what and where is that huge vacuum sound coming from, I ask myself, before remembering it's the farmer who owns these fields that surround the trailer park, out harvesting his crops during the night time. the pooperdog and I discovered this during past years walks in the fall. he's got a giant rack of lights atop his combine. don't farmers ever sleep?

Sunday, watch the Lions squish da Bears, played a round of 9 with Mark (work bud) and smoked him at his own game. then huge power-nap to try and quell this cold, speaking of which, that stinger of a throat I had a day, or two ago (see last entry), has blossomed into huge cold, producing plenty o' snottage. I took today off from work using one of 4 sick days left for the year. here's hopin' tonight's rest will help bring an end to this crap *fingers crossed*

what else? slept most of today away, once again, trying to snub this crappy cold.

wake up this morning with a stinger of a sore throat. I gargle with some boiling salt water to take away that sand burr feel...ok, so the water wasn't boiling, but it adds some color to an other wise dull story.

Brian (room mate/waffle aficionado) does it again, he plays in 2 softball games Thursday night and is in the doctors office Friday morning for shots in his knees...will the guy ever slow down? prob'ly not. in all fairness, he prob'ly asks the same thing about my beer drinking .

we're told pretty late in the week that we have to work Saturday (what else is new?), and whilst talking to the little bunny girl (who is what? cute like a little bunny! and working overtime on 2rd), she asks if our shift has to work Sunday too? what?! I haven't heard, but maybe. she then says 3th shift does. fock! maybe I don't even have a 0ne day weekend (?!?!). I guess I'll find out today. that would bite hard! I look forward to the driving range and feetball. now, maybe not. we'll cross that bridge when sun goes down [mixed metaphor]

a couple more hours of sleep, then Brian wants to hit the driving range before I go to work. sounds like a plan! he starts a golf tourney tomorrow, followed by more shots with long needles to the knees. I just sit back and shake my head at it all, while pounding another beer

I didn't catch the Kid's latest facebook message 'til today. he wanted to know my address so he could send me some cabbage for that race red Fusion I (we) just bought. I didn't mean to ignore ya, I've been pooperdoggin' it lately. the coupon book is as good as in the mail today...

I'm still waitin' on that work pants order to come in. meanwhile, I bought some anti-chafe style underwear (also for work) that are the bomb. never in my life would I have purchased a couple pair of underwear for over $30 (a piece), but after reading the reviews, of which I now totally get, they are the best at protecting parts from that god awful chafe one gets. money well spent! and if you're wondering the brand name? Saxx (heheh! shyeah!...ok, I just lost both of my readers. COME BACK!).

we find out today if we get a whole weekend or not *crosses fingers*. we also have a plant meeting an hour before work. it's not a mandatory meeting, but an easy overtime hour, so why not? sit and drink their free coffee while listening to them blather on about stuff and junk.

"If I hit it right it's a slice, if I hit it left it's a hook, and if I hit it straight it's a MIRACLE!" -unknown

...just one of 16 pages of 'golf quotes' I printed off, to bring to work. something to read during breaks, just for fun. I was looking for a particular quote from Ray Ramano. it may be within these pages. [paraphrased] "golf is like a puppy, you nurture it, it grows, you love it, then ultimately it leads to something tragic"

I was asked yesterday (at der stalager) if I wanna be line support on 2nd shift (that's one above 'route runner' and one below 'supervisor'). it looks like a total pain in the ass. it'll mean working longer hours, and dealing with bigger problems. I'd say yes in a heart beat if the place was managed (at all), but will prob'ly decline. I either need to be content at being a route runner (production handler), or find a job where peeps are accountable...I stop off at my favorite beer store after work yesterday. the girl behind the counter recognized my welding sleeves and correctly identified where I work. she then goes on to telling me her boyfriends story about the place. it's as tragic and familiar as all the other stories I've heard about it. does anyone have good stories about the place. I haven't heard any. I really need to look for a better place to work (I know. I've said it a hundred times...).

currently eating oatmeal, typing in me bland blahg, doing some laundry, and about to get ready for work.

my one day weekend was chalked with mucho driving range (once at around noon and again around 6), football (go Lions!), beerses, power-naps and netflix. it was a most relaxing day! I spend the first driving range stint with Brian (room mate/ukelele historian). at first I do fine, but the more he tries to coach me, I get progressively worse. it was still a good time, I just enjoyed it all better, when I went by myself the second time (because Mark -work bud- said it was too cold to go with. come on! 65 degrees is TOO COLD?! amazing.) ...I was able to incorporate some of the things he taught me. looser grip, keeping a straighter club face, slower back swing, etc.. it's a fascinating game! I hope to keep practicing thru-out the winter months and be Tiger by spring [plan! *fart*]

8 hour work day...nothing to write about, other than it was most uneventful. here's hopin' we don't work this weekend, but again, we won't know until prob'ly Friday.

a couple o' beers after work, some late night TV, some late late night TV, then off to write this fascinating piece of nothing. sleep is on it's way. g'nite then.

one day weekend...last night, I had me a 4 pack of 'raspberry Mabaeus (sp?)' beer (Founder's brew, Grand Rabbits) and watched a silly ass movie with David Cross in it (aren't most David Cross movies pretty good? I think so). I already forget the name of the flick, but it was about petty squabblings at a couples dinner during a nuclear disaster. it was an excellent movie (dammit! what's it called...?!)

ordered another set of 4 (2 olive drab and 2 midnight navy) army pants from uscav.com. every year or so (for years now), I replace the old with a set of new, when the old set show signs of wear and tear. I've used them forever at work, being the most comfortable pants around. *yawn*

I sure do miss the pooperdog walks. I torture myself a lot looking at Allegan county's humane society page for another barefoot walking friend, but decide that Squab' is liking more attention lately (he used to be sort of hands off, but is warming up to being the center of attention). maybe I'll get serious about another dog next spring...

why do I crave oatmeal? ...why not

it's not a biggey working Saturday's, but you know half the reason why is because we have sand baggers on our line who intentionally slow it all down (we're only as fast as the slowest guy), so they can drag us all into overtime...and the line itself is completely junking out. Maintenance seems to bandaid everything adding more headaches to the operators. it's nothing new. problems add up, and almost nothing gets solved. it's always been a train wreck. what's worse is we used to get hollered at for machine downtime (that we didn't cause), now it's just the norm. the place has been poorly managed from the start, but I can't complain about the hours anymore

ok, I've told you about my re-acquaintance with late night TV, specifically Conan O'brien? I forgot how completely hilarious 'the late late show with Craig Ferguson' was. it's now my new favorite! also 'Comedy Bang Bang' episodes ,and 'Peep Show' (via Netflix) are the common watch whilst staying up late unt consuming a brewsky (or 3).

Brian (room mate/cheese slayer) wants to hit the driving range tomorrow afternoon. also, Mark (work bud, soon to be 3th shifter) wants to golf the front nine here at the golf course down the street. sounds like an excellent day chalked with golfage . here's hopin' the weather stays agreeable.

gotta get ready to make some overtime bucks...

alright, let's start out with an apology to the Kid...sorry dude! I sounded kinda two faced within different textual media. I prob'ly sounded like it's all good that you can get me back whenever you want, on my phone texts, then here (see last entry), I make it sound a bit more urgent, making you feel bad over something you had little control over. then to top it off, I give you another 'no worries' text when you tell me you'll clear up the problem right away. all you have to do is even the three out and you'll get a better message. sort of; 2/3rds I got ya covered, and 1/3nd AAAAAAGH! again, sorry! tomorrows my payday, and things are back to normal...

wow! the landscape at work is changing quickly! it looks like Mark (work bud from 2th shift) is moving onto 3st, making me the next in line for route runner (production handler) on 2rd, full time. also, a couple 3 other peeps on 3nd are jumping into new positions, and our 2rd shift line support wants to fall back onto 1rd shift. it's all a big swirling shark-nado. anyway. sleep!

checking my mailbox the other day, I get a thick envelope from a bank in Tennessee..."what the hell is this?". I open it up and it's a car payment coupon book. WHAT?! then it dawns on me, I guess I'm the proud owner of a 2010 Ford Fusion. I assumed the dealership that the Kid works at would have set it up so he gets the book, etc. what else am I assuming, that will or won't take place, that'll bite me in the ass later. damn, I didn't sign up for this. oh well, I let the Kid know. I'm sure he'll send money soon (right? right!). meanwhile, I set up an auto bill pay within my online banking and I now have about $3 to live on for the next week [nominated for 'guilt trip sentence of the year' award ]. I knew I'd feel the pangs of co-signing, but didn't figure it would be right off the bat. some advice to the Kid...you mentioned you'd like to make double payments to pay the thing off earlier. my suggestion is you make single payments until you get good and adjusted to your new budget. it may take as long as a good year (or longer) to feel comfortable making multiple payments. unless you're makin' some big bucks, a double car payment could mean not enough money left for food and rent. it's better to roll slow and steady than to live on the edge of financial crash and burn. anyway, we'll iron this out as we go...no worries.

t'was a good 3day weekend overall, a bit cloudy and coldish, but that's what September brings.

visited the Kid (he was in town for a funeral) by zooming over to Mr Burger (in Grand Rabbits), meeting up with him and his grand parents (moms side). grampa bought all of us breakfast, then we (the Kid and I) split from there, getting completely lost trying to find a Dairy Queen ('cause what goes best after eggs and bacon...?). we drove around downtown 'cause I guess Artprize is approaching, then went to the big mall on the north side of town. it's good to see the Kid again!

and now, I gotta get ready for work...blah!

hit the driving range yesterday morning, after a doing a number 2 at McDonald's (no, not that, I ordered a number 2 with a black coffee...and no, it didn't taste like shit ).

I hit a few second hand stores to look for another coat hook thinger (something you screw into the wall that has, say, 4 hooks, to hook winter type stuff onto), and a pull cart for my golf bag. I didn't have any luck, but it's fun shopping the local goodwill and what-not. just because.

it was a nice fall like day all day. cool, breezy, and in the 60's. I'm thinkin' it won't be long now 'til the fruit loop trees turn color...

I'm doing a quick entry during the halftime report (Lions v. Cardinals. Lions winning so far, by a touchdown). the game should be starting back up soon. gotta reload my punkin' beer and head back...

alright, I tried for a two-fer. if you take a day off before or after a weekend, you don't have to work that weekend. I take Monday off, because the Kid's in town. assuring me those three days off...turns out we didn't have to work Saturday anyway, but the other two shifts do. and if none of that makes sense, it doesn't matter 'cause I got the next three days off! [wow! what a confusing start to a bland blahg entry]

still learning this new xanga/wordpress dashboard format thinger. it's not as user friendly as the old, seems I gotta learn me some HTML in order to make emoticons, change colors, fonts, etc., and it lacks a lot of the warmth the old site had, like "footprints" (where you could see who visits your page, and when), and I don't see a way to "subscribe" to others. I can't even find a way to 'search' for others. it's definitely different. here's hopin' once I figure it all out, they don't go and change to yet another format

man, I was beat down tired by the end of last night's shift. I'm thinkin' it's because I've had me some beerses during some of those weeknights. I truly gotta slow down. even 3 beers affects my mood some 12 hours later. 2nth shift is a lot easier to be that booze hound, especially now that we're on an 8 hour shift. the good news is I'm getting reacquainted with the Conan O'brien show.

[...] Brian (room mate/ squid boy) is doing something in the kitchen that's pretty loud. it sounds like he's tearing up the carpet. I best investigate...

although I've sounded a bit smitten over the little bunny girl during the past couple entries [good gawd, she's the cutest creature in the galaxy!], I'm simply practicing flirting (...or 'creepy old guy-ing'?), in case I ever do want to think about starting to date, which, to me, sounds like an awful bother, being it requires getting dressed up, spending money I don't have, pretending to be awesome and trendy, and wondering where it'll all end, when instead, I can just be me, drink some beers, play some PS3, watch some "Breaking Bad", and enjoy being a bad golfer who likes to watch the Lions maybe have another dismal season...ROCK ON!! it's good to be a hermit! *fart*

PS; and if you're wondering, I didn't write the above paragraph because of any type of rejection (yet)...it's merely a long standing notion that I've always had, that I had to revisit and reclaim

PSS; ...also, the smiley face emoticon is the only emoticon (at this point) that I can generate, so if you read something sad, or indifferent, followed by the smiley face, you now know why

it's as if she (the little bunny girl...see entry from 9-8) wants me to fock with her new water bottle, the way she leaves it on the machine during her off hours. should I paint another 'I [heart] u'? or maybe a "made u look!" on the bottom. she came in 4 hours early, so I wasn't able to. she jumps on the assembly line (as she often does) right in front of me. that's when I told her of my plan. she quick checks the bottom, asking "did you?". "nah, I didn't expect you to be in until later, but I was gonna". each hour we all rotate to the next spot, me rotating into where she just had been, I go to put my water bottle on top of the machine, and look what I find. her bottle is still there. I quick find a paint pen, draw a fast 'I [heart] u', then bring it over to her, hoping she won't notice until I'm gone. she'll prob'ly think back and wonder when I had the time to write it? or, she'll break that bottle too, and throw it into the same landfill of despair and broken hearts . she's so cute!

sixer of Bell's Brown Ale last night, to wind down.

I buy me a 9 pack of foam rubber golf balls, so I can practice my chip shots inside the wood-panel submarine, while I watch that ever addicting golf channel on the tube. I took the time this morning to wash my golf clubs. you'd be surprised how much dirt and crap accumulates on clubs when you're last outing started with about 7 beers . GOLF is my newest addiction. I don't wanna rehab from it, just yet

gotta shower and get ready for work...

Sunday morning, hit McDonald's for a breakfast combo that I didn't even order (they get it wrong more times than not). get my haircut, pretty much just cutting the sides, leaving the top a bit longer, being it'll be cold here soon, and I don't like to wear hats, then I hit the store for some groceries and buy me a small bag of foam rubber golf balls (to practice indoors with...Squabber likes chasin' 'em around too). have a potpie for lunch, then watch the Lions beat up the Vikings, just like I said they would *snirt*

after the game, I get a text from Mark (work bud) about hitting the driving range 'round 5:30. "only if you can pick me up first, I've been drinkin' football and watchin' beer all day". he stops by, we hit the range. This is the first time I've ever hit golf balls under the influence. I'm much less uptight, and a ton more relaxed (maybe too relaxed. next time I'll have about 4 less before hand). it was fun! we're losing about 3 minutes of daylight per day, otherwise we would have hit the links.

I've been on the top end of my weight scale lately (180 lbs), so I've been cutting out the extras (soda, fries, etc), eat more oatmeal (quick oats), plus I'm incorporating a set of 10 up dogs/down dogs before and after work (for stretching sake as well). it's not much, but it's already got me to lose a good 10 lbs over the week.

anywho, shower, eat some leftover roast chicken, then hit the rack.

the 'cute like a little bunny girl' from 3th shift worked 4 hours onto our shift last night. I prob'ly mentioned her before, she's a single 30 something mom with a kindergartener, who is a smokin' hotty (I like to call her 'bunny girl' to keep it not so creepy, being an old guy, and what-not). I notice she has a different water bottle than she usually brings in, I asked her had she ever noticed the "I love you" paint penned on the bottom of her old one? that was from me...just being a dork. she said no, then went on to explain that the old one broke while reaching for it off from the machine. I added; "so it ended up in the landfill of despair and broken hearts?" (paraphrased) "...yeah"; she says back. I thought it was a cute moment. we talked about how hard it would be to get back into the dating scene. I was close to askin' her out, but then she started explaining how she wants a guy to spend lots of money on her, and when I asked her what she thought about things I liked (golf, dogs, football, etc), she'd reply "boring, no, hate it, etc." [quick summery: cutest girl on the planet who is bored of everything, and needs to be showered with money=big turn off. oh well. someone will find that attractive, somehow]. anyway, it makes the hours pass quicker when you've got a cutey to talk with...no matter how bored she may be with the conversation

one day weekend. gotta shower, shave, get me a hair cut, watch me some feetball (da Lions play da Vikings today! I say kick mini-soda's ass! *snirt!*

last night's beer of choice: Paleooza (new holland brew). I stopped by my favorite beer store on the way home and picked me up a 4 pack, then flipped channels between an NFL game and a show called "airplane repo"...cool show about, you got it, playing cards underwater (what?! no!). long story; longer: good beer!

so, Brian (room mate/ fart knocker), after proclaiming to forever retire from soft ball last year, due to his knees needing to be replaced (but says the surgeon says he's too young and active to have them replaced, so he gets cortisone shots instead), and surgery on his hands, goes and buys more bats, and a fancy monogrammed bat bag this year. joining not only his work team, but also back with his old team...I explain all this, 'cause he always comes home crippled and misses the next day of work. he's here today after last nights game, doing the laundry at way too early in the morning, waking me up. oh well. everyone needs a hobby, and I guess if it's worth all the pain, that's all the better. I like golf. it's hard on the mind, but easy on the joints, and it's a fun way to ruin a nice walk in the park. anyway. food, get ready for work, etc.

good news, not only does Squab like the tuna primavera (from the variety pack that I thought I'd have to give most of away), but he digs the chicken primavera too [shweet!].

and yesterday, I acted all that "resistance to change" kinda guy about this new website. I've found things out since, that make it a bit cooler than I thunk.

I keep thinkin' something big happened between the old and the new, but I can't put my finger on it (cue: ween). nope, it wasn't the guy asking me if I wanted it "for here or to go?" while ordering at the BK drive thru (which I'm still laughing about...oh, and if you wondered, I said "for here, please") [still looking for emoticons on the new site]. it's not about the Kid's new (used) car, I think I wrote about that. I'll get back to ya when I recall (it's on the tip of me brain. too many beerses warshed the event away).

reading up some more on the new site, it seems I prob'ly can't find my sister's and my Kid's boyfriends page because they weren't a premium member, or had their site for over 5 years (of whom had the luxury of keeping their same URL). so, I think, they're still floating around out there, I just gotta find 'em and re-attach.

anyway. I gotta find me somethin' to eat, maybe do some laundry, and get ready to go to work. damn! it's already Wednesday! I love Mondayless weeks! (watch us have to work Saturday because of it) :p

the site is back up, yet I can't access my sisters page, or my Kid's boyfriend's page...did they not make the cut, for some weird reason? maybe they don't have it all up and running just yet?

anyway, it's set up differently (as far as settings, and what-not). it may take a bit of a learning curve to understand, but I'll get there.

now, onto what happened while the site was down. mostly slacked hard, drank too much beer over the holiday weekend, washed and waxed my shrimpy batmobile, Brian grilled some brats on Monday night (labor day), hit the driving range for a spell. what else? power-napped. ummmm, that's about it.

wow! it feels good to spew verbal nothingness again. I was jonesin' a bit while the site was down.

ok, I already see a problem, that may take me some time to fix...I wrote and saved this entry at 11:22 pm, and the post recorded it as being posted at 3:22 am. oh well. minor glitches are a gimme when things get changed...

also, I don't see where I can change fonts, or the color of my words and background. small things I guess I'll accidentally figure out along the way [looking for emoticons to put after this sentence, but seeing none to be had] *fart*

[later] I figured out how to change the time stamp, but looking thru a ton of my older posts reveals that they dropped a lot of pictures that I had originally posted. dammit! I like my old Xanga better.