A West Hills Lifestyle
It’s back to work tomorrow, but oh what a glorious weekend. Discovering the east-coast feed of HBO has gotten me up to the minute on The Sopranos, so I have a few more minutes to catch up on last minute details. Like put away laundry. Do a little freestyle typing. Maybe have another bowl of ice cream.
Despite the last couple of posts, this is not a blog about food. This weekend, however, was filled with dining options well beyond my normal price range. Read the rest of this entry »
Todai For
Sorry, ladies, for the pun. You know who you are.
I went to lunch today with my friend, Mizelle, and her husband Zeb. She works for an airline, and he is a French vintner. Between trips to Thailand, Puerto Rico, Vegas, etc… they hang out in our area, and we meet up frequently for buffet.
Today, it was Todai.
“This is not some communist day care center…”
The other day I wrote a post about the end of the month, and all the fun that comes with it. I almost felt bad after, since the rest of the week went smoothly. People were nice, time went quickly, not a lot of hassles.
Until tonight.
Instead of unwinding with a Coke and a smile, I’m blasting my ears out with Marilyn Manson.
“White trash get down on your knees. Time for cake and sodomy…”
Blessings
I lead a charmed life. I have a job I enjoy, a roof over my head, and at least one room to call my own. I have all sorts of amusements, relatively good health, a positive outlook. (Not necessarily in order of importance.) What makes it really special?
The people I love.
It’s that time of the month…
Yep, it’s the week before government subsidies come out. (Welfare, food stamps, Social Security, etc…) Everyone is broke in my work-neighborhood, and it makes for interesting times.
Freak Brothers Reunited
In my line of work, if you do it long enough, you will run into everyone you’ve ever known. Okay, not really, but it seems that way sometimes.
I’ve had brushes with the famous, the infamous, the scary and the downright nice. Ran into one-night-stands from the late 70s. I’ve seen mug shots on the news, and realized I’d sold that person cigarettes, or refused him/her alcohol, mere hours before. It can seem like a small world, sometimes.
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Earth Day 1982- The Mob Rules!
Do you know where you were 25 years ago today? I do.
I was nearing my 21st birthday, and my little sister had just turned 16. She had never been to a rock concert, so the ex-wife and I picked a doozy for her to pop her sonic cherry.
Black Sabbath!
Rock purists at the time were dismissing Sabbath, as Ozzy Osbourne had been fired/quit the band, and Ronnie James Dio was now the lead writer and singer. This was okay with our camp; it meant twice the metal sludge! Diary of a Madman and The Mob Rules were both in heavy rotation on our turntables. Yes, children, turntables. See, kids, this was before CDs, and we had these things called records.
Okay, the uppity crowd had cassette players, but we weren’t ready to change formats yet. But I digress.
Knowing I would be in no condition to work, I took the day after the concert off, as well as the day of the show, of course. This was a festival seating show at Memorial Coliseum, the biggest indoor venue in Portland at the time, so if you wanted a good seat, you had to be in line early. Six AM should be early enough, don’t you think?
Chips and Evil Snickers
“You won’t know where, you won’t know when, but I will get even!”
What did *I* do?…
I have a co-worker who I also consider a close friend. We grew up in similar backgrounds, have worked the same types of jobs, and have shared dark times as well as good ones. Fortunately, he has a sense of humor.
This is what happened in October of 2001, at our previous place of employment…
Rollin’ on 4-20…
Aah, a day off.
I don’t work that hard, but after a few days the public starts to get on my nerves. A bus ride to downtown isn’t the biggest adventure for me anymore, but if it doesn’t end in going to work, I can deal with it.
Today’s trip, however, does involve stopping by work for a few minutes, to pick up an envelope and make a stop by the bank. (Payday. Wahoo! I wish we could do direct deposit, but that’s not an option.) So an appearance is required, unless I want to be broke all weekend.
As the bus rolls up to 82nd, there is a fellow at the intersection. He’s scruffy, kind of looks like Jughead from Archie comics, only all grown up and strung out. He’s got a removable cast on a club foot, or so it appears. (The women in my life say I’m cynical. Ya think?) He’s holding a sign that says “Hungry and homeless. Anything will be nice.” Except his hand is covering the ‘ry’ in hungry, and I get a case of the giggles. I’m almost tempted to toss him a dollar. Almost.
The bus ride is quiet. Work? Not so much. Doctor T, the manager of the store that houses store headquarters, is working on a cash register receipt printer, and pandemonium is ensuing with my other co-workers. Dr T has a ‘it’s hard to soar with eagles when you flock with turkeys’ expression, and he stomps off to the back, slamming doors and other things as he goes. I decide to grab a coffee, and come back for my check in a little while…
Cruising the mall, I became transfixed with this new feature in the bottom breezeway, a floor projector that will let you dance, play virtual air hockey or billiards. It’s something my tiny mind will ponder for a couple of days before I break down and ask ‘what and how’ from one of the security guards.
Back at work, things have calmed down. The checks are ready early, so I grab mine and head for the door. On the way out, I ask, “Is Doctor T still here? I need to ask him something.”
Dannyboy says, “He left about half an hour ago. Can I help with something?”
“Nah. He’s working on a project with me, and I was looking for a progress report. I’ll check with him Monday.” I bid adieu, and scurried for the bus.
I hit the bank, the store, and was back on the bus and home in near record time. I scored a dinner I don’t have to cook, a pan of brownies for tonight’s new episode of South Park, and a little extra chocolate, just in case.
I do wish I had seen Doctor T, though. That project? A practical joke on one of our co-workers.
More on this as it develops…
Megadeth with a straight face?
Not in my lifetime!
I listen to the radio at work. There are three or four channels in regular rotation; mellow adult (KINK); alternative (KNRK); random pop (97.1 Charlie) and ear-slaughtering cookie monster/heavy metal (KUFO.) Tonight was a KUFO night.
I was chatting with a bus mall security guard while listening to Stump the Movie Douche. He was recently in a semi-serious car accident, and was telling me all about it. Midway through hearing about his wife’s head injury, I burst out laughing.
I immediately apologized, then figured I’d better explain why the laughter. After the radio game, KUFO played Megadeth’s Symphony of Destruction. I bought the album Countdown to Extinction when it came out in 1990. Played it to death. But something happened that forever marked that song.
