always made it to the post-season in every season. Next week, they’ll play either the Montreal Impact or Toronto FC. If Montreal wins, then they’ll be playing for it all in the CLink. If Toronto wins, they’ll be playing in Toronto. I’m rooting for Montreal.

Polished off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers yesterday. Since we had a pork tenderloin (btw, my brother is a really good cook), there was no loftover turkey in the house. I had to go buy some turkey from the Deli counter for my sandwich. And it was good.

Payday was Friday. Today and yesterday were my days off. I did my laundry yesterday and finished reinstallling my software after my latest tower wipe yesterday. So I have today off, I got up early, and all my errands were run yesterday. So I was about to go out and about today (off to Wally World, mainly to get ideas about elf-work). As I’m about to leave, I get this nagging feeling to pay bills. So I sit down, log into BECU, and review my account balance. After budgeting for my ORCA card reload, I paid the electric and the cable bill. And I’m broke again (credit cards were paid last Friday).

So that’s my weekend. Tomorrow, it’s off to work. For another 5 days…

The original Thansgiving…

Addams Family Values was one of the funnier movies around...

Happy Stuff Bread Up A Turkey’s Ass Day!

Also know as Thanksgiving. I have many things to be greteful for. Family, friends, job, the roof over my head. The list goes on an on. I think last year, I posted most of the aforementioned items. But whether or not you’re eating Turkey, Ham, or Soylent Green (Or feasting upon the Lambs. And Sloths. ANd Carps. And Anchovies. And Orang-utans. And Breakfast Cereals. And Fruit Bats. And Large Chunks….), go ahead and have a happy Thanksgiving. There is nothing wrong with having Chinese Takeout or pizza for Thanksgiving either.

Although if you’re still looking for the largest turkey in the store, then go to the poutlry counter, and ask the clerk for Colin Kaepernick. Though Tom Brady is bigger, but by the time you get it home, it will have deflated to smaller than a cornish game hen….

Where do I start?

The Seahawks won today. The Philadelphia Eagles brought a rookie quarterback to the CLink. The conclusion was forgone when the schedule was announced…

After getting his Well-Deserved Beating at the hands of the Seahawks last week, Tom Brady took it out on KaeperPICK. In San Francisco.

Did laundry today. I forgot to remove the change from my work jeans before I put them in. Change was very clean, but it made for a very noisy dryer..

Yesterday, I went to MacDonalds. Placed and paid for my order. And waited. And waited. And waited. Ended up leaving without my food. Had a nice little chat with the manager later, and he told me to come back so they could make good on it. If I leave a restaurant without getting my food after I have paid for it, I make it a point never to come back. I can forgive wasting my money, but wasting my time is inexcusable. Especially in a ‘fast’ food environment.

Got live Christmas trees in at work last week, and I was part of the team who stocked them. My roommate and I won’t be setting one up….

Only have a one-day ‘weekend’ today. Since I’m getting Thanksgiving off, and that’s usually a work day for me, I have to work tomorrow. But that means I get my 40 hours this week, plus 8 hours of holiday pay. One of the reasons why I like my job. True, there are issues at work, but for the most part, I hold my peace, and the situations work themselves out….

On a business trip….

The Seahawks just gave Tom Brady a well-deserved beating. On the road. Tonight, we interecetped Tom Brady, and sacked him twice. And for once, the officials didn’t mess up the calls….

Happiness is....

Happiness is a 20 minute phone call with Grandma. I highly recommend it. Just what I needed, especially after this season a partisan rancor. But more on that later...

Next Stop, Colorado….

The Sounders FC just knocked out FC Dallas. Next up are the Colorado Rapids. To be honest, the last time I saw the Sounders and the Rapids play, it was the game where Steve Zakuani had his leg broken. Let’s hope this game comes out better….

Time for the ful 90 again…

So, it’s round 2 of the conference semi-finals. The Sounders FC won the first round at the CLink, defeating FC Dallas 3-0. Since the scoring is aggregate in this round, Dallas needs to beat up by at least 3 points. Possibly more…

Football, football, and more football

Day 2 of three days ina row off. And I’ve spent most, if not all of it watching football. First, there were both the U Dub and Moo U massacring their opponents. Then today, I had the TV on CBS all day, watching the double header. And tomorrow, it’s the Seahawks in the CLink verses Buffalo. I’d watch the Raiders game on Sunday Night Football, but I’m going to switch to the other football: it’s round two of the Sounders FC match with Dallas. But hey, soccer is called football in Europe, so it’s still football….

3 day weekend….

Due to a quirk in my schedule this week, I have a 3-day weekend. 3 days off in a rown. Without having to take a sick day. And I’m so lazy that I had Spamazon deliver my Diet Coke.

• The cubs won the workd series the past week. The first time in 108 years. I saw most of game 7, but I had to go to bed at the end of the 8th inning.
• A schedule change back in the first part of October now has me walking 4.5 mile to my bus stop every morning. Surprisingly, my left foot (the one with the plantar facsitis) is holding up better now that with my pprevious schedule (where I was walking the 4.5 miles only two days a week). It could be the gel insoles. Or just the shoes (though since I’m wearing the Wally World house brand, so I have to be careful as they wear out).
• I got somebody hired at Mrs. Fields. They need someone, but I’m no longer have that kind of availability (something about being full-time already at my current job).

I have a three day weekend. Main agenda: binge-watching football. Right now, I’m watching Moo U beat up on Arizona. Later on, it’ll be U Dub vs. California. And I’m sure there’ll be other games to watch on the Vizio 55” today.

Today is a good day. Never mind the rain. That’s par for the course on my day off…

It is finished…

My ballot is filled out and will soon by on it’s way to the dropbox. And I voted for Hilary. Both Clinton and Trump have their flaws. While nobody is perfect, Donald Trump has neither the qualifications nor the temperment to be President. A Trump White house just plain scares me. He has openly called for the exclusion of refugees just because of their religious beliefs. He has openly glorified sexual assault. I don’t care if those comments were made over 10 years ago, and he has refuted them as locker-room talk. Most sports teams (especially in high school/college) also have emphasis on character, and this kind of talk wouldn’t be tolerated. Grabbing a woman by her (slang word for femal anatomy) is sexual assault, plain and simple. And then there has been the fat-shaming on Twitter. Respect for women (and all people, for that matter) is a very good thing. And then there’s been the multiple instances of adultery (of his three wives, he’s cheated on at least two). Yes, there was Monica Lewinsky. And Paula Jones (possibly). But they’re still married. To each other. Some have claimed that he is qualified to be president based on his success as a businessman. But he’s not that good of a businessman. Too many bankruptcies. Too many investors and employess shortchanged. As a worker who has had paychecks bounce, that really matters to me. In my first presidential election, I voted third party. But this election, the stakes were too high. If it were up to me I would’ve voted for Bernie Sanders. But even he has endorsed Hilary. Mike Pence was a viable alternative, but the risk of voting for Donald Trump is too great.

Irregardless of the outcome of November 8th, America is the only nation where the government and swing from one extreme to another every four years peacefully. Actually, as of the next inaguration, both parties will have had equal time in the White House since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

When I was growing up, and throughout high school, I found my political views to be skewed to the right. Then I start moving to the left. Now, I find my views to be skewed to the left. But I don’t vote along party lines. Trust me. If Trump wasn’t running, I would’ve most likely voted Republican.

But there is something that has got to stop. The polarization. This is America, people. And we need to work together. Just because somebody doesn’t have the exact same views as you doesn’t mean that they’re pure evil incarnate. It is possible to be morally conservative and socailly liberal at the same time….

Yes, I’ve voted. I’ve done my duty. If you don’t agree with my views, then you’re free to vote according to your conscience as well.

So, it was a tie last night….

The game last night was a tie. Ties don’t happen that often in the NFL, but they’re possible. Before you go criticizing the Seahawks for the non-existent offense last night, just remember that the defense was on the field for over 40 minutes last night and didn’t yield a touchdown…

Note to the kickers: try to put the ball between the uprights, not to hit the uprights themselves….

Final debate was last night.

And I didn’t watch it. I know who I’m voting for this year, and I don’t need to to watch the soundbites, smear campaigns, and out and out lies that pass for this year’s election. I’m not revealing who I’m voting for yet. Until I cast my ballot, I will be non-partisan.

Though I will say that respect for women is a very good thing.

Well, this was strange….

For the past year or so, my ‘weekend’ has been Sunday and Monday. This week, I had some items on the agenda that could only be done during the week, so I requested yesterday, and today off. And I got them. As a result of other circumstances, I couldn’t do what I was planning to do today (combination poor weather, lousy traffic, and a lack of fiber…).

But I still did my laundry, backed up most of my files (with the exception of my Steam Games, and that’s running right now). I think the lesson I’ve learned of late is that if I really want to take a day off, I’ll request it. It has happened before where I assumed that I was getting a day off, and then lo and behold I get scheduled for it.

In a related to my schedule story, my vacation request has been approved, and I will be able to make it to the Big Bryant Family Reunion. I’m also take a couple of days off after Christmas to recover from the Holidays (between the merry-making, well-wishing, and all-in-all having a good time, one should also plan for sleep….)

So much happened this week

So let’s get started.

• Hockey season started. In the summer, my TV was usually tuned to either the Science Channel or Root Sports, so I could catch the Mariners game. Now it going to be between, the Science Channel, ESPN (for the Monday Night Football game), or the NBC Sports Network (for whatever hockey game is on).
• I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but the Great Pacific NorthWET was visited by the remnants of Typhoon Songda. It was windy. And rainy. But power was out here for only and hour or so. It was more of a pain in the ass commuting to work, as my commute involves a walk of 4 1/2 miles in the morning, and while I have no problem walking in the wind or the rain, but when they’re combined together, that becomes a pain. However, my ever-tolerant employer allowed me to come in an hour later on Friday, and so avoid the worst of the weather….
• Last Sunday I was off from one employer, but I didn’t watch one game of football. Something about having to work Mrs. Fields…
• The Cubs are in the NLCS. They play tonight. I think I may skip the Sunday Night game tonight to watch that game tonight.

A weekend cut short…

Normally, my weekend is Sunday and Monday. But I did my good deed for the week on Sunday, and worked at Mrs. Fields, so the owner good go celebrate a birthday. So, today was Recovery Day, Laundry Day, and get ready for work tomorrow day….

My latest stragedy in addressin my chronic foot pain is shoe rotation. Basically I don’t wear the same pair of shoes on consecutive days. It does take some planning, to make sure that on the days that I’m walking the longest I’m not wearing the shoes with the greatest wear. Hopefully, this will also help ‘stretch out’ the usable lives of my shoes.

I switched my backpacks last week. I week before I was fired from Mrs. Fields almost 4 years ago, my boss’s wife gave my a backpack for Christmas. I knew I was getting it, as she told me that she had to borrow my laptop to make sure that it fit. And I used it. It had the right pockets. I didn’t use the laptop pocket that much, but the other ones were used. and then last year, I got another one on Spamazon. It has all the compartments (even the padded laptop pocket). In fact, it has even more pockets. But what caused me to finally switch over to it was the two mesh ones. It’s fall, and I need to keep my umbrella handy. And, due to my schedule at work, I’m going to be leaving for work even earlier that the butt-crack of dawn. So, my thermos of coffee needs one, too…

Anyway, off to work tomorrow. And then my regular work week. And then another cut short weekend. Next week, I’ve asked for some time off in the middle of the week, and my employer granted it. But that means the time needs to made up….

Watching the debate

The debate was last night.  I recorded it. And now I'm watching it. This is a circus. The debate should be promoted by Don King. We need the weigh-in, the hype, and possibly Mills Lane.

Donald Trump is doing cocaine. That's how can I only explain the sniffles....

Why not just give them a pair of boxing gloves, abd let them go at it?

Know what? I think I've decided who I'm voting for. But I'm keeping my choice in pectore until I've cast my ballot.

I think I'm going to just watch football instead...

It’s over.

The Mariners wild card hopes ended last night in the 10th inning, losing to the A’s. But there is still a high note. They end the season with a winning record. But there is still a hope for next season…