| moving right along - a quick update before I hit the bed |
[07 Aug 2008|04:52am] |
Here's the short update. Busy with a grin on my face and some spring in my step.
Here's the longer update. Moving to Ocean Grove on Aug 15th. Leasing a nice, clean, good sized 2 bedroom condo that is on the opposite side of the same block I used to live on. 2 Blocks to the beach, hardwood floors, and a washer/dryer in the unit. I'll have a roommate, he's a friend and coworker who is also friends with my step brother Jim.
Had the 90k service performed early on the WRX at 87000 miles. I haven't paid off the WRX yet, but I have had enough money in the bank to do so - it just turns out that money seems safer left in the bank for now. It also took quite a nasty hit when I needed to put down the security+1st months rent on the new place. Then another hit when I spent $3800 on bedroom furniture with delivery and warranty. Next up - a big screen for the living room. I was planning to put my projector out there, but it won't work well during the day with 3 windows and a skylight in the living room. Works out well for me, my bedroom is 18x12, and that is plenty of throw distance for my projector. I've got a ceiling mount for it now too.
Fingers crossed in the hopes that all of our furniture gets delivered without drama. Work is going well, it's been busy as of late which is partly due to call volume, and partly due to people taking vacations. The free italian food(mondays) messed up my stomach last week, but I ate it again this week and felt fine.
Oh and I had to check my credit score to get approved for the Condo. I'm happy to report that my credit is good, and the next time I decide to buy a car, I should have no problem qualifying for 0%.
www.kerbeck.com is my temptation, but no rush.
As for the spring in my step, she knows who she is.
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| I have no idea how this happens |
[24 Oct 2007|01:22pm] |
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music |
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Wilco - You Are My Face |
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I heard this song on a commercial for a volkswagen where the guy doesn't want to let people take his car. Another random song growing on me.
Recently more of my time has been consumed by feeling depressed. It feels odd to even type that. There are certain things in life I don't like, there are things I am content with, and then there is the stuff in between. The main thing that bugs me is being single, and not having a love life. The girls that I like, either don't like me or are otherwise unavailable. Some of my friends and family, hell most, agree that I should lower my standards. The thing is, its not like I'm willingly setting the bar at a level. I find myself attracted to certain types of girls. I like attractive girls. If I don't find a girl attractive, odds are I'm not interested in anything more than friendship. It is worth noting that I do have a penchant for hooking up with friends, or at least have in my past. I guess if you talked to all of my friends there would be differring opinions on that. I've been setup with girls who I would not normally consider, only to spend time with them and find myself thinking, maybe I can get past the basic needs of attraction, only to have reality smack me later and make me realize that I am not interested and wish I hadn't compromised. I don't like hurting people. Well, I suppose that might be a half truth, but I don't like hurting nice people.
In other news, cars are ok, picked up 3 nails in the 350Z this year - don't ask me how because I have no clue. I have had the tires plugged and I have a slight leak in the rear passenger tire, but I just top it off with my air compressor once in a while and it's fine. The WRX is my daily driver again. I've been hanging out with my friend Paul as usual, saw my best friend Rick a couple weekends ago and went to Six Flags with him and some friends. It was good to see him and his sister and their spouses. Sometimes I get the 3rd wheel feeling, and sometimes I don't. I've been hanging out with a new friend Jess - she's young, but cool. She and I have alot in common in some ways, differint in others. I need to find time to meet up with my friend Jolee, haven't seen her in a long time.
I'm supposed to be going to Jose Tejas this weekend and then seeing Saw IV with my friend Tara. It sounds like I am busy and having a social life - and I guess I kinda am. Tara assures me that I just need to find my "Juliet", and I guess I agree - I mean, what else could I do. It's this whole looking without looking thing, which I can only assure people... I'm not really looking. It's one of those grey areas of things that people say to dissuade others from being brought down by their own subjective views, do they really help?
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| new song stuck in my head |
[02 Oct 2007|02:11pm] |
Word of Emmanuelle song
Melody of love sang the heart of Emmanuelle
Who beats heart with lost body
Melody of love sang the body of Emmanuelle
Who saw body in disappointed heart
You are still
Almost a child
You did not know
That only one lover
But at twenty years
To remain wise
Love being
Too much long voyage
Melody of love sang the heart of Emmanuelle
Who beats heart with lost body
Melody of love sang the body of Emmanuelle
Who saw body in disappointed heart
Love in heart
You dreamed it
Love with body
You found it
You are all in all
In front of the men
Like a sigh
On their desire
You are so beautiful
Emmanuelle
Seek the heart
Find the tears
Always seek
Seek further
The love will come
On your way
Melody of love sang the heart of Emmanuelle
Who beats heart with lost body
Melody of love sang the body of Emmanuelle
Who saw body in disappointed heart
This is the google english translation of theme song to Emmanuelle, which is an older French flick - the type you would see on Cinemax at 3am(foreign skin flick to US viewers)
That's the beginning of the film which features the music. Below is the clip I originally found it with, the orient and Emmanuelle in the title were enough to get me to click. Seemed like an odd combination.
This will probably sound odd, but something about this song - and it's a bit of the arrangement and the vocals... reminds me of Leonard Cohen.
How do I know Leonard Cohen? I found him thanks to a movie from my childhood. "Pump up the Volume" had this song in it - "Everybody Knows". It wasn't until I heard him read a poem at the beginning of a Tori Amos track that I recognized soemthing familiar about the voice and checked the credits on the track and recognized the name.
And the Tori Amos song with Leonard Cohen at the beginning:
Oh, and today I learned that youtube videos can be posted on LJ.
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| learn something new |
[01 Oct 2007|01:03pm] |
http://www.dpccars.com/car-videos/09-30-07page-Magnetic-levitation-and-cars.htm
Had heard about this, but never saw it demonstrated before. I wonder how long until a practical application is figured out.
In other news, my Aunt's funeral is on Saturday. I usually don't like to attend funerals, but Annabelle was a part of my family life since I was about 5 or 6 years old.
I finally got my car back. Have to schedule an alignment, but I'm going to wait a week or two just to see if the suspension settles. Currently it's about a quarter inch higher on the side with the overhauled/repaired strut. Yes, I'm anal enough about my car to notice it.
Oh yeah, I forgot to blog about my WRX. I broke the 5-speed transmission on the weekend of my birthday. Went into 2nd gear too aggressively and it let go. That was Saturday July 14th. I did alot of searching online for a replacement. I was going to just replace the gearset but then I found someone who had gone through the trouble of doing a 2006 STI 6-speed swap into their 2003. 2002 and 2003 WRX are mostly the same car. So he had all the parts I needed. He was in the process of upgrading again and looking to get rid of his old stuff. So it worked out - I ended up putting a better transmission in the car. While the transmission was being done they found that my rear passenger side strut was leaking fluid - which explained the odd creak/clunk coming from that corner occasionally. I had the part sent the part out to Tein - and roughly 6 weeks later I got the part back.
Now my rear view mirror's auto dimming element has popped and messed up the mirror, so I get to replace that. I also need to buy a controller for the new transmissions Center Differential. My WRX 5-speed had a simpler Center Diff which biased power 50/50 front to rear. The new Center Diff in my 6-speed is the DCCD type which allows variable locking(openly biases more power to the rear) or full lock(50/50). The main reason I want to be able to control this is for Winter driving, when excess power in the rear would make the car feel like a rear-wheel-drive - that would be bad. In Winter driving I want a 50/50 split so that I can enjoy the All-wheel-drive.
Work has been significantly busier than usual, and I'm taking more things at once. I might have overloaded myself a bit, but I'm keeping the ball rolling on all things I touch. I have only used a day or two (if that) of my vacation days which means I've got 3 weeks to use before the end of the year. Allie and I were talking about taking a road trip to Lurray Caverns in VA. I'll probably find a few friends to hit Six Flags with too. My best friend Rick and I are supposed to be going on the 9th, I think. I stink with dates.
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| R.I.P. - Annabelle Senior |
[22 Sep 2007|11:24am] |
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My Great-Aunt just passed away. Her name was Annabelle, and she helped out everyone in my immediate family more times than I can count. I left work early yesterday to go up to the hospital to see her. They didn't think she would make it through the night - but she held on just a little longer. Annabelle was a retired RN, and ultimately a pretty tough old soul at 82. She was smart, a little crazy sometimes, but no more than anyone else I know. I'm gonna miss her.
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| Antidepressants are most prescribed drugs in U.S. |
[10 Jul 2007|01:49pm] |
CDC: Antidepressants are most prescribed drugs in U.S.
This article, and side effects, are why I have never taken antidepressants. If you don't like something, and/or it's making you unhappy, do something about it to make a change - don't take pills to blurr your way past it with a pseudo-happiness. I won't lie, I have considered the option many times - I just refuse to do it. Dealing with side effects - no thanks. Having my name on a list of people who are clinically depressed - no thanks. Besides, there are many things you can do to make yourself smile, if you can't find one - then you aren't trying hard enough. Call your friends, go out - or stay in, but do something. Read a book, watch a movie, listen to some music, or *GASP* identify and deal with the problems??!?!?!!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html?iref=newssearch
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Dr. Ronald Dworkin tells the story of a woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't want to insult her husband.
The doctor suggested she try an antidepressant to make herself feel better.
She got the antidepressant, and she did feel better, said Dr. Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute, who told the story in his book "Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class." But in the meantime, Dworkin says, the woman's husband led the family into financial ruin.
"Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."
For Dworkin, the proof is in the statistics. According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches.
In its study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in visits to doctors and hospitals in 2005. Of those, 118 million were for antidepressants.
High blood pressure drugs were the next most-common with 113 million prescriptions.
The use of antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs -- those that affect brain chemistry -- has skyrocketed over the last decade.
Adult use of antidepressants almost tripled between the periods 1988-1994 and 1999-2000.
Between 1995 and 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the use of these drugs rose 48 percent, the CDC reported.
Many psychiatrists see this statistic as good news -- a sign that finally Americans feel comfortable asking for help with psychiatric problems.
"Depression is a major public health issue," said Dr. Kelly Posner, an assistant professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. "The fact that people are getting the treatments they need is encouraging."
She added that 25 percent of adults will have a major depressive episode sometime in their life, as will 8 percent of adolescents. "Those are remarkably high numbers," Posner said.
While Posner says genuine depression is driving the prescription numbers, Dr. Robert Goodman, an internist in New York City, says the real force behind skyrocketing antidepressant prescription rates is pharmaceutical marketing to doctors and to consumers. "You put those two together and you get a lot of prescriptions for antidepressants," he said.
He questions whether all those prescriptions are necessary. "It's hard to believe that number of people are depressed, or that antidepressants are the answer," he said.
Goodman is the founder of a group called "No Free Lunch," a group that encourages doctors to reject gifts from pharmaceutical companies. He added that patients sometimes see ads for antidepressants on television and ask doctors for the drugs -- and that studies show these requests work.
In a study published two years ago in the Journal of the American Medical Association, actors pretending to be patients went to doctors in the San Francisco area and said they were depressed.
The "patients" who asked for an antidepressant were significantly more likely to get a prescription for one than patients who didn't ask for an antidepressant.
"Patients' requests have a profound effect on physician prescribing in major depression and adjustment disorders," concluded the study's authors.
But Posner's concern is about under-prescribing, not over-prescribing.
"Fifty percent of African-Americans who have depression don't seek treatment for it," she said. "Not enough people are getting the treatment they need."
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| Wine>Water |
[19 May 2007|06:29pm] |
In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) bacteriafound in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of Poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.
There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.
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| quoteable |
[07 May 2007|12:55am] |
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The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." —Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle
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| if you watch one thing today |
[02 May 2007|01:08pm] |
Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats
Even if you are on dial up - it's worth waiting for this to load.
This song has been on my myspace profile for the entire year. It's a cover, the original is by "The Knife". The original is good too, but I like the mellow mood of this cover.
As far as life goes, I'm getting the clutch upgraded on my WRX next weekend, the 12th if memory serves. Stock clutch has 70,000 miles on it, and is slipping, it's time to upgrade/replace it. I'll be using an Exedy Organic Stage 1. The clutch is a good match for my cars modifications. Yeah so I guess I just skipped on answering the life thing and moved right into my car. Not much going on in life that I feel like talking about right now. Some new friends gained, a couple friends lost - this year is still better than the last. Working nights has my sleep schedule messed up, or shifted I suppose. I'm not minding it too much. The extra pay is nice, as is driving home at night on virtually empty roads. Set the cruise control to 68 and listen to Sirius all the way home. My alarm clock goes off at 1pm - I'm usually awake by this point - the alarm is just to tell me to get moving.
Spiderman 3 comes out this week - I'll be there at the first midnight showing since I get off work at midnight and the theatre is just a five minute drive distance and on my way home. I'm curious how they are going to explain the black suits origins. Read the comics as a child, so I recall the truth, waiting to see what the movie version does. My biggest issue with the movies thus far is that the webbing is now shooting out of his wrist, in the comics, he made webshooters and for a long time he had issues with running out, or not having the mixture quite right. I guess they streamlined it out for storytelling purposes. Overall, the Spiderman movies are one of the better adaptations I've seen... hell, my parents liked the first two and they want to see the third.
I found a huge pinball machine in Seaside called HERCULES. Google for it - it's about 3x larger than a normal table and the ball is a pool tables cue ball. I got the new tires put on the Z - Eagle F1-GS, and they are great summer tires. No sense putting all seasons on that car as I don't drive it in the Winter. Also put new brakes on the Z - Hawk HPS pads, they work good. I put a second set of Falken Ziex512 tires on the WRX. They are a good all season tire, though I think they might be better in the snow than in the rain if that makes any sense. They aren't bad in the rain until I hit a huge puddle at which point, well, I take my foot off the throttle and try to avoid said puddles.
Cory came up to visit from Texas last week - so that was kewl. Caught up with him and saw his family for a little bit. Cory's dad wants to sell me a 9mm - it's nice, but I really don't need it. Need to pay off my cars and keep more money in the bank. Still, I suppose if that is the worst thing I can complain about.... life's ok. Been going to car shows, a little bit of spirited driving with the younger kids on route 37 at night. Keeping out of trouble as I always have: radar detector, common sense, odd instincts, and a bit of luck.
Enjoying my ride on this satellite earth one day at a time. My parents got a puppy yesterday - 3 month old Shit-zu named "Mac". Adorable little guy, just needs to be house trained. Personally I like bigger dogs like German Shephards, but my step-mom wanted a Shit-zu for so long, I'm glad she got one. It's funny watching the puppy play with my brothers White German Shephard. David and Goliath mixed with Benny Hill as they take turns chasing each other.
Time for my butt to hop in the shower. I've still got the goatee, it's pretty damned long. People tell me to cut it, others say keep it. I'm keeping it for now. This is the long overdue update my lj needed, random as ever.
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| Great Expectations |
[17 Mar 2007|05:02am] |
I can think about it, or I can try to put my mind someplace else. Sooner or later it always comes back. I'm living in close proximity to so many things that remind me. A change of scenery simply slows things down. An obscure reference can cause my pulse to quicken and my thoughts to wander in a very specific direction. The direct thought starts an electrical impulse that seems to start in my spine and sometimes pushes out with such force that my head is kicked back with my neck as pivot point of the none-too-compliant yet all-too-familiar motion that is finished before I can stop it. I can't tell if it's a tick, muscle spasm, or perhaps a self imposed manifestation that has been ingrained over the years.
It's in music, it's in movies, it's in moments, it's in thoughts, most undeniably it's in me. I've learned from it. Things that most others would never know, now shade my view with a reddish tint that is both rose tinted and blood red simultaneously. They say knowledge is power, and sure enough it is. It's understood, yet maleable to my perception. I know what it was, I know what it is, and I know what it will be. I can shape it, control it, release it, damage it, fix it, ignore it, embrace it. When there is nothing else, it's always there. When my attention is focused elsewhere, it can wait - because it's known.
Yet truly, I don't know a thing.
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| weather is crazy |
[15 Mar 2007|12:20pm] |
Yesterday, it was 80, today it's gonna be 70, then tommorrow it drops back into the 30's.
An inconvenient truth or a warm front?
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| Rest in Peace - Tony Cucullo |
[28 Feb 2007|01:45pm] |
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Yesterday my adopted little sister's father passed away. He had been in the hospital and hospice care since December. It's very sad. He leaves behind 4 children, my lil sister lainey being the youngest. My (step)mom was with him when he died. She was with his wife when she passed away over 10 years ago too.
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| I made it snow |
[26 Feb 2007|12:36pm] |
Saturday, I decided to get both my cars washed. The Z had been sitting for so long the tires were low on air. Usually I keep about 37psi in them. They had like 24psi. I got one block from my house before the tire pressure monitoring system alarm went off. I didn't even know there was such an alarm on the car. Very annoying. So I went home got the air compressor out of my WRX's trunk and went to work.
The air compressor was broken - it was running, but letting air out of my tires. Hopped in the WRX and went to Autozone - bought a new air compressor. This one is nice, cost $50, plugs into the car, or a house outlet, and has a rechargable battery. Even better, it was fully charged straight from the box. Put air in the tires - and went for a drive.
Hadn't driven the Z in so long, when I turned off the traction control I lit up the rear a few times without even thinking. Quickly remembered the differint way I drive it compared to the WRX and got used to it again. Drove to my brothers new house in Beachwood and helped him do some demolition - moving a wall and building a hallway. Yes, Micah is handy. It's what happens when you grow up poor and smart. Grab a book, learn it - do it. However, laziness prevailed as two of my nieces and my lil sister were more than eager to do the work. In true Tom Sawyer style, I showed them how to bash around a section then dig in and pull it down. Then I kinda went ape shit and destroyed a 4x4 foot section in less than 10 seconds which caused my brothers wife to run over and remark "that was all Micah - geez, you need therapy".
Cro-bar = good!
Anyway - I needed to go visit my friend Angela, she's dealing with some stuff and I haven't seen her in a long time so I told my brother I was leaving and remarked:
"I decided to start driving the Z again, I don't think we are gonna get any more snow."
Sunday it snowed. Now I get to pull all the stuff back out of the Z and put it in the WRX. Radar detector, GPS, Sirius, and the new air compressor. Yeah, I'm a bit of a boyscout. Got a backpack with a change of clothes and odd stuff I might need too like razor, soap, massage oil, etc. WRX needs new tires - so does the Z, but the Z is rear wheel drive whereas the WRX is all wheel drive.
In other news - I'm feeling a bit crazy lately. Changed my hours, trying to eat better, and save money.
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