how bad is this ice storm we had? well the news/meteorologists are calling it the worst one in kc history. wow. now check out this little statistic - more than 250, 000 people in the city have lost power, my parents included. no power = no heat. luckily, their neighbor has power so they're going to try and shack up with her. another neat little tidbit - my power had been going off and on all night so shayna volunteered to call me in the morning to wake me up. we did that successfully and i called the voicemail that was set up to see if we'd be working today. it said "although our offices are open, if you feel the conditions are too treacherous we understand..." yep, i'm going to work. so i get up, shower, drink my coffee, etc. i go outside and see limbs that have fallen the size of my car, if not bigger, and trees literally split in half. driving into corporate woods this morning was like a maze. weaving in and out of the street dodging limbs. i get to the office and a coworker pulls up next to me, she goes in and i follow. she comes back out and says "no power." eh? why the hell did the voicemail say we're open? and what happened to the call tree? i thought we had procedures in place for this kind of thing. nonetheless, i'm home now, hoping to go to work this afternoon, and hoping my folks' power gets back on real soon. my mom said their house was around 55 degrees right now.

how's everyone else doing?

hmmm...is this good or bad?



Which drink are you?

so, in case you haven't heard, kc is being pummelled with a winter storm. now i don't mind these *too* much, but at times it gets on my nerves. anyway, yesterday afternoon is when it kicked in. i left work at 4:55, didn't get home until about 5:30. normally my drive home is 15 minutes tops. heh, not last night. anyway, this morning i knew it was going to be worse, so i went out to my car at 7:40 and began the process. i started the car and went back inside. y'know, to let it get going. about 5 or 10 minutes later i went back out to start scraping the ice off. how much ice you ask? only 1/4 inch. that may not sound like much, but just try getting that crap broken then off. i start scraping then the handle on my scraper breaks. it was a piece of shit to begin with but i knew trying to use the itty bitty scraper portion wasn't going to be easy. alas, i got it done...except for my wipers. i decided i could see enough out the windshield so i went to the local gas station to see if they had any more scrapers for sale. of course not, but they were kind enough to let me use their extra one. got my wipers working and finally my car was suitable for driving. by this time it was 8:10 and i was kind of wishing i'd spring the $25 for a carport, then again, we only get a storm like this once, maybe twice a year. after trudging my way through the ice and slush, i make it to work at 8:35. the good news? this freezing rain we're getting is supposed to turn to snow tonight. thank you God. i'll take snow over ice anyday, as it's much easier to get off the car. maybe we'll close the office early....

and how was YOUR drive in this morning?

chiggity check it.

we be looking FIZZZZZ ine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

one thing i usually bitch about kansas city but i actually kinda dig is the weather. here's the example. sunday it was 70 out. i had the windows and doors open and was doing mad spring cleaning. i scrubbed out my shower, mopped, vacuumed, everything. i even pulled out the refrigerator and cleaned out under it. here's where it flips. tonight we're supposed to get freezing rain, like an inch/half inch of ice on everything, then snow tomorrow morning. now i hate snow, ice, everything, but the fact that the weather can change just like that, is kinda dope. anyway, that's all for now. viva la dawn!!!!

man alive. went up to lawrence last night. let me tell you a few things about that city. for one thing, it's home to the university of kansas in case you didn't know. number two, i've never had a good time there in a long time. don't ask me why, i just haven't. number three, being a college town, it's bound to be bustling on a friday night, and this one was no different. we got up there and hung out for a little bit, then headed off to the bars. now it wasn't so bad...if you don't mind standing in a bar and you can't move your arms in ANY direction. seriously, i was standing there with arms to my side, unable to move, it was that tight in there. things like that remind me of why i never go to lawrence anymore. after that we walked down to a really nice bar. i could move around, we got to sit down, but the difference was this is where all the people MY age hung out. everyone in there was in their mid 20s - my kind of bar. next we went to pick up matt, jeff, and theresa from another bar, and we headed off to...the hawk. thing about the hawk is it's i think the only over 18 bar in lawrence, hence why the kids wanted to go there. they're still at that age, wanting to get laid, and this was the place, as it was chalk full of freshman girls. i didn't mind this bar per se, there was a little section that was roped off for the older people us, i think it's there to make us feel like chaperones. and if that's the case, it works, because scott, myself, and theresa were sitting on a bench in this little room and i turned to them and said "why does it feel like we're the oldest people here?" both, at the same time reply "because WE ARE!!!" well after that we go to taco bell and of course there's a huge ass line. we listened to a 27 min #41 while in line, and a couple of other songs. we go home, eat and go to sleep. at 4:30 am the rest of the crew returns, matt & jeff, with two of the ho-iest girls i've ever seen. one looked like a crack-user. anyway, they FINALLY went to bed at 5:30, and it was at that point i realized "i'm old. i can't hang with you guys anymore. i've lost it." jed says "what are you talking about? you partied it up last weekend." "well, ok, i guess i can if i want to, but this weekend i just didn't want to." so there ya go. it's true. you're only as old as you feel. look at me tonight, it's 8:15, i'm getting ready to start my laundry, pop some popcorn, and chill on the couch in front of the tv. nice huh?

here's my plan for the weekend, the last one was kind of tiring so this time i'm taking it a little bit slower. tonight i'm staying home, watching a buddy get married via internet, *maybe* having a couple drinks. at the most three. yeah, i know, i'm old. funny, i made a comment on a previous post that, and i quote "maybe just a *few* drinks tonight." yep, i was full of shit. i'm not getting tanked tonight, nor tomorrow. one of my new year's resolutions was to chill out on the drinking, and i think i've done damn well. keep in mind i don't ever drink during the week. the first weekend in january? i had maybe 8 spread over the weekend. the second weekend? heh, you've heard that story. twasn't *i* who was drunk. and last weekend i went and played with some buddies on friday, saturday chilled at home with jed and had a few drinks. i was in bed by midnight, 12:30 at the latest. and now this weekend. ah, nothing's going on that i know of. besides that, i don't have the money to be partying so that's that. anyway, it's funny how i can say one thing and it gets taken out of proportion....

i LUV me some friday. hmmm...what to do today...little filing, finish up my april renewals...then it's on to home! woo hoo!

what's YOUR plan for the weekend?

my plan for tonight? watch "that 80s show" then go to bed. i'm SO tired it isn't even funny. that's what i get for being a rock star and staying up til 11 last night. heh. so who else is actually looking forward to that show?

have you ever loved someone so much it hurt? or made you cry?

crazy.

that's all i have to say about that.

i could blog now, but i'd rather play freecell now that i'm home. you should play too.

i'm decided to work today.

it's not bad because no one's here, but i'm bored out of my mind. if you know something to keep me busy, let me know. thanks.

my weekend sucked. i mean, i had fun, but it wasn't as good as it usually is. friday night we were all *hammered*, esp theresa and colby. they took falling-down drunk to the next level. we went to the grandfaloon. it was wes' little sister's birthday. wes about beat me over the head when i bought her a cement mixer. i LUV those things. anyway, after that we went to the brooksider to close out the night. saturday didn't do much. slept til 3:30, then got up and took a shower. went back over to colby's to get my cell phone that i accidentally left over there. picked up some kfc, i was aching for some fried chicken. i get home and eat, then jed calls me and comes over. we split a bottle of captain (sort of, he only had two drinks out of it, i had the rest) and watched the patriots kick the raiders asses!!! whoo hoo! nothing makes my night like a raiders loss. and now, i'm sitting here just doing laundry. yeah, good weekend, but bad too. i've been miserable the last two days. shayna went to san luis obispo for the weekend and her phone doesn't work there. i haven't talked to her all weekend. maybe twice, three times, only for about 5 minutes at a time. so my realization this weekend is i CANNOT go a day without talking to her. if i do go without it, i'm horribly depressed. also, they went to rock n bowl last night (ironically, jed not knowing that, mentioned last night that we needed to go bowling. had it not been such a hard friday, i probably would've done it) and we all know that bowling is all about beer. bottom line is i'm worried out of my skull because i haven't heard from her since about 11 last night. :( anyway, i'm going back to my couch now to hold my head in anxiety.

hoorah!!!! for fridays! here's my plan for the weekend. wednesday i went to the liquor store and got two things. a 20 pack and ho, ho, ho a bottle of rum. tonight i'm gonna head over to our old college buddy, theresa's house, where we gonna bbq and more than likely just get all kinds of fucked up. word to that. meanwhile, today i wore part of my christmas present from shayna: black corduroys, a brownish kinda t-shirt, and a black ribbed v-neck sweater. i am *soooo* fuckin hott you wouldn't believe it. and i'm getting a haircut tonight. like the boss, i too, am on fire. hehe, happy friday everyone!

You're chill and you're often more on the practical side than others. If you're commited, you're a powerhouse. Your taste in hats is sometimes questionable.

i sure am!!!

my DISCLAIMER:

i am NOT a bad boyfriend. for the record, shayna and i decided back in december if not before then that we would only go to shoreline and sandstone. WAAAAY before the tour was announced. WAAAAAY before pseudo tourdates came out. so there ya have it.

i am *not* at fault at here.

so yall best get unmad at me.

and that's all i have to say about that.

y'know what sucks about tour time? at least this year, i can't hit as many shows as i'd like to. why you ask? because i know of things that have much higher priorties to me right now. the first thing is to be close to shayna. i know i'm either going to be there, or somewhere else, but i know i'm going to be with her. the next thing is simply to pay off my credit cards, which of course i need to do if i'm going to be moving, and going to 6 or 7 shows certainly won't be aiding that. here's how the whole thing started, shayna and i had decided lOOOOOOOOOOng ago that we would only be going to shoreline and sandstone this year. well then the dates are released yesterday, and she starts talking about chicago, la, and sacramento. i too, am guilty, as i start talking about st. louis also, however, mine situation is a little bit different. my brother lives there, my cousin, who does double duty as my godmother also lives there, as well as my great great uncle. shayna only wanted to go to those ones because of friends (which is perfectly fine, i mean, i was also eyeing denver), but mine was simply because i had family that i don't get to see too often. i have much love for all my friends, however, my family definitely takes precedence over them (sorry guys!). anyway, last night after i did some thinking i realized we had made a goal, promise, pact, whatever-you-want-to-call-it to only go to those three shows. so, this is where i turned into evil boyfriend. i told shayna no. you're not going to any other shows other than these three. she then asked me about riverport. i told her no, for now anyway, if it's a weekend show, maybe, but for now, i'm sticking to our original pact to save our money so that we could be together. i'll be damned if i'm going to let a band keep me from my true love. also, i figure so we may not get to go to every show this year. so what? it'll be worth it if we're together, and besides, once we're together, i think it'll be that much easier to go to shows in 2003(i always look ahead). right?

i'm right...right?

whew. that took *way* too long.

so the weekend. this is how it went day by day-

friday i work and come home, get my bags ready and what not, decide to have a get-rid-of-beer-athon. lucky for me there was only three. my buddy comes over and we watch friends then head off to the airport. no traffic, we get up there in plenty of time, i get checked in everything is hunky dory. of course the second i get inside the gate (and if you've ever been to kci you know that once you're inside the gate, there's nothing in there except the jetway) i sit down and i have to go to the bathroom (i shouldn't have had that 23 oz at the budweiser bar). so i get all my stuff up and head off to the bathroom. i'm kinda hungry too so i figure i'll get something to eat. get my food, do my business and i head back to the gate. now then, the first time i went through i had to take my boots off because of the steel in them, i was *hoping* they'd remember me and i wouldn't have to do it a second time...but no. i had to take my boots off a second time. no big deal that's fine. as the bags i had were going through the machine they grab the one that has all the presents in it and say "who's is this?" mine. "do you mind if we have a look at it?" nah, go ahead. they start going through it and they grab the jar that my mom's bbq sauce is in. they call over "ron." "ron, this look alright to you?" "yeah sure." no sooner had i tied the last lace on my boot "you're gonna have to send your boots through." I JUST DID!!! "not for me." so i sit down and start untying my boots off again. i mutter under my breath (not really) "goddammit." ron apparently is a devout christian, because he started preaching the good word to me. "we don't use that kind of language in this gate. y'know i never understood why a man would want a being so powerful that created this great and magnificient land to damn something. there's been people i wouldn't let on a flight for using that kind of language." hey "ron", 1787, philadelphia, constitutional convention, bill of rights, first amendment, freedom of speech. granted i believe in god but i have the right to take his name in vain...i'm gonna wind up in hell anyway right? so after that little episode i go to board the plane, get a decent seat. by this point i'm kinda tired, working all day, have a couple beers in me. i figure i'll turn on my discman and fall asleep. wrong. batteries are dead. so i figure that the drone of the jet will put me to sleep. wrong. seat wouldn't go back. so after enduring what seemed like a six hour flight i finally arrive at oakland international. i walk....and walk some more...eventually turn a corner and there's my sweetie!!!! never had i been more happier to see her. what started out as a good day turned into a lousy one, and all i wanted was a big fat hug from shayna. i have so many days(well, more than i'd like to) like that and want a hug from her. friday i got that. anyway, i really have no beef with that airport. other than they have three baggage carousels in the same room and five southwest flights arrive at the same time. so after an eternity of trying to find my bag we get it and head out. not much happened on friday, we just went home and cuddled. :)

saturday, woke up, had breakfast at stacks, which was good, with meeks, sharon, and james. i had veggie something. really good. after that i knew we were going to go shopping....however, i thought it would just be shayna and myself. wrong. marika came too. it's bad enough having to shop with one woman, two is just torture. i must say that i behaved myself very well. didn't complain once, just sighed my way through it. ended up buying shayna some really nice perfume. she smells good now! well, better. :) after that we hung out for a little bit back at the crib, then it was on to the hotel. this is where it gets funny. we get there and get situated then shayna's off to her hair thing. james calls and says he's out of class and on his way over (poor me, no time to squeeze one off). he gets there and we watch then end of the eagles game. he tells me about beverages & more and we're off. all i wanted was one beer, unfortunately they don't sell individual ones, so i bought a six pack. of course shayna gets back to the room and sees we're not there and calls me and starts pissing and moaning about how i better not get drunk tonight (haha, we'll see...). we get back to the room and after getting that whole mess sorted out, james takes off, i crack open a beer and shayna takes a sip. OH MY GOD!!! she likes it! she likes a beer! i KNEW that it would be ME that found one that she would like. in a way it was kind of a special moment, in a sick way, kind of romantic. anyway, after that, it's off to the party. we. looked. fabulous. hot even. the night went on without a hitch. dinner was good. *i* danced (like the white boy that i am). we had a really good time. shayna had a little bit of *too* good a time. that's right, we get back to the room and shayna was plowed. *ahem* who was bitching at me about getting drunk? uh huh. that's what i thought. just wait though, i'm sure for jack johnson i'll be reeling a little bit. heh. then again, i've found that i don't like to get *too* drunk around her. guess maybe shayna's a good influence on me...except in bed. *gasp!* so, yeah, i took really good care of her, after all, that is my job. that takes us into...

sunday. we didn't do much. went to blockbuster and rented a couple of movies. americas sweethearts which we didn't watch. and the other was crazy/beautiful. now i hate kirsten dunst. can't stand that bitch. but this was actually a decent movie. almost a tearjerker. after the movie we get snazzed up for dinner at her nana's country club, some of you may have heard of it, lake merced. they served crab legs. i've discovered something. i'm nervous when it's just shayna, her mom, and nana at dinner, but when uncle mikey and alex are there it's not nearly as nervewrecking. i think it's because i feel like i'm kind of on the spot when it's just 4 of us. and that makes perfect sense. besides that, i'm afraid i'll do or say something to make her family dislike me. i think it's perfectly natural to feel that way. anyway, yeah, dinner was good, shayna had said that the people that go there were kind of snobbish. maybe it's my upbringing but they seemed normal to me. we went home, went to bed....

ah, the day i despise the most. leaving day. we woke up, got to the airport at 10 am straight up. heh, shayna made a comment to me when i got home and called about how i didn't look back at her. i explained to her that if i looked back i'd probably go chasing after the car and jump on the hood or something. it's hard enough saying goodbye once, god knows i don't need it twice. so i go on up and there's *no line* to speak of. now for those of you that know the layout of san jose southwest, american terminal (i think it's a), the last time i was there it was from the counter, wound all the down to the garage, and back around. i made it to the gate that time at 11:55, my flight was scheduled for noon. lucky for me the plane wasn't even there yet. this time was a little different. she dropped me off at ten. i was at my gate at 10:10. i grabbed a cup of coffee and a cinnabun, sat down and waited to check in. finally get on the plane, which was a new one meaning leather seats :-D i.e. smooth on my tush. plane ride home was nice. slept a little, got home in one piece, did my laundry at the laundromat since some sicko broke the one downstairs, and called it a night. that's it.

that's how my weekend was. and i might add that i will NEVER, EVER, go that long without seeing shayna ever again.

i promise to blog about the weekend as soon as i have time. got back to work this morning and i have at least a dozen voicemails i need to plow through.

on another note, i know where i'll be may 18 & 19. yay! =)

boo!! where the hell did my comments go??!! boo!!!!

p.s. i hope the raiders suffer an unbearable defeat tomorrow.

yay for the nfl!!!

it's january 11th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it seems like i've been waiting forever for this day. why? i get to see my hunny tonight!!! woohoo! in about 15 hours to be exact. now the plan is for me to sleep on the plane. however, the problem is i'll probably be too excited to sleep but i'm gonna try anyway. oh, and last night, i was watching charmed and the demon they were battling last night? the shocker demon! i was laughing my ass off so hard! anyway, i get to see shayna tonight! yay for me! hehe, ok, i better finish my work. have a wonderful friday everyone! and hooray for wild card weekend!!!

wow. i haven't blogged since tuesday. know why?
"no why?"
that's what i just said. anyway, nothing to blog about. work is very, very boring without aim. so i guess now i'll get back to work. bye.

god help me. not only shayna, esther, and sharon, but it has been brought to my attention that miss gina marie and miss robs will be there in february. any takers on how long i'll last on *that* ride?

on the other hand, i'll be the ONLY guy in a car with 5 women, and none of them are blood related!!! *almost* every guys fantasy, other than the constant nagging i'll have to endure....

did i also mention that this morning i got an invitation via email for my 1st quarter review. should be.....

in. ter. est. ing.

mondays suck.

so friday i got called into mike's office. jennifer was in there as well. since i had just gotten a promotion and i hadn't applied for anything internally i knew it couldn't be good. i was right. i walk in there and sit down. it went something like this. mike asks "were at the last sales meeting when i mentioned company use of email?" yes. "well the whomever did an audit and they chose this site. your email went through the roof. 302 (or along those lines) from...something called nancies? furthermore, there were some with derogatory use of the female breast." yeah, i had been getting spam from yahoo or something. after thinking about it this weekend, i think someone might have used MY company email address on some porno site. i am not stupid enough to do that, after all, there's a reason i have a junk yahoo/hotmail account i use for that reason. anyway, they told me that the IT department or whoever did the audit recommended immediate termination, however they decided not to fire me. well, gee thanks. he mentioned how it could be considered sexual harassment. true, but it's not my fault. next up, he mentions something about instant messenger and holds up a piece of paper. now a while ago when shayna and i had first started talking over im i had printed a few off. one night before i left work i printed one off, but forgot about it and left it on the printer. the next morning it wasn't there and i looked all up and down but still couldn't locate it. aha! it was in my file! yeah, you ever notice at whatever job you work at there's some dickwad out to get you? or at least that's a goody-goody? the thing that reallly pisses me off about the im thing, that was printed off sometime back in late august early september, possibly even july. mike or jennifer should've said something to me then if they thought it was a problem. the fact of the matter is that it never, ever got in the way of my job. i always have all of my tasks completed on time, and more often than not ahead of schedule. i can understand where spam coming to my work email, which i had fixed, could be a problem, but not the im. take this into account as well, i'm also still partially doing my old job. whenever jennifer needs help, i do help her to get everything done in time. "but, john, that's probably why they didn't fire you." true, but by the same token, that was also when i had im...and it didn't interfere with me getting my job done now did it?

FUCK THE MAN.

it's sad, sad weekend. the last games of the regular season of the NFL will be taking place. i shed a tear about this time every year. for it's another grueling seven months without football. alas, i shall live of course, but it won't be easy. on another note, KU plays tonight. right on! they're playing colorado. i think i'm gonna go over to my buddy dave's and watch it. probably have a few drinks too. luckily, he lives right across the parking lot from me...so that means all i have to do is walk. the best kind of drinking is the kind that doesn't involve driving. and speaking of driving, i got a letter from the kansas department of revenue today. what did the letter say you ask? well, it said that my drivers license was ready to be reinstated...for the low, low price of $100. not to mention the $25 examination fee, and any other licensing fees they decide to throw in there. the point is, just when you think you've paid off a mistake of life, it comes back to bite you in the ass one last time. oh, and another thing, let this be a lesson to those of you who still insist on drinking and driving. DUI's are mighty damn expensive, i do however consider myself lucky in that at least i can pay the state/court for my mistake. if i had taken someone's life that night, i could never pay that off. yep, words to live by right there. well, i'm off folks, have a good saturday!

so shayna's been on my ass to get some nice looking attire for her holiday party in....9 days!! yay!! i get to see my hunny in 8 days!!! anyway, the point of this is last night i went shopping. and my mom offered to go with me. now normally i'm completely against this, however, i want to look nice for my girl, so i decided it wouldn't hurt to have a woman's opinion, even if it is my mother (take that as an oedipus thing if you will, but i can assure you, that's very, very sick). it's a good thing i did have her with me because i would've just walked in and grabbed some clothes and walked right back out if she wasn't. that means i ended up getting two really nice outfits. the first one is these black/blue-gray kinda slacks deal and a white shirt. i also got a new tie to match. it's smashing!!! it's a grateful dead tie, which i didn't know they made. my mom kept looking for something psychedelic on there, but alas, nothing. next ensemble consists of these brown/black kinda slacks, very nice looking i think, and a brown-tan kinda shirt. also a nice tie was picked out for this one. basically it was like i was getting a completely new wardrobe. so next week one day i'm gonna try out the outfit that i'm wearing to the ball (heh, i feel like cinderella, hehe), outfit #1 that is, and see how it goes over. i'm gonna be so HOTT. shayna's lucky to have such a handsome boyfriend. she's gonna be showing me off like crazy. *sigh* it ain't easy being beautiful...

i woke up this morning to an alarming surprise...it's snowing!!! less than half an inch, but still. it'd be nice if i could just stay home today and watch it. i hate driving in snow. slick, slick, slick. like my moves with the ladies =). well, better get to work. i hate wednesdays that are like mondays.