Weekly Update (4 of n)

Yes, I know. I said I was going to change the title of my blog this week. It's been one of those weeks. Even now I'm thinking about going to the bar and having a few drinks.

Last Friday I flew to Idaho. It was my first time in Idaho. Boise surprised me with it's plethora of cool bars with good micro-brews. In one city block I found twice the number of beer selections I can get anywhere in downtown Dallas. It made me sad.

In Boise I met one of my gal pal's friends from high school. I remember doing karaoke at some scary bar. But, they had a touch screen karaoke selection machine which I had never seen before. Apparently Boise karaoke is more technologically advanced.

On Saturday I met one of my gal pal's sisters in McCall. Actually, it was her sister's alter-ego. We lovingly called her Stacy. Or was that Stacey? That's only funny to me, but I wrote it anyway. The other person who reads this is going, "Huh?" I think I may have almost gotten in a fight with some strapping young man. I'm not sure of the details. I think Stacey may have shoved him for leering at her sister and/or to touch his pecs.

It's kind of funny I've been dating my gal pal for almost 2 years now and I've yet to use her name in my blog. I might have to come up with a nickname to make things more readable. It's become kind of a game.

On Sunday I went rafting. Durango would have been proud. Twelve miles of rafting down the Salmon River with nary a vapor attack. I enjoyed rafting a lot more than I thought I would. Now, the rafting and the beer are making me think I've been living in the wrong place all my life.

Sunday night I spent in the McCall emergency room. It would make this more funny if I said it was a vapor attack, but it wasn't. I was like the ambulance driver for someone else. She'll continue to be nameless. And it wasn't my fault. Really.

On Monday I met the gal pal's other sister. As far as I know she doesn't have an alter ego. Thanks for asking.

At some point a white tailed deer walked into the backyard. I've never witnessed anything like that before either. It was pretty awesome. I was video taping hoping it would attack and I could get some good video footage.

Monday night it dipped down below 40 degrees. Tuesday we hung out in a hippie hollow and drank moonshine by the tee-pee. It was surreal. I enjoyed it. Then we drove back to Boise so we could fly home.

Work is irritating me more than usual. I almost yelled at my boss when he asked how things were going. I've got a short fuse. I did find out I'll be going to Scotland first (Edinburgh) instead of England. I've heard it's a cool place. I'll be spending about a week there before going down into England. Wish me luck.

I can't think of anything funny to end with. Durango accused me of using too many cliches. I think it's funny because I can't even spell cliches. He also said something derogatory about ending sentences with prepositions. Silly boy, prepositions are for kids.

Weekly Update (3 of n)

Tomorrow I fly to Idaho. Well, I don't technically fly. I'll be riding in a jet which will be flying.

Therefore, this is my last chance to get my weekly update out of the way. I'm watching True Blood, packing, playing Secret World, and blogging. It's a crazy world.

My daughter helped me create a picture for my new blog design. I'll be rolling it out next week some time. I still can't decide what I will call it. I was going to go with the short, but sweet, "Gar's World".  Then Durango said something about "The Travails of a Texas Boy With Asperger's" and that had a ring to it as well, but slightly difficult to remember.

I could do something like, "Gar's Asperger's World", but I'm kind of afraid of offending anyone who might be actively suffering from the affliction. I"m pretty sure I've outgrown mine. Or at least figured out exactly how much alcohol it takes to make it manageable.

This week has been mostly uneventful. It's been very busy at work. I used to blog on my lunch break. I think I made my boss angry using company resources to do blogging so now I have to interrupt my game playing and TV watching time to write my blog from home. Anyway, he keeps me so busy now that I don't even have time to eat.

Sunday morning at a random barbecue joint I flirted with the waitress until she agreed to bring me a beer at 11:45 AM.  15 minutes before you're allowed to buy beer in Texas for some ungodly reason. I felt like such a rebel.

I'm out of time. Maybe when I get my blog layout changed with my new design I'll feel more inspired to write about how stupid texting and driving is, how stupid 4-way stops are, and/or how stupid people at 4-way stops are. I will continue to voice plenty of ignorant opinions because ignorance is bliss and opinions are like assholes. Have fun!

Weekly Update (2 of n) -- The Quickie

What's the correct spelling of quickie?

I'm a day late and a dollar short on this update. I was kind of trying to think of something to write about which would get more Googlers coming to my blog. I gave up.

Last week I went to Canyon to see my father. He's doing well. But man, that's a long boring road trip. We took my daughter's car. She gets almost 40 miles per gallon in her little Toyota Corolla. I was quite impressed. It's nice driving all the way from here to Canyon and only putting 10 gallons of gas in the tank.

I did absolutely nothing on the fourth of July. Sad, I know. I was helping a guy in England with some problems at work. He sent several emails to my work email address. I have an application on my Android called K-9 which allows me to get all kinds of email (including work email) downloaded to my phone. It's quite handy. This is how I knew he was sending lots of emails on July 4th.

I finally felt sorry for him and sent him an email letting him know that he caught us on holiday, but would make sure someone looked into it on Thursday, July 5th.

He replied back with, "Oh yeah you guys have a holiday today. I forget; what is it you are celebrating?" It was funny. It made my Independence Day memorable. Damn British.

As a reward of sorts, I was told today that I'll spend two weeks touring England in August. I've never really spent any time in England. I might have had a 12 hour layover or something, but nothing long enough to see the country side. This trip, I will be going to 2 different sites in England to help with installs. I think it'll be fun as long as the bozo's from corporate don't think they have to put in 16 hour days. I wonder if they have beer vending machines like they did in Germany. Since my 5% pay cut and no raises for the last 3 years I'm down to 7 hour days at best.

Weekly Update (1 of n)

As we discussed last week, I'm running out of gumption to write down my thoughts.

From this point forward, all posts shall occur every 7 days and shall be titled, "Weekly Update". Or not.

I spent Saturday morning with my freshly graduated daughter. I was happily impressed with her sudden onslaught of maturity. She doesn't get that from me. I'm pretty sure I have the maturity of a 12 year old.

On Sunday, my gal pal and I watched "Apocalypse Now". I think it may have been my second or third time to watch it. I like the Wagner/Helicopter scene the best. My most impressive discovery this time? Nicholas Cage is Francis Ford Coppola's nephew. I had no idea.

I had an inspirational discussion with my sister-n-law who recommended I change my blog title to "Gar's World". I'm thinking that this has mega-potential and it's easier to remember than "The Readerless Random Ramblings of a Fool and His Blog". This title might also allow me to be more opinionated since it would be my world. Durango doesn't like that I'm opinionated. He thinks I should be more informed or less opinionated. Or maybe it was to be informed rather than just opinionated. I don't remember exactly. I think it might be that maturity thing again.

Of course, the title, Gar's World, caused a native uprising. I thought maybe Gar's World was a little over used (not the Gar part, but the world part). How many blog's are titled, "Bill's World", or "Bob's World"? My brother thought maybe I should change it to "Gar's Plot", which, as you may see, has two meanings. Both of which lend themselves to being freely opinionated without the informed anchor.

I pre-ordered "The Secret World" and they opened up the servers on Friday. I played a bit Friday evening, then let my daughter (the younger one) play it all weekend so I have nothing to report except she seemed to enjoy it. I don't know where my pre-order gifts are. As soon as I find out I'll blog about it since I spent 2 hours today doing Internet searches for "The Secret World" and "pre-order" items and received no useful information.

I spent way too long investigating gauges. My daughter (who played The Secret World) wants to "gauge her ears", but she "won't go bigger than 0"! That's wonderful! I am investigating infusion sets for my insulin pump and the plastic cannulas seem to range from 25 gauge to 27 gauge. What's the difference between 25 and 27? Is the larger gauge really that much more comfortable? I finally found this link. The bigger the gauge the smaller the diameter. 0 gauge is 8.2 mm in diameter. I wouldn't want a hole that big in my lobe. I've already got one in my ear and I use it to hear.

And that my friends is your first or second step into Gar's World. Or maybe Gar's Plot. I don't know. I invite you to take off running through my plot of the world or maybe my world's plot. I'd like to leave you with something that made me horribly nauseous. It's the Preamble for the 2012 Texas Republican Party Platform. Ed made me read it. I'll give you a minute to gather your barf bags. Read at your own risk. I'm not sure what's more nauseating: the hypocrisy or the brain chilling narrowness. Republican I am not.

We STILL hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The embodiment of the conservative dream in America is Texas. Throughout the world people dare to dream of freedom and opportunity. The Republican Party of Texas unequivocally defends that dream. We strive to preserve the freedom given to us by God, implemented by our Founding Fathers, and embodied in the Constitution. We recognize that the traditional family is the strength of our nation. It is our solemn duty to protect life and develop responsible citizens. We understand that our economic success depends upon free market principles. If we fail to maintain our sovereignty, we risk losing the freedom to live these ideals.

Grudging Appraisal of My Aging Situation

I've been having a lot of trouble coming up with ideas to blog about. I mean, I know it's hot, but Durango's already taken care of the weather reports.

I've been feeling old lately. At the end of August I'll go have my first ever surgery. Then I'll get to spend up to 6 weeks on crutches. Apparently 4 decades is hard on the hips. I'm having cartilage, bone and labrum stuff repaired in my right hip. I think I have to be there at 6 AM. It's going to mostly suck.

I've been watching the UEFA soccer championships. I'm rooting for Germany to win the cup although Spain are the favorites. I've kind of thought about trying to create an American European Football League where every state in the union would have a soccer team and would have a 7 month qualification time followed by a 4 month tournament similar to the UEFA Euro. Imagine an American Championship soccer game with Texas versus California. It's got me back to questioning where the popularity of American Football came from when you can easily watch 45+ minutes of action without commercial interruption with the more appropriately named Football (aka Soccer)?

Last weekend I played a new MMORPG called "The Secret World". I played because it was a free Beta. I left thinking, "You know, I think they might be on to something." I shot zombies for a few hours with my shotgun. Then I went to an old amusement park and tried to dismantle rides that had gone off kilter while ghosts and demons tried to stop me. I don't know: a haunted amusement park and an old sea town overrun with zombies. You might want to give it a try. I figure with my hip surgery coming up, I'm going to need a new game to play so I bought it.

Last Saturday, I tried, via Facebook, to help a high school friend of mine fix her television. It was something about exchanging a PS3 for a DVD player and the video was mostly in black and white with lines or what not. The description left so many of the details out that I assumed I missed something early on. I mean, what kind of connection (HDMI, component, s video, RCA)? Does the DVD player connect directly to the TV or does it go through a receiver? Anyway, it made my head spin for a couple of minutes and then I told her to drink until the picture quality didn't matter. I'm not sure how helpful I was. I may or may not have already been drinking.

I've taken up bowling. For the last month I've been bowling at least twice a week. My average has gone from a 123 to a 144. My high game went from a 160 to a 204. I think I'm a natural. Did I mention my fingers, hand and arm hurts all the time and I'm going to have to have hip surgery in August?

Gary Johnson is the first Presidential candidate who I have ever actually wanted to win. For the last 10 years or so I've always voted Libertarian. Actually, I vote Libertarian and if a Libertarian is not running then I vote for the person with the longest name. My thinking being I want fewer laws. Libertarians believe in shrinking government; and people with longer names have to work that much harder to sign bills. Barack Obama was a bad idea (name is too short). You need people like Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. Gary should change is name to Garinaldo or something.

Anyway, for some reason, I really like him. The God thing was kind of a troll to see if I could get some people to complain about my inappropriateness. It didn't work.

God Wants *You* to Vote for Gary Johnson

I get tired of people expecting the government to babysit them. One of my pet peeves is when people only accomplish anything when "it's God's will".

If you believe in God then you must believe that he created you with the faculties to take care of yourself. God doesn't want to take care of you. He's got better things to do. That's why He created you with the ability to take care of yourself.

And if God doesn't want to take care of you he certainly doesn't want the United States Government to take care of you.

Therefore, God wants you to vote for Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson for President. It's time we started taking care of ourselves.

The Firestone Experiment

I may have written once before about my one and only trip to "Just Brakes". I had just graduated from college, had very little cash and my pads went out on my car. I could still stop and everything, there was just an annoying grinding noise when I did.

I took my car to Just Brakes. They said I needed new rotors, new pads, do something to the brake line, I can't remember what else. They wanted $300+. I said, "Can you just replace the pads? I've only got $50." After much pressuring concerning the safety of my brakes, they finally acquiesced. Three years later, the breaks started grinding again and I took the car to the now defunct K-Mart. They replaced the pads no questions and asked for $30. I even warned them that I might need new rotors. I've never even considered doing business with Just Brakes again.

As time went by and my pocket book became more bountiful I quit paying so much attention to people trying to oversell me. However, recently, my local Firestone has started the annoying habit of trying to sell me tires every time I walk into the store. It's kind of an ongoing joke between me and my girlfriend. I convinced her to take her car to the same Firestone to get her oil changed and they told her the same thing. But, they are conveniently located within walking distance of my house and a place to stop in for a drink so I tend to take my car there when it needs something so I can either walk home (for the long jobs) or walk to the pub (for the shorter jobs).

About 10 months ago I decided to perform an expensive experiment. I spent about $600 on four new tires, balancing and alignment at the local Firestone. These were all recommended by Firestone (in Flower Mound) for the safety of my vehicle (which was only a 15 months old at the time).

Now, my car is 22 months old and I had to get it inspected. I took it to a new Firestone (one in Irving) to get the inspection. And guess what they told me. Go ahead, guess. I'll wait. They said, and I quote, "Your car just barely passed the inspection. You need new tires and an alignment because you have uneven tire wear. Your tires had just enough tread left to pass inspection, but they won't last much longer."

I'm going to take their little write up about me needing new tires and an alignment to the Firestone in Flower Mound who did the exact same job less than a year ago. It'll be fun. I'm thinking I'm going to have to find a new place to do business. It's too bad. The guys at Firestone are pretty nice. Of course, I think what I need to find is a well qualified narcissistic auto mechanic. Someone who loves repairing cars, but won't sell a glass of water in the desert because he doesn't like the people. Wouldn't that be cool?