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Running Recon

Running Recon… or Ice Queen part II

I figured today was going to be awesome… did some chores early expecting to go out in the afternoon… afternoon plans failed. So I figured early evening I’d be out… that failed. I went to bed not sure if it would be a nap or for the night and then I got a text… I was suppose to meet some friends at a new place. I got there and LV was there with Ice Queen and her compadre… I made the mistake of thinking Ice Queen might be breaking out of her shell since she was in a new place but of course I was wrong… she touched my foot and I thought I dipped it in liquid nitrogen, one of those science class experiments where they shatter things. My foot survived intact but her heart that is capable of freezing beer put a damper on the night.
Adding to this was a slight frustration of having to run recon for a friend that has a crush on a band member… so here I am being me trying to keep an eye on another dude that I don’t know. None the less it is for a friend and I’m willing to help her… but I don’t think she’ll like what I found out. In fact I think I found out a bit more than she wants to know. So now I have the displeasure of breaking to her the news of this evening which is going to sound bad coming from me since some may assume that I am enamored with her (I’m not). I can’t lie to her… so somehow I have to figure a way by tomorrow to lay it all out. I’m always willing to help a friend, but I should have stayed in bed tonight.

New Place

I know its a small pic... but this is a pic I have of the new apartment I'll be moving into after finals.

Ice Queen

Before I write about last night I must explain one thing real quick: We have an Ice Queen within our group… Now when I call her Ice Queen I’m not being quick to judge… it certainly took her a couple of weekends to earn that title… no, it wasn’t just one bad night… she has repeatedly and continuously earns that title.

Last night was just another on my quickly becoming routine Friday. Leaving work we went to Café 210 and shared a pitcher or two. While there Army and Navy started smoking their cigarettes and I commented how I’m surprised I haven’t started smoking since everyone I know does. Army pointed out that the Ice Queen doesn’t smoke. My response to that was that she couldn’t – it would be a source of heat. A pitcher later Army had to go to his second job, I gave Navy a lift home and then I headed home for a nap myself. That evening I got a text from Fat Kid saying they were headed to their usual spot. When I showed up I had the pleasure of meeting Fat Kid’s mom; though she was drinking very lightly she did manage to hang with us to close out the bar at 2am! Also because I showed up later than the rest I was at the end of the table behind the Ice Queen and her compadre. I had been feeling chilly since I woke up from my nap, but I’d swear that end of the table was even cooler.
The evening wore on with nothing special happening… just the usual good times and me getting confused by women.
Then end of the evening was disappointing though. I guess it was a case of where you view someone how you want to view them and not for how they really are. Last night when we were departing I got a slightly clearer view of how she really is. I’m not trying to get with her, but still it was a disappointment seeing a friend in that light. Oh well, I can’t look down on her for it cause it really isn’t that big of a deal and we all have our flaws… I certainly have my series of flaws.

Small-town news

I have to laugh at this small town… When I was in San Diego few crimes hit the news and they had to be big crimes in order to get mentioned. I was just reading the police blotter for this place for the last three days. The most severe thing was an armed robbery of the Uni-mart; the armament was a crowbar and so far they think it was another employ from a different Uni-mart (real bright…). But one of the other posts on the blotter was that a farmer reported five cows missing. He doesn’t suspect them stolen; he just thinks they got scared and ran away during the storm last weekend. Small-town news amuses me.

New Digs

I have to move out of my present home in mid-august which means that recently I’ve had the displeasure of apartment hunting. Luckily for me I found and awesome new place on the north edge of town:

Townhouse just off of XXXXXXXXXXXX., built about 2 yr ago, new appliances $390/mo. + util. (~$25/mo.) + cable internet ($12/mo.) includes: > 1BR, unfurnished, of 3BR townhouse > Personal bathroom + sink/vanity area > Personal walk-in closet > Personal jacuzzi, (in your bedroom!) > Shared kitchen, dining room, & living room w/fireplace, newly painted deck > Free, ample parking (enough for visitors) > Free cable and garbage removal > Free washer & dryer in house > W Bus stop directly in front of house > Pets allowed for small extra monthly fee, negotiable. Roomates are 2 easygoing PSU science majors (guys), looking for male or female roomate. Earlier move-in available. Please call or email for more information.

So I’m getting the master bedroom (huge) that comes with its own bathroom, and the Jacuzzi is right in the bedroom… I’ve never had a Jacuzzi so I’m not sure how it’ll be or if it’ll get much use… but dudes! it’s a freakin’ Jacuzzi in my room! Hell, if I don’t use it much I’m thinking about filling it and putting some fish in there!

The only disadvantage to the place is that its kinda far from campus… ok, for this town its far from campus; in reality its only a 3-mile 10-minute drive. But between the traffic and parking it’ll probably be easier that I take the bus… so I have to get a new bus pass this fall.
The two roommates seem pretty cool; one is into flying and he is building his own plane in the garage that they have converted into a workshop.
An additional plus is that everything is new and runs on gas… gas stove, heat and fireplace… completely bitchin’ dude!
Now all I have to do is pack everything up from here again… time to go through everything and eliminate as much as possible…

Nature's Power

Eric said it best this morning with “Mother Nature may abhor a vacuum.. but she fucking despises a weakling... in like a lion, she comes... and she sure ain't gonna apologize about it...” He was referring to a thunderstorm that visited him last night. Up here we had our own thunderstorm… it was one of the most sever and powerful I’ve ever seen. It started with flashes of light scattered by the clouds. Then slowly you could here faint rumblings in the distance. Not much longer and each flash of light was followed by a brief episode of static on the radio. The flashes of light followed one another faster and faster as the rumbles grew louder and louder. Not much longer the rumbles grew to sharp cracks that began to shake the house. The lightning happened so quick you couldn’t tell which thunderclaps went with which flashes. God it was awesome!
Quickly the rain slammed down and the lightening continued.
Just as things began to settle down Mother Nature got her second wind and unleashed a new fury. This went on till about 3am. It was awesome to witness the display of nature’s power.

Another Helluva Weekend

The family members that were to visit on Wednesday didn’t show up till late Friday. I hadn’t heard from them all day Friday and I wasn’t even sure if they’d be showing up. None the less I resisted the temptation to drink with my compadres in our Friday afternoon ritual of beer and a small dinner at Café 210. I resigned myself to drinking cokes and nervously looking around expecting them to walk up at anytime. Around 4:30 Army had to get to his other job so we all parted ways and I returned home. By 5:30 I was starting to relax thinking they wouldn’t be showing up. At 6 my phone beeped with a voicemail (thanks to crappy reception here I didn’t get the call) and I sped up to the visitors center hoping to catch them before they left. Luckily they hadn’t left yet. They got a motel for the night then we went to dinner and they resupplied at Wal-Mart. It was late and I took them back to their motel. After dropping them off I needed a drink and text some friends who were on the way to the normal watering hole. A pitcher of Long Island and a couple shots later I was feeling much better.
Before we closed out that place I found out about someone having a dream about me… nothing is going to come of this, but none the less it was a well needed boost to the ego. We closed that place out and we all proceeded home (not to worry, I quit drinking well before closing time and was plenty good to drive). I gave a few friends home and Troy was quite popular with one the ladies…
In the morning I met the family again and gave them the tour of the campus.


Family 


Saturday evening I joined Army and Navy for some pool. I actually didn’t do too bad and had one or two good streaks. I also made a couple of crazy shots including one that ran the length of the table on top of the rail before it fell in. Despite not placing any drinks on the table, not scraping the cloth or anything the table felt it needed to rip my favorite shorts. Thank goodness for Marine Corps issue sewing kits as I have just finished sewing it up.
Barely out of the door of the pool-hall and I was accosted by this woman:

Spanish Compadre 

(the one with cleavage, not the one in the bag, though she was half in the bag…) Now that I’m posting this about her I’m sure she’ll do something to make me look stupid in Spanish though I do that well enough on my own.
We sat and talked with her and her friends for a while. Then Army, Navy and I escorted them most of the way home before Navy said he could handle it alone. Bidding them and Navy a goodnight Army and I proceeded back to the trucks when I ran into yet another acquaintance that I gave a ride to since she had a long ways to walk home. haha, all this weekend I’ve was an escort service!


A fitful nights sleep and here I am trying to concentrate on homework through this headache…
As I sit here and think about it, for being someone with any friends or even acquaintances here last April I’m pretty happy with the social circle that I’m in now. Who’d of thought getting a job would be such a positive experience?

Ahhhh... relief....

There is no feeling so great as having completed a paper... alright there is probably one or two better things, but at least its done.

And there is little more to cause as much anxiety as a call from friends/family saying "Hey, we'll be there in two or three days." - with no warning before hand.

Mary Poppins

Last session in my Spanish II class there was an interesting character. The first day she walked into class you couldn’t help but notice her… she had a head-dress on and a skirt that went down just pass her ankles. I didn’t think much of it because this is a large university with quite a few foreign students, to see one or two in head-dress was not uncommon. Since it was a small class and it was the first day our instructor wanted to take roll. Apparently everyone is to cool to say ‘Here’ so they just raise their hand.
“Adam Aardvark?” and a hand went up.
“Ben Beckham?” another hand went up.
“Calvin Coolidge?” yet another hand… but he’s cool because he only raised his hand to head level.
“Dixie Doodle?” even cooler because she didn’t raise her hand at all, she just left her elbow resting on the table and rotated her hand…
“Telebush?” “Hi!” with my hand raised high.
This went on for about ten more kids then I saw something rather funny. I very ‘Anglo-Saxon’ name was called. “Mary Poppins?” (alright, the names have been changed to protect the innoc… well, yeah, the names have been changed)
And up went the hand of the head-dress-girl. I snicker just loud enough that the poor girl sitting next to me can begin to discover what an ass I am.
I found it rather odd that this girl with one of the most Anglo-Saxon names is wearing such conservative clothes (alright, I’m trying not to say muslim clothes). In any case I keep my mouth shut because at this time I don’t want to be kicked out of this university. As days go by a few of us hang out a little before class and we get a little more comfortable with each other. I then mention Mary Poppins to the poor girl that must sit next to me and she tells me that she was in another class last semester wearing normal clothes. ‘Interesting’ I think to myself. Out loud I said something like (sarcasm)“Yeah, because it’s cool to convert now.”(/sarcasm) (You see? I really am quite the asshole)
One of our last days in that class we had a readers theater of some crap written in Spanish. It was a nice day outside and our instructor finally caved into our pleas to have class outside. We were sitting in the grass as each group got up to do their bit of reading… I looked over and noticed Mary Poppins sitting there. I leaned over to Ben Beckham and asked if was alright that Mary was showing so much skin (her ankle). Poor Katie Kendall overhead me and just looked at me with this glare that communicated her despise of me.
After the readers theater a couple of us stayed outside for a break, some smoked, some joked, some toked (or thought of it). I stayed out to joke (because I’m a good kid and I don’t smoke). Apparently the normal clothes that Mary Poppins use to wear were jeans or shorts because she didn’t quite get the lesson on how to sit in the grass with a dress on. I got way more of a look at her flesh than I ever wanted to see. Good thing she lives in America – in any of the sandland nations I probably could have stoned her for that.

Owned 

 

Something motivating tonight... 

Lessons

Another weekend down… Friday night began with our quickly becoming ritual of going to Café 210 right after work and downing pitcher after pitcher as we sit around and B.S. After a few hours there the sun had set and it was time to migrate to new grounds. I wasn’t drunk at this point but I was certainly feeling good…
I have to bust in here to explain that last Monday many of the freshmen started to show up for some crap tests they have to take. Freshmen are dumb because they move around in big, slow herds and think they are the cock of the walk since they are now in college. The biggest herds can be found near the dorms and down on College and Beaver Ave (commercial area with the stores, apartments, bars and restraints).
…So I’m feeling good but quickly become annoyed by the herds that take up the whole sidewalk making it difficult to go around. Normally I walk in the back of the group, I guess just to naturally keep an eye on everyone and make sure we don’t lose anyone. This time I was in the lead when we came across a herd. My goal was just to clear a path wide enough for my two buddies to follow, just a shoulders width wide. Some freshman moved a little too slow to clear my path and got checked… I didn’t mean to check him hard (I really don’t think I did) and I didn’t turn to look, but Navy told me I blew him completely out of the way. The rest of the heard was a little quicker to move.
Right behind this heard of male freshmen was a herd of female freshmen which hadn’t been observant enough to notice my path I was creating. Now I’m not about to check any of them out of the way but I still wanted a clear path. They get a verbal warning: just as I got to the edge of the herd and them not moving out of my way I started waiving my arms above my head and yelled “MOVE!” The looks of terror in those girls eyes was priceless… they jumped out of the way not knowing what the hell was going on.
After getting through the crowds it was just a little further to our destination where Navy and Army told me what the wake looked like and we all had a good laugh. I’ll probably end up on point a little more often now.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not going around enjoying messing with freshmen; they just need to learn not to take up the whole damn sidewalk! Sidewalks are not one way and they need to make way for other people.
Back to doing homework… I like this session a lot more, I now have a choice of what type of homework I want to do… *ughh*

Quote of the Day

'Oh, speaking of blowing an o-ring.'
- Said by Navy. context is just too disgusting for this blog, but think of the worse thing you can, then you might be in the same ballpark.

Police Blotter

I was just looking over the police blotter and now I have conformation I live in a small town:

Chickens Cross The Road
Police responded to a caller on July 4th at 10:48 a.m. who complained that chickens were running loose on the 100 block of Rainlo Street. The owner was contacted and proceeded to remove the chickens from the street.


This and two other not-to-exciting reports...

1000th

I finally crossed the one thousandth visitor today. It was referred to my blog from my personal site at PSU (yeah, I’ll update that eventually). Not sure who it was, but my guess is it was another bored student here at the campus. In any case they managed to waste about 13 minutes of there life here…
1001st visitor was someone referred here from Christina, so thank you Christina.

As for this weekend… it was a good time. Friday I got off work and the work-posse found the local bar where the ‘suits’ hang out. Cheapest thing they had was Killians pitchers for $3.50. Two of those down we migrated to Phyrst where I was damaged by some hot wings. On to home to do some laundry and shower just to be called out again – this time to the Saloon where I only indulged in Pepsi for the rest of the evening. When I got there I knew it was going to be a good time, but for some reason I had a little voice saying not to drink. It turned out that little voice was right since I think it was my sober calmness that kept some dude from dieing as we would have killed him had he continued on his battle path: After talking with Navy for a while Navy excused himself for a trip to the restroom. Dude then proceeded to tell Pinky (who is a might bit enamored with Navy) that Navy is gay (he’s not). Pinky of course took offense (she has first hand knowledge otherwise). Pinky and Dude were starting a heated discussion and I knew if Navy came back and found this Navy would pound the Dude. I stepped in and calmly convinced Dude it was in his best interest to walk away at this point. I knew if worse went to worse it would be Navy (who even drunk could’ve taken care of himself), Army (again, he’s seen his share of fights and could handle it easily) Pinky (one of those chicks that could handle herself, probably) and me (who might have dodged the first hit or two) against this one Dude. He was toast, and after that I never saw him in the bar the rest of the night. I also managed to have the good since to bring two girls over for Army and Navy to talk to… and it worked (amazingly) – nothing came of it but Navy said I did a good job. Debutante was missing from the work-posse because of a lesbian wedding (I’m waiting for the pics) so she missed out on all of it. Personally I would’ve opted for the lesbian wedding. Anyways, Debutante is too hard for me to remember, so from here on out she will be referred to as Fat Kid.

Saturday morning I went up to a friends place on a lake northeast of here. It was really cool because Saturday night (designated fireworks night) everyone had flares on the edge of the lake ringing it in red lights. Then a lot of folks spent a lot of money on fireworks to the delight of all on the lake; till about the third hour - then I was ready for bed. Sunday I went tubing on the lake and I am still suffering from the sore arms… Sunday night saw more fireworks but not as many. Monday I drove back to town just to get tied up in traffic of everyone trying to make it in for the local fireworks.

Overall it was a good weekend; plus I learned that if your friends are drinking the bar will give you all the soda you want for free!

Oh, and the pic below is me getting towed back to the dock after the trolling motor went dead in the boat while I was fishing... rowing back just didn't seem like much fun...

I don't have time for a full update since I was gone the whole weekend... but I'll leave it with this photo of us getting towed back.