DANCING, CLINTON, AND BIG AL’S, YOU CAN’T ASK FOR MUCH MORE: I have visitors! A bunch of friends from Decatur came up to hangout for a night before New Year’s Eve. How crazy is this that the girls requested that we go to the World Famous Big Al’s [a gentlemen’s club]. This was a last of the minute visit, but very welcome. My only regret was that it was the night before New Year’s Eve; no one was out because they were saving themselves for the next night. When we got to Roxy’s, there were three other people there! We had to go find a lively bar to hangout at! Adam’s Apple on Tuesdays was the only option we had. Luckily some girl from Clinton, IL, with a retainer (or braces I don’t remember) was our entertainment. For a long time, we were the only ones on the dance floor. After we got a little tired from dancing, we had to go to Big Al’s. I swear, the only reason we went was because a girl requested it! It was a great way to end the night, we had so much fun, New Year’s Eve is going to be bland and boring. The best thing about my friend’s visiting is that I still don’t have my couch yet. It’s supposed to be delivered sometime in Mid-January. Good times though… good times! Life is good when you get to party with friends!

SIMPLY, HAVING, A WODNERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME: Lots of Christmas parties to go to. My old Supervisor holds a Christmas party every year that I have to attend; lots of food (and drink) and good people. From that party I made my way to a local consultant group’s annual Christmas party. This party is a major production, where they rent a large reception room, hire a band, have an open bar, and provide catered food. After working all day and partying all night, I just crashed that when I got home. I had to prepare for the wedding tomorrow! Life is great when you get to party!

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE FLU? My mom called me at work to tell me that my dad had to go to the doctor because he’s been sick with the flu for 2 1/2 weeks and hasn’t gotten any better. It’s scary because the doctor told him that he was very close to having pneumonia. Besides that happening, our family’s plans for traveling to Texas for four days were in jeopardy. A friend’s wedding is that same Saturday that they wanted to leave for Texas (they wanted to drive). To work out the schedule, I bought a plan ticket to fly down on Sunday to meet them ($150 for a one-way ticket). The plans were for me to ride back with them, which there was a great chance for them not to go. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Life is not good when your dad is really sick and you lost $50 on canceling a plane ticket.

I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS: It’s snowing again (or still). It’s been snowing all day long. I was going to go Christmas shopping today, but I think that I’ll just stay inside instead.

LATER THAT AFTERNOON:
Yep, still snowing! When is this craziness going to end?!??!!

LATER THAT NIGHT:
Still snowing, I was going to order a pizza dinner (I didn’t feel like going out). Kevin was going to come over and we were just going to hang out and watch a movie. That is before Christine called, she had a friend in from out-of-town and she basically begged us to go out and meet her. Kevin wanted to meet her friend anyway, so we ended up going out (even after I told all the Bradley kids that I wasn’t going to go). After getting to Kelleher’s, I must say that I had a great night! I didn’t drink much because I was driving. I had fun hanging out with a few friends, then I went to see the best cover band ever, “Mike and Joe”. That’s where the Bradley kids were (you guys know I say that all in good fun). The band will be back in mid-January and we’ve already got a large group that’s going out that night. Life is good when you only have to pay a $5 cover and get to see a great band and hangout with friends!

BIRTHDAYS IN BLOOMINGTON: So Friday, after having an easy day at work (I was able to get a lot of things done), I drove to Bloomington to celebrate my friend Cathleen’s birthday. Living in Champaign, Bloomington was a good central place to celebrate, since she had people coming from Decatur and Peoria (of course). The band that she adores was playing at a bar there too (that might have had something to do with it). The band is called “Maggie Speaks”. Personally, I thought it was a sub-par band. I guess they’re big in Chicago. Sorry, maybe I was just wasn’t in the mood to listen to a band that night. A highlight from the night, is that I got to see two friends from college that I haven’t seen in over 2 years! Coley and Pam, I didn't even recognize them at first. We had a good time that night. I'd do it again. How about next year Cathleen? Life is good when you’re celebrating a friend’s birthday in Bloomington!




The girls posing for a quick picture (minus Coley and Pam who were missing from the pictures). Birthday girl is in red. Everyone say "BEER PLEEEEEEAZEE!"





Another picture of me and the girls. I still don't know where Coley and Pam are? I know there were there that night.





The birthday girl in red showing that she's had fun tonight. How many drinks did you have?






Extremely drunk guy that wouldn’t leave the girls alone. He is shown here molesting some other, poor, innocent woman.

WHAT MEDICINE CURES A COMPUTER VIRUS: I think that my computer is finally healed! Good thing, I was about to take it to the Emergency room (ie, reformat the hard drive). I'll probably just do that anyway. Life is good when you don't care that you have a virus because you can easily fix it.

ITS AN EPIDEMIC: Yeah, so my computer’s got the bug that’s going around. That darn virus. I should have gotten it a Flu shot. Life’s no fun when your computer is sick with a virus.

FRIENDS WINES, EQUAL GOOD TIMES: I had another great weekend. This year has been so much fun. I must say that I would challenge the saying that “College is the best years” or ”College was the most fun you’ll ever have”. Why? It’s so much more fun when you don’t have to worry about money or homework. Don’t get me wrong, you have other things like all the bills and unpaid overtime, but it’s different and much easier.
Anyway, one of my good friend’s came to visit me, Greg Chambers. He’s getting married early next year, so we wanted to hangout a few more times before his life is over as he knew it (just kid’n Greg). We had a great time though. Got to show him around Peoria; showed him the great “ghetto” we have here. [Side story: I asked one of the Bradley students how much they were, (I wanted to live there) that’s how I found out they were “The Ghetto”.] After that, we had 2 bottles of wine with dinner at the best Italian restaurant ever, Rizzi's. Another bottle at Kelleher’s before we went to this semester’s [Unofficial APO] Activation party that was going on that night. I just know that I was probably affected a little too much by the wine (i.e. a little too drunk but not out of control). What it comes out to is that we had a good time. Thanks for visiting Greg, you’re welcome to come back and party anytime buddy! Life is good when you’re with old friends!

LOOSING MY MIND AND 3 YEARS OF MY LIFE: So add another wedding to the list. I think the count is up to 10 this year. A long-time friend Holly Connor got married the weekend after Thanksgiving. I unfortunately did not get to see the ceremony. Why? That’s a funny story, at least to me. I lost me keys… not just my car keys, but ALL my keys: the condo, the car, my office desk, the garage, and my parents. How? Let me tell you. For Thanksgiving this year, we went to St. Louis to visit with family. As we are leaving, my dad told me that I needed to move my car into the driveway and off of the street. Why, I don’t know. To avoid further confrontation, I get my keys that were in the house in a safe place and move my car. Now, I didn’t want to delay us further by putting my keys back in the house, so I take them in the car. Never-the-less, when we get back to Decatur a few days later I don’t remember where I put my keys that morning. After searching everyone’s bags and calling my Aunt to have her search her house, I come to the conclusion that I lost them for good. I started my recovery plan and collect locksmith and dealership phone numbers to get my life back to order. Luckily, I have On-Star so I could at least get inside my car. That turned out not to work because it was sitting for over 48 hours. The locksmith that came to make me a new key couldn’t get the key he made to work either. The wedding was at 5PM, locksmiths working on my car at 2PM, I needed a car key to avoid overcharging for working on Sunday. Realizing Peoria wasn’t to far away; I stole my mom’s car and prayed that I would be able to make it back in-time for the wedding. The locksmith for my condo door, was late and also had problems unlocking my door. I see that as a good thing. Eventually, I get my extra set of keys and drive back to Decatur to only miss the beginning of the ceremony by 10 minutes. I didn’t want to be rude by walking in late, so I just went to the reception and drank lots of free beer. Life is good when you get to drink free beer after a really really stressful day of dealing with locksmiths.

Oh yeah, my keys were in my bag that I had checked 3 times. I found them 2 days later and it only cost me $35 and 3 years of my life.

WHY DOES ANYONE FLY: Finally, the time was here, I was going to go on a vacation. A vacation that was way overdue; my mind was tattered and fried (sounds like something you can order at Hardes). Anyway, so I was excited to start my 11-day vacation. My plans were to visit a friend down over in North Carolina, the weather was going to be nice, we were going to go to the last UNC football game, and Sharla was going to fly for the first time.
It was guaranteed to be an event trip. If you couldn't tell, I was very excited to go. It all started when I woke up early that morning. I packed and was going to leave a little early to make sure I wouldn't have to rush to get to the Bloomington airport. I left 20 minutes earlier then I originally planned. I didn't realize that I would have to get gas and avoid a major car wreck before I even was able to get on the Interstate. [20 minutes ahead of schedule are gone.] I was a little perturbed, but I was still on-time and not worried. I was about to cross one of the few bridges over the river when I noticed there were quite a few cars backed-up on the bridge. Even better, as I got closer, I noticed that they were not moving! Could it be another car wreck? I didn't second-guess my instincts; I got off the Interstate on the last opportunity after waiting 5 minutes of not moving more then 3 feet. I didn't have time for this, I roughly knew of a way around the mess. [Now I'm 15 minutes behind schedule.] I missed a turn on this rough bypass to get out of Peoria. [Add another 5 minutes behind schedule.] For whatever reason, there are at least 500 cars driving from Peoria to Bloomington, which luckily prevented me from speeding over 85 Mph. [I made-up 10 minutes on the schedule.] Once I get to Bloomington, I try to follow the Airport signs, which is across town. These signs are really small and they aren't placed at every intersection. This is when
Sharla calls me up and says that she just got the tickets, and the plane was over-booked! We didn't have any seats until the next flight, which leaves late that evening. Somehow during this discussion, I must have followed a curve without knowing it. I end-up downtown Bloomington. I could have sworn that I was lost, so I turned around. [Add another 15 minutes behind schedule.] I finally get back on track after calling a friend for directions and Sharla calls back. She said that if I wasn't at the airport in 5 minutes, then we would not be on the flight (but we didn't have any seats right?) As I pull-up, trying to figure-out what I'm going to do, I park at the entrance and put on my flashers. Of course, the rent-a-cop is yelling at me, that I can't park here; Sharla's yelling that we don't have seats; and the front desk lady is there demanding to see my ID so she can go on the flight. I show her the ID to get my ticket. I go park my car, and come back to the main lobby. That's when I notice that my ticket is blank? there's no seat number. To top that off, the lady at the front desk is gone. I can't check-in my bag and further more try to figure out what to do about the fact I DON'T HAVE A SEAT! I can't have two carry-on bags, and one being my suitcase. Sharla, the lovely girl she is saves the trip, and somehow talked me into trying to get on the plane anyway. [The plan leaves in 10 minutes.] We go through security and the lady in front of me gets stopped and searched. I got lucky. [Plane leaves in 6 minutes.] Our gate is the furthest one from the main lobby. [Plane leaves in 2 minutes.] We come running up to the gate and the guy says, "You must be David Wayne! We have seats for you, but they're not together. Let me check your bag in. It will be beside the plane when you leave." That's when I realize, oh yeah? planeside baggage check. [Plane is running through the preparation checklist to leave. One minute till take-off.] Like I said earlier, we didn't have seats together, but we were both on the plane. To add more pressure to the situation, Sharla has never flown before. As I sit-down, I'm trying to see where her seat is and I start talking to the lady that is sitting next to me. Luckily, she asked if she could switch so we could sit together. [30 seconds til take-off.] When she goes up there, the lady asks Sharla if she would like to sit with her Boyfriend. We're both like, WHAT? I was like who cares, we get to sit together. So, I'm exhausted, relieved, and amazed all at the same time that we're on the plane. So I plop-down in my seat? right on the seatbelt that was sticking straight up.

The trip has just started; you could imagine what I was thinking about the rest of the trip. Sharla was joking that Kory would probably get in a car wreck as he's coming to pick us up to top the trip off. I do have to say that I'm glad Sharla was able to sit next to me. I would have been extremely bored without her. One main thing that I didn't get to say is that the plane was a small one. I was afraid it was going to be a rough ride. It was quite the opposite, until the landing. The plane was all over the place. Sharla and I almost got motion sickness. I guess it was really windy in Atlanta. We had one and half-hour layover, just enough to eat lunch. It was great too, because I did planeside baggage claim. I had to carry the bag everywhere we walked to. After lunch, we were going back to the gate for our next flight, and no one was there. We thought we missed the plane, but the lady at the next gate said it was moved to another gate, which was next to the original gate. We go there, to only get directed to another gate, which was on the other side of the terminal, right next to where we ate lunch? were we started. This trip kept getting better and better. Later, we find out that the gates were moved, because the plane had mechanical problems. Why did we go on this trip Sharla? Luckily, we get to Raleigh/Durham without any further problems. Life is good when you fly!

ILLINOIS SUCKS: So I just came back from the last weekend of the “summer trips” that I had scheduled for this year. Let me tell you it was the perfect end to a great year! I went to visit a friend, if you know him it was Kory Wilmont, a GGTK™ (Great Guy To Know). Sharla and I went to see him in North Carolina, the weather was perfect... 70s to be specific. It was hard to come back to Illinois’ 25 degree snow flurries and gusty bone chilling wind. I did get to see the last NCU football game (though they lost), saw the movie Radio (excellent movie), and go out to some crazy bars (danced with some "Southern Bells"). It was a great time, and fairly inexpensive! I’ll write more about the trip later. Life is good when you hangout with Kory and Sharla!

SOMETHING LIKE A PHENOMENOM: Life… it’s wonderful. Have you ever just stopped to think about it? That’s the first part of the mystery. How does that work? How can you close your eyes and recall something that happened last week… last year… when you were little? How does your heart, continuously beat, without getting tired? Why do you have problems walking and talking, when you drink alcohol? How is it when you see someone you’re attracted to, you get excited? How is it when you’re close to someone who leaves, you cry... How is life?... Unfortunately, it takes a major life event to realize this. We often forget about wonderful phenomenon* called life. But we need to change, and be thankful and enjoy everyday… everyway we can.
Recently, I have had another of these life events. My grandma passed away last Monday. Its not really that I extremely close to her (but she was important part of my life). It really made me think and wonder about my life. What will people say when my phenomenon is over? When will my phenomenon be over? What am I going to do next? Life is good, make it a great phenomenon.


*phenomenon - a rare or significant fact or event [plural] phenomenons : an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal person, thing, or occurrence.

DANCED THE NIGHT AWAY: Bradley's Alpha Phi Omega chapter had their semi-formal dance last night. The dance wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be awkward, but we both had a good time. Awkward? How could a dance be awkward? Let me tell you. I was setup with a random girl, a friend’s friend. Let me tell you the story. My friend decided that I needed to go to this dance, but I didn’t have a date. I didn’t plan on going to this dance. But last Thursday, two days before the dance, she was determined to get me a date. The fact that I wasn’t planning to go to the dance, didn’t even cross her mind. Eventually, I was persuaded to attend, but wasn’t really looking forward to the night with my blind date. Again, I must say, I actually had a great time, and it wasn’t really awkward. I was a good change from what I had been doing for the last 5 months. I have just been visiting my friends and going out to the bars. Life is good when you’re dancing.

HOMECOMING… WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!: And to another very eventful weekend. Got to see all sorts of friends, ex-girlfriends, and soon to be girl friends (only in my dreams). The great weekend started on Friday, which I took off from work. Showed up at Marty’s for 4 o’clock club, and then looked (unsuccessfully) for house parties after that. We had a busy schedule for Saturday, so it was probably good that we didn’t find anything too crazy. Saturday’s schedule was very full. We were supposed to wake-up at 6AM to go to Pancake breakfast. Thanks to my brother, we were to follow that up with a “Beer Breakfast” (a house party on the parade route). That was a ton of fun, even though it was raining. Basically straight from there, we went to tailgating. About 4 O’clock my brother’s Frat rents out a bar (“Mother’s” for those who know) every year for “Brat fest”. This is where the ciaos continued until about 9:30PM. Someone bought shots, and 22 ounce beers were $2. It was about this time that I realized I was old and became tired….. I didn’t make much later that night. I didn’t meet those people at STIX. I didn’t realize that my cell phone died. I did past out on my friend’s bed and woke up at 3:00 wondering what happened, why I was still drunk, and why I passed out. I checked my 30 voicemails, and just went back to sleep. Sunday morning I woke up and hurt. Nothing in particular, just everything. After getting something to eat, I felt much better. Watched some football and talked about the craziness that occurred the day before. WOW, what a weekend. Life is good when you’re with friends!

I'm so behind on this.. keep checking.. I will be adding the past entries that I have been keeping in the word document (my real journal).

FAMILY TIES: Another great weekend. I think that I live a soap opera, I swear. Never a dull day in the live of David Wayne. As old as I am, I never can turn-down a good party. The biggest party of Bradley's campus was supposed to be going down on Friday. I was enticed enough to check it out. When I first got there, I must admit, I didn't know why I wanted to go. I felt like I was 50 years old. It made me realize that I shouldn't be going to these anymore. Then I remembered why I wanted to go to this party. And that was to hangout with my friends. The night got better from there and having a great time until this white cloud consumed the dance floor. People were coughing and running towards the door. Someone yelled, "Cops used tear gas!" It was utter ciaos.
The following Saturday my brother came to visit me in my new condo. It was good to see him while he was off for Fall break. After being caught-up on the usual "BS", we were debating going out. I didn't know if I wanted to tell him about our only option, another Bradley party that was supposed to be going on (since he's underage). We ended up having a great night! Just hung-out at a friend's place and "shot-the-shit".
The worst part of the weekend was Sunday night. My brand new condo with the brand-new water heater popped! Literally popped and broke. So I couldn't take a warm shower that night or on Monday morning. Life is not good when you have to take a very cold shower.

CUBS…. YOU SUCK!!!! At least you did what we all knew (deep inside what) you were going to do anyway! You suck for pretending to have the ability to get to the World Series; you suck for letting some guy distract your focus from the game; you suck because you think a curse from a goat is keeping your low talent team from making it to the World Series. There's always next year... maybe next year. Life's not good when you're a Cub's fan!

WHY I SUCK AS A SALESMAN: I actually just like that line from Tommy Boy, the movie. I had another great weekend!!! HHEEEEEEEEE-EEE-EEEEEY YAAAAAAAAAA! HEY DOOOOOON! [Modeled from Outkast's Hey Ya™ with the words changed a little] (Don is that last word, in case you didn’t get it). I had a great weekend celebrating Allison’s birthday. Thanks AL!! She won a party at one of the best bars in Chicago, Howl at the Moon™. It’s a piano bar that plays the hits we all know and love (but with a twist!) After that we (we had 5 in our group) had a hotel room at the Embassy Suites™ a couple blocks away. The worst part about the whole night was the fact there were free or cheap drinks the WHOLE NIGHT! Free snacks and drinks at the hotel from 4-7.. free food and drinks at the bar… $0.50 drinks after the free drinks at the bar… then discounted drinks alllll night long. All day Saturday I was recovering from Friday night. Yes, there is such a thing as having TO MUCH fun. I didn’t want to go out at all that night or hear the word alcohol, but I did anyway. My old roommate [Mike] was downtown Chicago with his new girl friend, I had to go see him. We had good times… Life is good!

MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!!!!!: I can’t believe what I did last Sunday, out of all the things that I was supposed to be doing, I wasted another day away and loved every minutes of it. What was I doing you might ask? Just talking on the phone…. FOR 8 HOURS! I woke up early to the lovely sounds of a hammer and wood at 8am. The carpenters were working in the condo below me, and were installing a wood floor. Since I was up so early, I got started on a few things. Around 11 o’clock I was ready for a distraction, and to take a break, so I called a friend. The nice weather outside, being able to just sit on the deck, and the fun of killing the gazillion™ ladybugs, kept me satisfied. I didn’t end-up getting off the phone until 7:30pm that night… what a waste of a day… but it was awesome!

JERMS™?.... WHY?: So God, I have a really good question? Why, why did you create germs? I’m sick and it sucks. Got sick last Friday and it ruined my plans for this weekend. Head pounding, swollen eyes, and throbbing nose… what did I do to deserve this? Well, I guess I have a few clues: First, watched the Bears game for Monday Night Footbal and didn’t get to sleep until 2AM or so; Second, went to dinner with a friend and ended up going out to the bars until 3 or so; Third, when to APO chapter meeting which turned in the IDP** (explained below) and I stayed up late talking to friends on AOL Instant Messenger™; Fourth, went to happy hour, even after I was starting to get sick and staying until the end of the delayed but glorious Cubs game; lastly, going to the APO Pledge lock-in (to make an appearance) and staying until midnight. These events together, have equaled the great creation of Jerms™. (No, I didn’t spell it wrong.) The Jerms are germs that are mine own. I wanted them "trade marked" for legality reasons. Anyone caught with my Jerms™ will have to deal with litigation. My new friend Jami is a lawyer (she’s tough). So watch out, you don’t want to get my Jerms™.

** IDP – Instant Date Party – Bradley’s chapter has an activity where you show-up to attend a usual meeting but they cancel it at the beginning. Then the members have 15 minutes to find a date to go to the instant social activity instead of the meeting.

PEOPLE ARE GREAT: While talking on the phone the other day, I was surfing around to view other “blogs” out there. There are some really screwed up people out there; then, there are some seriously funny people that just make you laugh for no reason. I have a couple pictures that I’m referencing in here. I don’t know how long they’ll be available, but it should be funny, at least for a little bit.

StolenPicturesByDave™

MAYBE I SHOULD MOVE TO FLORIDA: So I’m in my new condo right? It’s getting cold outside… and I decide that I need to turn on my heat. It’s about this time when I noticed, it wouldn’t turn on. Yeah, the idiot from the Electric Company forgot to turn on the gas when he came to get he first meter reading. “Its freak’n freezing Mr. Bigglesworth.” ™ Tried to light a fire in the fireplace, but it’s a gas fireplace. I had to go to someone else’s house so I wouldn’t turn into a “Popsicle”, luckily it was Monday Night Football and the Bears were playing. They finally turned it on yesterday (Oct. 1, 2003). I wouldn’t have these problems if I lived in Florida, but "Life is good!"

LIFE IS GREAT WHEN YOU KICK-BACK: I love my life! I’ve been having so many good times lately.
FRIDAY: This wasn’t really the good part of the weekend, but Friday I did have fun non-the-less. I ended up working really hard, like my dad would say it was “Crazy City”. (I guess that’s an inside joke.) A good thing was that my Team Leader put me “in charge” because he was going to be gone for the next 4 days which could turn into 3 weeks. I was late, but still go to go to happy hour with some friends then went to bed early… it was a good time.
SATURDAY: Went to U of I for an APO sectional business to long-term planning in the morning (I had to wake-up at 6:00AM to get there on-time). I got to see a bunch of old friends that I haven’t seen for a long time. Then I went to the “U of I – Wisconsin” football game, of course, only after tailgating with some friends. I know Illinois lost, but it was still a good game. I had fun. After the game, I met up with some other friends to go to a friend’s party. It was awesome, some Bradley people stayed for the party, we danced all night long. I think I went to sleep at 3:30. The only reason is because no one else was up. It all was just a great time because I got to see a bunch of friends that I had not seen in a long time. Life is good.

NOT ANOTHER WEDDING… OK I’LL GO: “Weddings are the best!” as my brother would say it, if he liked weddings like I do. The reason why I say that is because I went to another wedding and I am the best wedding date ever. I know I might have said that before, but let me tell you why I’m a good wedding date. I’m a good date because when I’ll do whatever the other person wants to do (leave early or stay late, I won’t make any demands). Another reason I’m a good date is because when the other person [who is supposed to drive] gets wasted and loses control {or pukes}, I predict that I’ll have to drive home (and stay or get sober). The other reasons are standard to my personality: I won’t make a fool of myself, I’ll go with the flow, I enjoy dancing, and I’ll just have a good time if the other person is. I often find myself dancing/playing with the kids.

THE TIME OF OUR LIVES: Travis… sorry you couldn’t stay! We had a blast at your wedding reception. The DJ at first wasn’t the best, but we [my band Mustang Suspension] had a reunion concert after you left, things just got wild and crazy after that. The DJ said we wanted our autographs on the hood of his truck. Your uncle was just one of the highlights of the night. He gave us a broken rendition of Chuck Berry’s “My ding-a-ling” while wearing a hat that said “World’s Biggest Redneck”. Some other highlights of the night were Travis’ parents singing Jimmy Buffet’s “Let’s get drunk and screw”; someone’s grandma smacking my butt during the YMCA on the dance floor; and just being around all my old friends. It was a great time. Amazing enough, I do have to say that I felt like I was back in college wearing the tall black Jamiroquai hat and was the life of the party. I have forgotten to kick-back and enjoy life more. I’ll be doing that more.

PREPARING FOR THE WORST: The date is finally here, I’m moving in tomorrow!! Monday, September 15, 2003, I’ll being moving into my condo. I have walked through it 2 times now and everything will be perfect before I move-in. This has not been the easiest event to get completed. Excitedly waiting to be moved in… it’s a crazy feeling. Its different then moving back into the dorms from a summer break. It’s better!!! This is the reason why I’ve been slacking on this journal here. Don’t worry, it’ll be updated soon enough. I'll be writing more in here later today. I have to get back to packing... break's over!
ITS GREAT BEING A KID: But First!!! Its APO Rush time, and this semester the Rush Coordinator took everyone to this place called “IN-PLAY” it’s a local big-kid’s “Chucky-Cheese”. It has lots of video and other games. Lots of fun! I only spent 5 dollars there all night too. I was very surprised that I could play for such a little amount. I just remember going to Chucky-Cheese and spending a ton of money and tokens. In-Play uses a credit card instead of tokens which is a little different. You always get screwed too, there is always points left over that you can’t use or get money back. It’s a scam. I love it there!!!

PACKING SUCKS: So I’m just now packing to move into the condo. Why are you just now packing when I was supposed to move into the condo yesterday??? Good question! Let me tell you, its because I’m working with incompetent people. No, its not the loan officer’s fault this time, no its not the realtor’s fault, it’s the builder’s fault. Oh, you think I’m being unfair and unkind? Read the reason why. They needed to push back the close date because they couldn’t finish building it. So, why would you agree to a closing date of August 29th if you can’t be completed by September 5th? Well, this contractor did, to get me hooked. So now that understand that he didn’t forecast correctly the completion date of the condo, the new (and final) date for the move to occur will be on September 15th. Why do I get to say this is the final one? Now I have a contract in-place that will make the contractor pay 100 dollars a day until completion. It says unless I get to close on September 15th, everyday after that I will be paid $100 until completion. I have been checking on the progress of the construction, its 90% complete, but the first rule to project management is to NEVER ask for percentages for updates. I did make a list of things that are not complete, (yeah, so there’s hundreds of things on it) but I get to ask him updates and all that needs to be added to the list. This will make sure that he will get it all done or at least give me a real indication of what’s left to be completed.

WHO’S GOT WORMS? So lately, there has been a ton of worms and other viruses that have been plaguing Corporate and Residential America. Why would you care? You probably don’t (I won’t lie), but it has really been making things at work suck, terribly. I’m just disappointed that there isn’t more we can do to prevent the problems. I’m really just mad because I want to complete and implement my webpage (which will include and enhance this journal). I haven’t done it because I don’t want to make my computer vulnerable to the viruses that are being sent around. Anyway, keep this bookmarked it will still work later.

BEATING THE DEAD HORSE: I can't believe the process for buying a house (or condo in my case) is this annoying / frustrating / non-constructive / self-detrimental and people still follow-through with it. The latest developments are that (to no one's surprise) the condo is no where close to completion, and loan officer problems. Incompletion is not that big of surprise to me, since I have been checking on the status for the past couple weeks, but the loan officer problems are another matter. Remember from previous posts to this blogger, how I had not talked to my loan officer for a while? I decided to pull a "trump card", and tell my realtor that I will not close because I do not know what is going on with my loan. She called the President of the bank and I had a call from the loan guy before lunch. That was not really "great news". For when he called me, he decided to disclose to me that he screwed up and did NOT lock me into the interest rate that we had been discussing, previous to his non-communicative state. At this time, I was about to drop the whole thing, and I called the realtor back to tell her this. She was even more perturbed then I was. After talking to the President of the Bank again, she called me back to say that they will work something out with us. So the rate that they are graciously giving me (5.875%) is not what I locked in at (5.5%). I, unfortunately, am backed into a corner now. I can screw them out of the money that they would make from me, or I can take this rate (because I can't get anything better). Is that not a screwy deal? Besides this mess, I have closed my apartment lease, schedule the switch of my utilities, and asked for friends to help move for the closing date. I think the splitting headaches have stopped (or I'm just used to them now), only because I have followed through with changing the date on everything. Working with these people, it's just killing me. I think that I'll be lucky if I see the age of 25 (that's this November if you didn't know that).

THE GOLDEN AGE: So speaking of being 25 this November, which is on November 25 th. It's my "Golden Birthday"! What the hell does that mean anyway?!?! So I get to celebrate my birthday for a different reason? Sounds like enough of a reason for me. I'll let you know what I end-up planning.

A MOMENT OF CLARITY: This is something that I think really hits home:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough friends to help you through the rough times. I wish you enough 'Hellos' to get you through the final 'Good-bye'.

I wish you "ENOUGH"! They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire lifetime to forget them. I hope you have enough people to truly understand what the above mean. I wish you enough.... I wish you enough.

LOOK WHAT I CAN DO: (Though sometimes it doesn't work... it wants me to upgrade but I'm not going to. I'll just have to find a different way to do it) ;-p



Isn't that cool? I know how to add pictures in here now. By the way this is a picture that my cousin, Jeremy, took of Glenda and I. She is one of the coolest chicks, I know. I miss hanging-out with her. Since I moved away, I don't get to see her very much.

THE NEW PLACE: With my superior intellect, I have decided to move out of the wonderful apartment that I have inhabited since moving out from under my parents wing. Yes, I know, its not really a big thing, but I AM moving into my OWN place. I bought a condo. A condo is the best way for me to go. I don’t have to worry about keeping the yard cleaned-up or anything. The whole thing is getting into it. Its being built to my specs and trying to get things done correctly, the way I want them, as well as trying to get the mortgage, utilities, and volunteer movers…. Its killing me. My mortgage broker has not called me for 3 weeks, I’m closing in a week, and I don’t know what he needs to get his part done! I also checked on the progress of the construction last Sunday, and there is holes in the walls (where they are not supposed to be)! I am just starting to work with the utilities, I can’t wait see what is going to happen with that. Sometimes, it amazes me how some of these companies stay in business, most of the time it’s because of a lack of options.

PAYING THE BILLS: So when do you realize that you like your job, but it sucks at the same time? That’s just human nature; we have to have the opportunity to complain about something. At least it makes these blog things fun. I'll write more about what I'm doing later. Its kinda boring and I have better things to write.

SO ANYWAY, I WOKE-UP THIS MORNING WITH A…: I just had a few miscellaneous things to say and I didn’t know how to title it. Played poker tonight with the boys for the first time in 3 months and I didn’t do to bad. I think a couple more weeks like that and I’ll be able to pay off my condo (just kid’n). My boss talked to me the other day, he was asking when I was going to start Grad-school. I’ll be starting next Spring or Fall (depends which school I apply, UofI Springfield or Bradley). UofI Springfield has classes every other weekend on Friday and Saturday nights for 2 years, then you have your degree. Bradley is like every other grad-school (except more expensive). Good news! I found out that girl’s name from last weekend, it’s Jami. I guess she was talking to her friend about me, to find out more information, he decided to tease me about it (which tipped me off of what her name was). I guess she’s a lawyer and I promised my friend that would not make her lose points. Checked out my condo again today, the tile is down in the bathrooms (looks great!!!). I can’t wait for New Year’s, I’m hosting so mark your calendar’s and come up (or down) to Peoria! I know it will be a great time! Another plus, my parking lot is shoveled automatically (really I pay for it but its not much). The condo is awesome, if you want to see it just let me know when you’ll be here, I’ll schedule you in! ;-)

EVERYONE IS DOING IT: So this is something that I see other people doing. I have noticed that it works out really well. Unfortunately, this is a lot easier to setup then my website, which requires me to backup everything on my computer and rebuild my PC. Finding time to, number one, stay awake; and, number two, actually doing it; has been difficult. I'm getting close though. Just need one major part of the solution. Where to publicly host the redirect page. Where can I send people to get directed to my PC? I have some thoughts, just not talked to the right people yet. IF you know of a FREE FTP web hosting site, I'll just looking to host ONE redirect page. Let me know if you have any ideas.

TO THE GOOD STUFF: So I have been traveling all summer to visit friends, and go to different and various things. When do I get to say.... "I'm plain tucker'd". I tried to watch a movie with a friend last night (Borne Identity), I couldn't stay awake. Both movies... I just kept nodding off. It’s a good movie. Don’t get me wrong, (and for those who haven’t see it, its an action/drama movie) there’s plenty of shoot-outs that I should have stayed awake, but I just couldn’t.

DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR: So I had a bad experience on Friday night. Getting old sucks; that’s the only way that I can start this story. It involves security, a baseball game, Caterpillar Security, and, yes, my car. It all started on a steamy hot Friday afternoon. My sister was coming to visit but she was running late. We were scheduled to attend the local (Single A) Chief’s baseball game downtown Peoria. I decided to drop-in on some friends and have a drink during the monthly Staff meeting (happy hour) at Roxy’s with the “Accounting” group I socialize with. After eating some greasy (but delicious) hot wings (actually chicken wings with Tabasco splashed on them) and two beers later, I went home to change and go to the game. You have to have a beer or two at the game (which I had) and a hotdog or two (which I didn’t have). We decided to go back to Roxy’s after the game to continue the fun we were having so far that night. Somewhere in there my sister leaves and I end-up dancing on the dance floor all night with some girl (didn’t ever get her name). I got disinterested and just wanted to go home early that night (2am or so). Remembering that I was at the baseball game earlier, and not understanding why I didn’t ask for that girl’s number (let alone her name) and just started walking towards the stadium (10 blocks away) to go home since I wasn’t drunk and was extremely tired. I had to walk around the CAT building because the gates were closed to get in the fence to the lot where I parked. That’s when I noticed… the lot was COMPLETELY EMPTY! Yes, my car was not there. Flipping out, I thought my car was towed. The only other time that happened I was being nice so a some friend’s of a ungrateful person (who ended up being mad at me for the whole thing, when this was really her fault) could get a ride instead of walking in the cold. So I swore that it was towed, I stand and think, “Did I walk to the bar? Did I drive or did I get a ride with my sister? Where did I park? There wouldn’t have been any spots to park at the bar, if I did. I had to have gotten a ride!” For whatever reason, I couldn’t remember and kept confusing myself with thoughts from earlier that day when I was there for happy hour. Eventually deciding that I drove to the bar after remembering that it was tough finding a parking spot, I started to walk back to the bar. Ten blocks and 3 bums later, I get back to Roxy’s, I quickly looked for my car. Not finding it, I really convinced myself that I left it in the CAT parking lot by the stadium. So back to the Stadium (and another 10 blocks later). Using the intercom at the gate, I called CAT Security to demand that I was a CAT employee and I couldn’t believe they towed my car. They sent out someone to help me find out where my car went because they didn’t have anything towed that night. The guard came out and escorted me to the office. He suggested that we get the video tape out to review it. Agreeing that it was a good idea, I started thinking more. After Security agreed to bring the tape to me, I decided that I will go back and look for my car at Roxy’s one more time. By this time its 3:45 or so and most people will be gone from the lot. The guard gave me the number for the office (I was supposed to call in-case I found it) and I was on my way, walking those 10 blocks that I got to know so well that night. Sure enough, when I got back to Roxy’s, one of 4 cars there was mine. I couldn’t believe it, I must be getting old.