For Mapi...

I DO have a hall pass, btw..

love ya!

Tagged with a Meme.

I normally don't participate in memes. Ever. But since my dear friend Mapi tagged me with one on her blog I have relented and agreed to participate. ( that, and my lingering "hot teacher" fantasy I have of her. "Yes Ma'am, I know the answer!" ) I know, so piggish and typical of me. I should be kept after school to clean the blackboard. Really...

So anyhow, Ahem... The meme requirements are as follows:

Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself.

There was also a request that you tag 6 other humans after finishing yours. But, I leave that up to the 2 or 3 people that read this bathroom wall of mine.

So here we go:

1.) I want to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish, non-stop sometime in the next 10 years. I'm not exactly sure how I found out about the people that do exactly this every year. But , it absolutely got into my blood when I read about it. I found a website called http://www.trailjournals.com/ where hikers blog an online journal of the day to day feelings and experiences while hiking not only the AT but many other long distance trails. It just blew me away (and still does). I guess the thought of just planning, and then dropping everything in my life just to go and hike 2150 miles non stop just really pulls at the very roots of my soul.

I actually almost did this hike in early 2005 right after my divorce was finalized. I had the money, and was ready for the challenge. But I just didn't do it. I was too concerned about my job, and what my family would think about it. If I could turn back the hands of time I would do it in a millisecond. Screw the consequences. I'm thinking that I may do it when I leave here and head back to Texas.

2.) While I can be a very charming, outgoing person, I feel the most at home and "in my element" out in the wilderness. Life makes complete sense to me there. In the behaviour of the animals, the patterns of foliage, and the elements there is a very subtle rhythm and truth that very few ever see, or even realizes exists. I know that a few do. Like my friend Merriwether over at http://intotheborderlands.blogspot.com/. He gets it. I've also been a life ling student of woodsmanship and survival.

There is no lying in nature. Just brutal honestly. That's something I have never been able to say about the human race unfortunately.

3.) I want to move home to San Antonio, Texas and be among my family once more. I've been gone from there for almost 12 years. I feel like I've missed out on so much of every one's lives. Time I can never get back, or make up for when its all said and done.
I want to be there for my Mother and Father. I want to do things with Dad, like fishing, or going to a ball game, or just watching the sunset. I want to take my Mom antique shopping in the Hill Country just north of San Antonio, or go sit and have tea with her at some quaint little place.

My biggest regret in my life would be standing at the side of a casket without ever having done these things.

4.) I can consume more alcohol than 95% of the population and show absolutely no signs of intoxication. It's very bizarre. I'm like the woman from the first Indiana Jones movie. Drinking you under the table isn't a challenge, it's a comedy event. I highly recommend that you visit the ATM, or have a platinum card in your wallet if you say that you are picking up the tab.

But the truth be known; If I weren't drug tested, I'd smoke pot over drinking booze HANDS DOWN..... I've also believed for years that marijuana should be legalized for a myriad of reasons besides the effects of smoking it.

5.) I've only truly been head over heels in love one time in my life. I was an idiot and let her get away. (and no, it wasn't my ex-wife.. How bizarre is that? )

I know where she is, her address, phone number, and where she works. But I'll never contact her. The past is the past, and is best left alone 99% of the time.

6.) I have a quasi-photographic memory. I can remember smells, textures, and exactly what was said by people decades ago. My Mother and Father say I have the memory of an Elephant.I also have an IQ above 140 but have always been an big underachiever scholastically, especially in mathematics.

7.) If I could make one wish and have it come true it would be to win the lottery. I would be perfectly happy with just a cool million. I would invest it into an annuity that would pay me a fixed amount every month until I die. I would quit my job via the telephone, wrap up my loose ends and travel the world for a year. I'm not talking five star hotels either. I'd want to see each place as it really is. After seeing the world, I'd buy a house on my parents street and just enjoy life.

8.) When I was in kindergarten and 1st grade my family lived in Tehran, Iran. (this was just before the Shah was ousted ) We lived just down the street from the Chinese Embassy. One month a phone bill came in the mail that was for 25,000 dollars. As it turns out, it was sent to our house by mistake instead of the Chinese embassy. There was no way that the gate guards (Chinese soldiers carrying AK47s) would EVER let a grown American into the Embassy in a million years. So my mother got the idea of sending little ol' Windrider down the block ( she was watching me like a hawk of course ) to get our bill and give them theirs. The guards were pretty scary at first, and wanted the phone bill but I told them that I needed ours and they couldn't have theirs until they gave ours to me. I was promptly escorted through the gate an into the actual embassy much to my mothers shock. I guess I was in there a while and after getting our phone bill and being given tea and cookies, I emerged and headed back down the block to my mother who practically collapsed from relief. ( she was freaking out, and thought they had somehow decided to keep me. )

Well, the next month the same thing happened. So, I walked back down and the same thing occurred. This went on for months and months. I was also learning to ride a bicycle at the time and was in the stage where the training wheels are off but a parent had to run behind the bike holding onto the seat. Well this happened to be my mother almost all the time. She would run behind me down the street and then we'd turn around and go back towards our house. Eventually, I got to the point where she could let go and just sort of only hold onto it until I was sort of stabilized. Well, the Chinese Guards that had come to know me took great interest in all this. The started coming out in the street and cheering me on, holding their rifles up with one hand and waving their green military caps with the other. Soon after my mother would push me off from one end of the street and the guards would "catch" me, get me turned around, and run behind me holding the seat as I headed back to my mother. So I guess you could say I owe my ability to ride a bike partly to the Communists.

9. ) I can pretty much fart at will. In almost melodic tones.

10.) To no suprise to anyone at all. I can honestly say I have never hated where I've lived any more than I do living and working in Miami. Not even the Middle East, and that says something in and of itself.

So there you have it. Anyone who wants to try it is welcome to.

Midnight thoughts

Another overnight shift. I swear I'm becoming a night owl working all these Mid shifts.

I wish there was more to really report, but life has just been hum drumming along. Granted I could bore you with the latest nonsense going on here at work, but I'm so sick of it I won't even bother. Besides, its just the same old song on the 700th verse.

The algebra class should be over in the next 2 weeks. I'm surprised that it's gone by so fast! It seems like just yesterday I was getting ready for it. My Macroeconomics class starts on the 26th, and my next 2 online classes don't start until the 15th of June. I'm just SO ready to finish this degree and move on.

Hopefully the job market will perk up back home and it won't be impossible to find a job back there. Wouldn't that be a pisser? Even if I have to take a small pay cut to move back there I will. As much as I'll miss the everglades, this place is dead to me. It will be high time to get out of here when it's all over.

I did go shooting last Wednesday. It was a ton of fun. Expensive, but fun. That's something I need to do more of. I didn't realize just how much I really missed it until I started firing. The smells, the sounds, and the satisfaction of putting rounds exactly where you want them to go is a great feeling. Granted this was a standing indoor range that only went out to 20 yards. But it was still a alot of fun. I may have to get some reloading equipment and start making my own shells again. We'll see.

The family is doing well. Mom and Dad are business as usual. I just miss them immensely. So much so it hurts sometimes. I try not to dwell on the fact that I'm so alone here. I mean, yeah I have a couple of friends. But no family, and that's a drag. It would be nice to simply get in the car and drive over to my parents, or Godparent's house and say hello. But like I said, I can't dwell on it or it will just depress me.

I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and get finished with school. That's going to be my best ticket out of here.

Well, I better wrap this up and get prepped to leave. The relief shift should be coming in soon. Be Good folks...

Snap! - Believe The Hype

WAY back in the early 90's ( some of you were still riding tricycles ) when I was spinning as a DJ in clubs in Texas, this was some of the best body-rocking shit that there ever was.... AND it STILL is some of the best dance music ever produced.... If you've never heard of Snap, go you tube search them. They rock.... Period....

When I spun this,( yes, as in a record/aka wax, NOT CD's kids ) and cranked up the monitors and amps, your ass was allergic to the chair! It was IMPOSSIBLE not to get out on the floor and sweat your ass off..

It didn't matter if you could dance or not, you just moved because the music made you move! Even IF you were sober.. And NOBODY gave a shit because they were all groooving too.

It didn't matter if you were Straight, Gay, bi, or a fucking Flying Purple People Eater... You couldn't help yourself, you were out there in MY lightshow sweating and grinding. Strobes popping, lasers flaring, and smoke pumping.

Man, This makes me want a sick ass dance floor to sweat on!!

More Midnight musing..

I'm not sure exactly why, But today just felt good.

Maybe it's because I forced my lazy ass out of the bed this evening in time to clean up the cave a bit, take out the trash, and head to the grocery store before coming into work. Being productive definitely has a positive affect on my mental outlook. I just wish I would do it more often. I really can be a lazy bastard sometimes, really.

Or maybe it's because I've been away from the drama for 2 days, and will be until Friday. Who knows. But I hope the feeling sticks around a while.

On my days off I have a few things to take care of. I need to go see my doctor to get my prescriptions refilled and possibly up my BP med dosage, I have to take a big, Algebra exam, and I'm going to the gun range to blow off some steam and kill some paper bad guys... I'm also itching to fire the bullets I hand loaded when I was home in Texas. ( big, maximum strength, hollow point .45 colts )

I miss shooting on a regular basis. It's on of the few things that I am very, very, very good at. No matter if it's long range rifle, pistol, fully automatic, or shotgun. And It's a great stress relief. I've even considered becoming a firearms instructor again. But with school and all that jazz, it probably wouldn't be a great idea. Maybe later on.

My brother is still having a little trouble with his back. I'm not too sure what he's going to do about it. He can still get 3 more epidurals in his current series before having to wait. The thing is that the pain is affecting his ability to perform at work. And He is going to have to decide weather he's going to stay at his current job, or go back to practicing law again. I need to give him a shout and see how he's doing these days.

Other than that, just lots of little things to do over the next couple of days. Laundry, mop the floors, vacuum, throw out some stuff, etc. Although some thoughtless shitbirds at the apartment complex are making that hard. This is due to the fact that these douche bags cant seem to understand that you need to break down boxes when you put them in a dumpster. And I'll be damned If I'm going to do it for them. In fact I'm going to go raise hell with the building super over it as it's pretty damned obvious as to who is doing it.

Anyhow... I guess I better wrap this up. My relief should be getting here in the next 25 minutes or so. I'll try to post something soon, even if it's just bland, every day stuff..

Midnight thoughts

So here I am again, burning the oil.

Man, I'm tired tonight. It seems like the last week has gone on forever. I have a lot to do in the next few days. School has been taking up most of the time. I'm almost finished with this course, and I just enrolled for three more that start at the end of the month.

I just feel a sense of urgency to get this done. I'm tired of this place, and the people. My mother thinks I'll burn myself out, but I have to disagree. I'm not sure what it is, but something just lit a fire under my ass to get done with school.

Maybe it's the overwhelming feeling that I'm just wasting my life here in Miami. Time is just slipping away, and I've spent WAY too much time here. I need to be back home. It's frustrating. Really frustrating. And hard for most people to understand because they have families, spouses, and attachments to this city. I on the other hand have absolutely none of that. And I guess that's a really good thing. Because I have absolutely nothing to hold me from leaving as soon as I can.

School is also a great way to make time go faster. And it keeps me busy, which I need. I tend to be self destructive when I just sit around. Besides, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Which is something I haven't felt in a very, very long time. I hadn't realized just how much I've missed that until a few weeks ago. I should have done this much sooner. But that's all water under the bridge.

Other than that, not too much has been happening in my life. I did decide I was going to buy an elliptical machine for the apartment. My biggest problem has been getting out the door to go to the gym. I figure with a piece of equipment sitting in the center of the living room I'll guilt myself into using it. Either that or it will simply be a piece of rather avantgard statuary. I just need to start doing something. I'll probably get it in a couple of weeks.

I'll try to post something tomorrow as I have yet another midnight shift. ( its a work staffing issue, don't ask...) But hey, it keeps me away from the other inmates. And thats a good thing.

One Love..... By: Robert Nester Marley