‘Cause rust never sleeps

Met with some old co-workers of mine, ended up attending an outdoor BBQ/drinking session with them for a few hours. Only had a couple shots and a few beers, so no hangover to speak of, which is good considering all of the stuff I need to do today. But I’ll get to all of that in a moment.

First, a few words about these guys: None of us are exactly ‘high class’, but you could consider D. to be trailer trash. A twenty-something with a pregnant girlfriend, working an entry level job, his is a sad case. The worst part is, over the course of the last year, he hasn’t changed one bit.

Another guy, L. hasn’t changed either in the past year, but he’s in his late fifties. Further, he’s already gotten his life mostly straightened out, although he still deals with feelings for a crazy ex. Back in the day, L. was a member of a local motorcycle gang, did the party scene, and travelled around the country. Now he’s working entry-level and saving for a new custom motorcycle. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind ending up like this, minus the crazy ex.

What I don’t want to end up as, and where D. is heading, is T.

T. from all I can gather, never went through the whole explore and grow phase. He’s in his late fifties, like L., but has no interesting past, no great accomplishments, no particular hobbies or goals. The man works entry-level management. It’s sad to speak to him on matters other than work.

After the BBQ, and the drive home (I sobered up quite nicely), it just struck me – in the midst of researching a change in major, how vital it is to avoid getting stuck on autopilot. You’ve got to constantly be growing and seeking some new goal, or you stagnate. Better to burn out than to fade away, and this cliché is hammered home by what I saw yesterday.

I’m blessed (and I don’t really see why, considering the nature of my lifestyle), in that I have grown and changed a great deal over the last two years. And for the whole, it has been for the better.

Meh. If I write much more it will turn into something akin to a stoner rant.

She’s running on

Remember the two different female friends of mine who had to leave college due to pregnancy? Apparently, the one who ran off has deleted her personal cell and is now ‘using’ the cell of her ultra-controlling “boyfriend”. No one, family or otherwise, has been able to reach her. Sigh. For the last time: Make us wrap it up? M’kay?

Whatever we may tell you otherwise to get into your pants, we aren’t worth it.

Speaking of, I’m looking forwards to seeing a certain redhead later this July – and in august, especially if my tour of the new apartment this Sunday leads me to sign a lease. What better way to break in the new rooms?

An interesting side-track, I think the ads for alcohol and rehab are worth much, much, less than ads for transcendental meditation and inner-peace. Although I have more clicks on this blog, earnings per click is substantially less than the occasional click on the cult-blog. Ah well, if you need the treatment, click anyways…

Speaking of alcohol, I’ve got some favors to call in, and I think they’re worth exactly one bottle of spiced rum. I’m not a particularly big fan of rum (From favorite to least: Scotch, Tequila, over-proof bourbon, American Whiskey’s, Everclear, Vodka, random liquor, rum, good wines, bad wines, and in last place, Ghetto wines and liqueurs) … but Ms. Redhead should appreciated it.

Catalogue

I’ve got to stop smoking for approximately the next week, as I prepare for the internship. For whatever reason, although my cigarette intake has fluctuated between a pack and two singles a day – I have always been capable of taking weeklong (and one two month) breaks. Nicotine has not made me a complete slave, though I do experience cravings.

Speaking of the internship, it’s time to start studying what little accounting I know. As per usual, the things learned in college have vanished into the air. Even though I’ve only taken a basic course, in some ways, the fact its basic level stuff means I should know it all the more. As it stands, adjusting entries are a vague nightmare, I confuse GAAP with the clothing store, and trial balances are my savings after paying the court.

Onto something completely different, my Salvia shipment has another week before I can call and figure out what’s going on. Due to the summer backlog, it can (and has in the past) take 4 – 6 weeks after ordering to have the thing shipped. It’s been five. So at this rate, July is going to be very, very busy:

Internship until the 2^nd, followed by a doctors appointment on the 3^rd, I hope to purchase my new apartment by the 7th, I’m going to receive my shipment sometime around then, before I light up will need to saturate my new hometown with job applications and personal visits, on the 23’rd – 25^th, I’ve got a Fraternity retreat, and somewhere in all of that there’s a FWB who wants to spend a week with me.

So yeah, July is going to be crazy. In a good way. August will be even crazier, we’ve set up two mega-parties within the first week, and are holding a mixer… and it only gets more inebriated from there.

How ‘bout them Latin women?

Governor Sanford has declared his infidelity during the past year, with a “dear” friend from Argentina. I’m not going to say anymore on the subject, except that I’m disappointed; I’m sure there will be plenty of pundits elsewhere who can devote far more time to tearing him apart. I for one am more concerned with the health-care plan and the further waste of my tax money – Sanford has admitted his “mistake”, and is taking the responsible course.

Hearing such stories on the news, especially when delivered in such a heartfelt manner, can lead to some reassessment of one’s personal life. I’m proud to say that at last check, I’m still just hurting myself. And speaking of my vices – I suddenly have a ton of alcohol/drug rehab ads on the site. Has google finally gotten the measure of my content?

Actually though, I really haven’t posted much on the alcohol scene, and the two whiskey bottles in my trunk are nearly empty. Does google know something I don’t? Am I about to fall into a windfall of liquor?

Not at the rate the cult blog is going – visits continue to merely trickle in. The organization is now running a charity. This blog is doing much better, thank y’all, but I think it’s not quite time to stop submitting more job applications (60+ and counting atm).

Early morning Cigarette.

It’d be nice to check my mail right now. But the university where I hold my primary address has lost the battle with the internet, again. Today’s downed server follows on the heels of our switch to google mail, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we got hacked within twenty-four hours. I like google, but I also like having a private mail server, with its physical location just across from my dorm.

Yes, we do get a nice storage increase, but come on! I’ve already got SIXTY (that I can remember) gmail accounts. I don’t need a sixty-first. And of course, I am highly wary of the security of all of this. The fact that the entire system is down right now doesn’t help my anxiety.

On a side note, walmart photo printing has some good deals. Nothing beats the Kinkos/fedex $3 for 14x17” prints I’ve gotten in the past, but $15 for a 20x30” isn’t a bad price at all. Still, I have yet to gather enough pin ups to make it worth an investment and I might hold off and buy a carton of cigarettes instead, depending on how quickly the FDA is moving to curtail nicotine content.

On to another side note,

I’m really hoping they hurry up and institute the graphic warning labels. What better way to for the government to turn off young males seeking a way to rebel than to make my drab pack of American Spirits a badass portrait of death? I know I’ll buy one just to put on display. This whole silliness about protecting the children is being done the wrong way.

I’ve had a friend come down with throat cancer, and I have friends with asthma to whom smoke is more than just unpleasant. Don’t tell me Phillip Morris has lied to me about the safety of my cigarettes. Don’t tell me that I smoke American Spirits because I’ve been mislead think they’re healthier* (see bottom of page). Don’t patronize my peers, who smoke to relieve stress or who are addicted, as helpless victims… give them real help, not more government.

This is a shameless tactic to expand government authority, giving it power where it should not. Next we will regulate the saturated fat in our burgers, and the alcohol content of our whiskey and beer.

It is a sad year for America and any libertarian who resides within our borders.

*I find that American Spirits DO NOT leave me with the same negative physical symptoms as my unfiltered camels and pal mals. That said, I prefer their flavor, length and buzz, to other filtered brands, and smoke them for those reasons, not health. (For some odd reason, I’m not a fan of their unfiltered variety.)

… Wait, does that say sample carton? How did I miss this?!