Stock

I’ve been noticing an interesting trend with my employee stock purchase plan over the last two years. Each time that stock is allocated, usually sometime in the middle of a given month, the stock is more or less at the same price that it’s been at for the last couple weeks (sometimes it’s a bit higher... which sucks!) But each time, without fail, the day after the stock is allocated, the stock drops in price by $0.50 - $1.00. What the hell is going on here!? Is there some kind of conspiracy to rip us off of our employee stock benefit?

Sabbatical Nearing An End

As my week long vacation comes to a close, I’d have to say it went well. I didn’t go anywhere special… didn’t do anything crazy… wasn’t even relaxing for the most part, but I still really enjoyed it. This was probably one of the best weeks I’ve had in a really long time! Just got a lot accomplished.

• Keeping my old job… not moving on. Various reasons, but nonetheless, staying put and I’m pretty content with that.
• Finally got a new remote-start / alarm for my car after I destroyed my other piece of shit one back in early July (refer back to previous post, The Series of Unfortunate Events Continues). It’s a new brand, and it works marvelously!
• Went to the optometrist after five years now to get a new contact lens prescription… as it turns out, my vision actually is about the same. I’m probably gonna get the laser surgery next year since my eye sight is now stable at nearly blind.
• Got my dryer rewired for the new apartment… to be exact my dad did the rewiring. I didn’t want to be held responsible if the place burned down while I was drying clothes. Anyway, now that it’s functional, I’m nearly all unpacked now.
• Purchased a 42” Panasonic plasma tv a couple days ago. This ensures I’ll be broke until the end of the year. It looks freaking awesome!

Overall, I’m pleased with my time-away from work. I was able to get some things accomplished that I’ve been putting off. Though there wasn’t a lot of rest time, I do feel refreshed. Sometimes certain people and circumstances make my life quite unbalanced, for good or bad… and I just need a little time to regain my focus.

Black And Gus?

This silly video is compliments of Sir Charles the Great (aka Blaque Vader... Nior Vade en francais or Negro Vaderoso en espanol.)


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Finding Abby Road

As I searched through a box full of dvd's that I've yet to put up, simply because I have nowhere to put them at the moment, I ran across something I thought I had lost several years ago… my Abby Road cd. Why is this a big deal you may wonder. It's an old album. For the most part, I don't even listen to cd's anymore, it's all about the XM now. There is something special about Abby Road to me though. I love the Beatles, this is true... and they've made countless of other albums I enjoy.

For this one though I find it astonishing, given the hostile and bitter feelings the members of the group bore for one another at the time of its recording, that this album was ever made. The fact that it is easily one of the greatest ever recorded, by them or any other group, is no less than a small miracle. Even more amazing to me is the fact of how hopeful the entire album sounds. It always has a way of lifting my spirits whenever I'm down, even when I'm feeling perfectly fine. Always guaranteed to get a smile!

Ffuts Ym, Ffuts Driew

What I enjoy most about life is its little surprises. Just when you think you have something completely figured out, you find out that you truly don’t! Sometimes it’s for the best, sometimes for the worst… at the very least, it’s always intriguing!

Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur

I’m on vacation at the moment, until Wednesday... A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, and relaxation… of which I haven’t had the opportunity to really enjoy yet do to weird situations with offers and counteroffers with various employers, amongst other issues as well.

I need a ratchet set so I can rewire my dryer… I’ve only been putting this off for about two weeks now. Other than that, all I have to say is “tortilla!” (What ever the hell that’s supposed to mean!)

Store Wars

Surfin the net, as I usually do when I'm bored out of my mind, I ran across this hysterical Star Wars spoof.


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The First Porn Video

Since I know that my fabulous friend Josh has a most extensive library of internet porn, I decided to post this short little video... this one's for you Josh!


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Joss Whedon - Firefly

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand

I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

Take me out to the black
Tell 'em I ain't comin' back

Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me

There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me

Thundercats On DVD

December 6, Thundercats: Season 1, Vol 1 & 2 is slated to be released on DVD! Exciting shit! The cartoon intro's always get me so hyped up!!! LOL!


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Panthro is definately my favorite Thundercat... he's just so cool! Nearly every Thundercats fan I've talked to regards Panthro as the token minority character. And it's basically true. As hard as it might seem to get a black stereotype into a children's cartoon about a bunch of humanoid cats with Twisted Sister hairdos, they pulled it off. Essentially, Panthro is the 'black guy' of the group. And if you've watched enough cartoons in your day, you'd know that the producers somehow firmly believe that every black guy must talk like a weathered jazz musician who knows how to fix cars, and Panthro's no exception. Also, I'm not sure if I'm right on this or not, but I always considered Panthro the oldest of the group. I'm not sure if that's due to his grand insight, calm and collected outlook on things, or simply because he's bald. Either way, even for a Thundercat, those are some pretty fucking pointy ears.

Btw, it just occured to me that it looks a lot like Mumm-Ra lives in the same pyramid that's on the back of a one dollar bill! Speaking of Mumm-Ra... the badass villain of the show seemed to have all the tools... red eyes, Adonis physique, sword, confetti hanging off his helmet... but there was one very dubious way to end his evil ways: show him his reflection. Nice, huh? Lion-O and Mumm-Ra would be about to fight their long-awaited duel, and all us kids (yes, Jennifer and Kristy watched the show too) would jump from our seats waiting for the swords to strike. Then Mumm-Ra would see his reflection in Lion-O's sword, turn into a mummy, and run off. This happened in about 80% of the episodes. Tell me something... if that's all it took, why didn't all the good guys just wear mirrorplates on their chests? Mumm-Ra's really stuck in a tough spot... let's say he was pining to attack, but all the Thundercats were off eating in a Chinese restaurant. There's no way Mumm-Ra could even think about winning the battle there... those places are covered in mirrors.

Down & Out!

This grandma goes down for count! Mental note to self: be mindful of the soccor ball's location at all given times while walking near the field during game play!


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Still Alive

The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated! So, I'm almost completely settled in to my new place. There are still some outstanding issues (i.e. dryer not working, no internet.)

On to the subject of no internet... I didn't realize how dependent I was on the internet. I do just about everything online. Essentially, I have SBC (with a freaking contract of course), but the phone lines are owned by Grande Communications. Both companies tell me that I'll be up and running in no time, but I'm still with out my dsl. If John Lennon were still around, I could see him adding internet access to and updated version of Imagine... "Imaging all the people, living life with out the world-wide web!"

Anyway, I had an appointment with Justin this morning, which means I had to be all the way back up in Round Rock. Since I was in the area, I went ahead and stopped by my mom's house to see my ferrets and wash some clothes (and get on the internet.)

Kobayashi Maru

After an evening workout at the gym, I ran over to my mom's house to replace a dead-bolt that she's been having issues with. That was absolute pain in the ass!!! The lock didn't quite fit right, the door was metal, and my mom could find her drill! After about 15 minutes of brute force, everything finally fell into place!

Anyway, before I left, my mom gave me the best news that I've heard in a really long time. My mom, Kristy, and Kimball offered to care for my ferrets so that I don't have to give them up (all I need to do is provide the financial support for them, which is completely fine by me.) I was so shocked... so truly happy! I've only really cried 3 times since my grandmother died (twice when my heart was broken, and once when my ferret Kodo died unexpectedly,) but I came pretty close tonight after hearing this joyous news! I can't describe how relieved and blessed I feel! I was so sure I was going to have to give my babies up!

Cleaning The Past

Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief, shining moment that
was known as Camelot.
I have a nice desk in my study… each time that I’ve moved, I went about moving it the lazy way. I’d seal up the drawers quite securely, and then we’d carry the heavy thing out. This time I actually decided to clean out all of the contents from each drawer. There were things in there I haven’t seen in over ten years.

I found some old pictures of my old dog, Aspen. She was my birthday present for my 11th birthday. We found her at the Cedar Park Humane Society… she was six weeks old when she came home with me. I kept the pictures of course.

Anyway, I also found an old rose that I received from someone I loved dearly many years ago… she gave it to me on the last day I saw her. She told me that I would always be in her heart, but she didn’t love me (story of my life.) Needless to say, I threw it away tonight.

I also found the knife that impaled me when I was 16 years old. I had totally forgotten that I even kept that thing. Time may heal some things, but scars do remain… this scar is still clearly visible right under my rib cage. Not sure why, but I went ahead and kept the knife tonight.

The whole time I’m cleaning out the desk, my ferrets are right there watching me with curiosity... I can’t help but wonder what I’m going to do with them. It breaks my heart to have to give them up. I’m so lost on what to do.

I Am The Walrus, But Only On TV

Ever have one of those days where you're not really sure if your actually awake, but nothing really suggests otherwise... and it hurts to breathe, but only on one side of your body (probably due to sleeping back-ass backwards on a green sofa)... and your head hurts, but only when you say certain words out loud to yourself such as "sentient" and "conversance"... and everything you eat for breakfast tastes like the hot air from a car (with black leather interior) baking in the sun on July 5, 1995... that pretty much sums up my morning.

Days like this always end up with about 5 hours of wasted dead time blocked together at some point in the middle of the day. There will of course be a short nap that induces a migraine as well. Best of all, a realization that "fuck... there was something really important I needed to do today, but now it's too late!" Who knows, even the viewing of a movie at the theater that has about a 47% chance of being humorous (even in some convoluted manner... i.e. laughing hysterically at something that in all reality shouldn't be funny, but it still is), 39% chance of being completely unoriginal, and 14% makes 100%.

Today's thought of the day is brought to you by The Facts of Life!


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Bill On Superman

Anyone who's seen both volumes of Kill Bill should agree that the first is a lot better than the second. The first flowed so much more naturally, while the second one was just plain slow. The second one did however have a wonderful part in it that I remember vividly.

Near the end of the film, David Carradine compares Uma Thurman's character (a character born to kill... trying to live a normal life) to the character of Superman.

"Superman stands alone. Superman did not become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he is Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red S is the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears, the glasses the business suit, that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

I agree with this for the most part. The only argument I would make is that Clark Kent is Superman's critque of the human race, but not in the negative way that David Carradine describes. It is true that Kent is a bumbling idiot... but he's also extremely loyal, caring, and giving. This is what he knows exists in all humans. That is Superman's true critique on the human race.

And it is true that Superman will never have a normal life. All he can do is disguise himself as a normal human and try to get by. He won't ever be normal. He'll always be different. This is something that he has accepted, but still hurts him nonetheless.

Nasty Nate Strikes Back!

I'm a huge advocate of having fun at work. Beating the hell out of three defenseless bags of ice... fun!


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I can feel your anger. I am unarmed. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!

Tired Or Sad.... Maybe Both

Today’s the last day of work, more or less, for about 10 days… and I’m drained… I think I’ve spent a grand total of 15 minutes at home this last week! Too bad I won’t really get to rest til sometime next week as I now have to begin packing and preparing to move later this week.

I need to do something about my ferrets since they can’t come with me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them yet. I do know that I’m going to miss them terribly! No matter how alone I’ve ever felt, at the very least I always had them… now I won’t even have that. :-(

Han, Old Buddy, Don't Let Me Down

Sesar pays tribute to one of the great Star Wars characters that is commonly overlooked by most fans... Lando Calrissian!

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Superman Returns Teaser Trailer!!!

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Didn't See That Coming

On very rare occasions, people’s actions surprise me. For the most part though, just about everything everyone does falls right inline with the character I perceive them to have.

I wouldn’t say that my father and I are particularly close by any means. Sporadically, we’ll go out to dinner or see a movie, but that’s about it. We don’t talk about anything except for politics (which I don’t really care to talk about anymore.) I’ve always felt a little left out in my family… Jennifer was always my dad’s favorite kid, and Kristy was my Mom’s. Now they’ll both swear that they don’t have favorites, but we all know better!

Nonetheless, that being said, I still feel that I know my father pretty well… hell, I’ve known him my entire life! He’s very smart, hard working, and open-minded… but he’s also often quite cheap, completely indecisive, and very reluctant to help others.

Anyway, over this last weekend, he went to Beaumont, TX (near Louisiana) to help out with the hurricane victims! I’m still shocked! I have no idea what possessed him to do such a thing… it’s just so out of character! He just went on his own accord… on his spare time over the weekend… even took a day off of work to help out.

Whatever the reason, I’m so very proud of him for doing it! Most of all, I’m proud to be his son!