the grinch has struck ...

I have zero Christmas spirit this year.

None.

A week till Dec. 25 and I have bought one present.

I haven't written or addressed any Christmas cards.

I'm seriously considering doing most of my shopping at the gas station convenience store, which has a rack filled with various gift cards.

I have hung no decorations or lights.

My miniature, fiber-optic lighted Christmas tree is in a box somewhere.

I haven't been this apathetic about the holiday since the diaspora of high school.

Christmas carols and songs aren't doing anything for me.

I haven't been to a mall or big store in weeks and weeks, so decorations and sales have done nothing for me.

Brightly lit homes with yard ornaments do nothing.

It's that not I'm all Scrooge-bah-humbug or anything like that.

I'm just not feeling it this year.

Not at all; not in the slightest.

Not even "Love Actually" has managed to stir any yuletide cheer.

Nor has the Christmas theme running through WOW at the moment.

*Sigh*

---

it's been a while ...

... not much, how 'bout you?

so I've been very much busy with the job. lotta long days. lotta long hours.

lotta lost World of Warcraft time *sigh*

but I've been getting by.

last week was double nice ... it was a payday and we got our Christmas bonuses, and on Saturday had our annual Christmas party, which was extremely fun, thanks in no small part to ... ME!

I've been emcee the past 5-6 years and do such a magical job that I can't ever get out of it, as long as I work for the newspaper. oh well ... I was compensated with lunch for two at my fave Japanese restaurant -- teppanyaki AND sushi AND sashimi and more ...

this was me after coming home ... a little wrinkled, but still pretty snazzy in red, if I do say so myself.

---

a recent pic ...

I'm not looking thinner ...
but definitely less fat ... heh

---

urg ...

... conference call in about 6-1/2 hours ... "lucky" for me, corporate is holding this one "late" for them ... could be at 3 a.m. ... again.

peace, peeps.

---

stolen meme ...

Mad props to Natalia, who also stole it.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Nobody made me laugh last night.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Struggling to get out of bed and awake. The hours of the new job suck.

3. What happened to you in 2006?
Won the Nobel Prize. Ate 4,000 cookies. Wrote a best-selling fiction novel under a nom de plume. Bagged an elephant in an illegal safari.

4. How many beverages did you have today?
3 — 49 fluid ounce King Car Lemon Teas
4 — A&W Root Beers (can)
1 — Coke (can)
1 — Americano

5. What color is your hairbrush?
I don’t remember the last time I owned a hairbrush.

6. Where were you last night?
At work, then at home playing World of Warcraft.

7.What color is your front door?
An ugly brown.

8. Where do you keep your change?
Quarters near my desk and in a money bag in the truck for laundry; other coins in a big Nebraska plastic bottle piggy bank.

9. What's the weather like today?
Rained, then hot. Repeat 8 fucking times.

10. What's the best ice cream flavor?
The chocolatey “bread” of an ice cream sammich.

11. What excites you?
Tier-4 epic drops, strippers, talking dirty on the phone, a woman who has an extensive vocabulary and makes frequent use of her lexicon of multisyllabic verbiage.

12. Do you want to cut your hair?
Shave it every week baby.

13. Are you over the age of 25?
Too far over.

14. Do you talk a lot?
Yakkity yak.

15. Do you watch the OC?
Sif.

16. Do you make up your own words?
Zyzmargentsia!

17. Are you a jealous person?
Yep. Actually, more of a whiny, envious person.

18. Name a friend whose name starts with an "A."
Asshole. Applies to a number of friends.

19. Name a friend whose name starts with a "K."
Kermit the Frog ... we go way back.

20. Who's the first person on your received call list?
Poker buddy.

21. What does the last text message you received say?
“Who is this?”

22. Do you chew on a straw?
Aren’t you suposse to drink with them?

23. Where's the next place you are going?
The bathroom to take a shit, most likely. Existentially? Hell, I’m sure.

24. Who's the rudest person in your life?
Probably me. Oh wait; that’s “crude.”

25. What was the last thing you ate?
Bacon-ranch toasted chicken sammich from Subway. I am the next Jared.

26. Will you get married in the future?
How much are mail-order brides again?

27. What's the best movie you've seen in the last 2 weeks?
1408 on DVD.

28. When was the last time you did dishes?
A couple of them last night … just enough to eat a meal.

29. Are you currently depressed?
When am I not?

30. Did you cry today?
No, I had something in my eye.

31. What was the last thing you said aloud?
“Fucking idiot.” It was mumbled.

32. What car do you drive and what bumpersticker(s) do you have on it?
I drive a truck. It has no bumperstickers.

33. Why did you answer this and post it?
In the immortal words of Richard Gere in “An Officer and a Gentleman” … “I got nowhere else to go!”

---

what's new ...

• started the new job last week ... at same company but now am in charge of local news section and No. 2 editor at the paper. still getting used to flow and not used to schedule, which often is 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. or so. lot more hours of work and lot less sleep, and less WOW. hopefully payday next friday will ameliorate the circumstances.

• one of my favorite uncles died last week (husband of my dad's oldest sister), Uncle Pete. He was a great guy and an important part of my early life, as we practically lived at his house, being there every weekend for church/CCD and any fiestas/parties. He had a lot of health problems late in life but always persevered and soldiered on.

I remember him working on the Navy base, bringing home toys that were thrown out that he'd fix for us. Still have a Navy china mug he had made for all of us kids when we were young, with our names on them. He also used to bring home C-rations, which we loved to eat, especially if you got lucky and got chocolate as the snack.

A lot of Air Force veterans will miss him too. He was one of the lead guys in Mongmong's sister village program with the Air Force. In the old days, for the air base's open house, he'd help build the hut and barbecue. He brought all the young, single guys who were far away from their homes to his house for parties, fiestas, holidays, etc., making sure they were welcome and feeding them some of the best Chamorro food on the planet.

I also remember he helped put the village cross together for the Good Friday trek up Mount Lamlam.

He was funny and sweet and just a great uncle ... and a good man.

Godspeed, Uncle Pete. You will be missed.

---

happy dzerween ...

spooky pics from the California wildfires ...

heh ...

---

The long-overdue update

OK kiddos … I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated you with anything that’s been going on in my life, so here ya go!

Old Friends
A guy that used to work with us at the newspaper came back to Guam to visit his parents a little while ago. Me and R and S hadn’t seen him for years and years, and we used to hang out all the time when he was living here. So me and S took him and his brother out for a day of golf at one of Guam’s nicer golf courses.


Later in the week, R and S and I took him to dinner at one of the better sushi restaurants here, Rotary Sushi (and barbecue). The food was awesome, and I only like certain kinds of sushi. We sat at a table in the barbecue side, where we cooked up our own food on a grill plate in the middle of the table, and ordered a bunch of sushi to go along with it. The four of us managed to keep the bill under $200, which was amazing … guess we weren’t super hungry. LOL


Poker and Money
I was on good roll at the poker table the last few weeks, with four big wins. I suffered a minor setback last Friday, but basically over the last month I’m up a LOT. Let me put it this way — I haven’t had to use my checkbook or checking debit card for weeks. Heh.

And lucky I have been on this roll, as it allowed me to help out a friend who was in a bit of a bind. It always makes me feel good when I can do that for a good friend, especially these days when I’m not putting myself into a deep financial hole by doing so — back before my bankruptcy, I relied way to much on my many credit cards, overextending myself on profligate gifts, self-indulgence and the friend assistance … which led to me having to go the bankruptcy route.

Since then, I’ve been Mr. Financial Smartness. I have no credit or charge cards .. well I think I have a never-used Spiegel account, but it doesn’t count because I don’t use it and never have. I maintain a healthy balance in my checking account, pay my bills on time, make monthly deposits into a savings account that has mostly been left untouched and has enough to be useful in case of some kind of emergency, or for part of a down payment on a new vehicle, perhaps later this year (leaning toward a Scion Xb).

Last 10 days it hasn't gone so well on the poker tables ... lost some, but not more than I won previously. Hoping my luck will improve this week. :)

Women and Sex
Who woulda thought you could get some from someone you meet playing an online video game? Heh. No, not in-person, unfortunately, but it’ll do. ;)

The Work Life
So I’ve been training some new folks for my copy desk, including someone who eventually will take over my position, so I can move up to a higher position in the company. It’s gonna be a big challenge, but I think I can do some good for the company and also further my experience in the newsroom and as a manager. Oh yeah, it also means a bit of a pay upgrade, which is part of the reason I’m thinking of getting a new vehicle.

Still a lot of transition work and training of other people in the company to step up into new positions, so I won’t officially take the new job for several weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

The Godsons
Had a fun Sunday afternoon the other week with the godsons. We went to lunch, together with their parents and the new baby, at a place I hadn’t been to in a while. After that, we went to a new putt-putt kinda place that opened recently. Me, S and the boys played while R sat with the baby.

It was a lot better than I expected, though a far cry from the nice miniature golf courses I’ve been to stateside in the past. Still, much better than I thought it would be.

The kids had a lot of fun, as did me and S … especially me, since I beat him! LOL

I scored one hole-in-one, and on the next to last hole, both boys got an ace as well. They were super happy for that and S was feeling left out, but he hit the hole in the skeeball-type finishing hole and thus won a free round.

We’re sure to hit that place on a regular basis, as it really was a great time for everyone involved.

OK … that’s pretty much it. I’ll try to get back to posting on a semi-regular basis.

---

stolen meme ...

Taken from the ever-great kathi ... the middle-name meme. The rule is to describe yourself with each letter of your middle name.

Here goes:

M: Massive -- yep, I'm huge.

I: Intelligent -- smarter than your average smart cookie.

G: Giving -- says it all.

U: Ugly -- hit all the branches on the fall off the ugly tree.

E: Expressive -- in some ways ... writing, drawing.

L: Lazy -- evidenced by this stolen meme.


... oh, you didn't know my middle name was Miguel? For shame!

---

mutha fooker!!!

The main reason I haven't posted in a long times is that my DSL modem connection has been pretty much absent since Friday. It was on-and-off most of the weekend, but since Sunday night the longest I've been on in one sitting has been about 12 minutes.

Multiple calls to the ISP have resulted in no improvement thus far. I'm hoping to go home tonight (I'm posting from work) and have a stable connection. I haven't played WOW for shit the past 4 days, and it's pissing me off mightily.

If nothing else, the company is going to do one more check/test tomorrow (they couldn't get around to it today).

I even have a relatively lengthy post, with accompanying photos, ready to go ... but they are in digital documents on my desktop at home.

Fucking bleah.

---

summary of past week ...

... had a cold that's still lingering.

... 2 new employees started, in the process of training them.

... had another huge win at poker.

... thinking about a new car later this year.

... had 2 flat tires over 4-day span.

... taking the promotion.

... lots of WOW.

---

the vacation ...

... was nice while it lasted; could use another ... I dunno ... 500 days of it.

did a lot of nothing. played a bunch of WOW.

played some poker. Had a big win night. How big? Well, let's just say 4 digits.

got some household stuff done.

bought a few new shirts and jeans with some of the winnings.

hid away from the world, pretty much, which I've become much better at over the years.

Vacation Stats

• Number of hot dates: Zero

• Number of romantic liaisons: Zero

• Number of women hit on: Zero

• Number of flirtations with women online: A few

• Number that went anywhere, or will go anywhere: Zero

• Number of contacts with non-work people: Four, though two with same person and both brief.

• Number of videos watched: 10 or so.

• Best of the bunch: Re-viewing of "Love Actually."

• Amount of cash left from poker winnings: Tidy sum

• Number of people who give a shit: To be determined

---

I wanna be a cowboy, baby ...

... hat courtesy of my little bro, Missouri Savage

---

vacation ... sort of ...

I'm off for this whole entire week ... unless something happens and I need to come in. LOL

In order to make this happen, I got a to do pretty much a large part of my section done ahead of time, which meant Sunday, because I procrastinate.

I pretty much have to do this now, because week after next my new assistant editor starts, a copy editor leaves, and a freelancer starts to take over that position. Then, in a month or so, I lose another one for a bit, as she will deliver her baby then.

So today (Monday), I get a call that one copy editor had to drive another one to the hospital ER around 3 p.m. The driver came back and the other is OK, but I was on red alert for a while. Then, early evening, my toilet water regulator thing pretty much gave out and it took a while for the plumber to get here. The shutoff valve on the toilet didn't work, and my water meter was locked, so basically I got a flooded bathroom. Luckily, the fix was relatively easy once the plumber got here, and I can deduct the $145 fee (night service extra) from my rent.

Boy ... I can't WAIT for Tuesday!

---

Friday through Sunday ...

Friday
• Woke up at 5:45 a.m. and realized I had to have the edit for the next day to the boss by 6:30 a.m. because I didn't do it the night before as I planned, as I went to sleep early and forgot. Got that done and ended up just staying awake, playing a little WOW and tweaking my presentation for later.

• The presentation went pretty well. "Sold" my idea in the form of a political speech. Bosses decided they would implement my proposal, so that's good. Below is my "costume." Heh.


• A good friend of mine, also of R&S, is back on island for a bit, so we had dinner at R&S's house and then played low-ante poker (25-cent chips), just like we did in the old days. It was a good night -- good food, good companionship and conversation.

Saturday
• Slept in a bit, played a little WOW, went into the office for a while, took a nap, played some more WOW.

Sunday
• Went to play golf at a very nice course, Onward Talofofo Golf Resort, with the old friend and S. Got pretty toasty in the sun ... it was a very hot day! All of us pretty much played like shit, but it was a good time with good friends.

• Came home, played WOW for a little bit, and now I'm typing this. Trying to decide on going out for some food or taking a bit of a nap.

Decisions, decisions ...

---

the long tuesday ...

Ever have one of those super-busy days, where you have all this extra stuff you have to jam in with you regular day? That was my Tuesday.

On top of my normal job, which includes conceiving and writing an editorial, editing national and local columns and letters, then putting it all on a page with other elements, as well as managing a staff of copy editors (not to mention the routine things like checking, replying to and verifying e-mail, dealing with phone calls, etc., I got to:

• Write a story for another section.

• Go to a long lunchtime meeting for a big offsite project, including updating my presentation and doing a dry run of the presentation.

• Assign the wire section and lay out the main wire page, as one of my staffers is on vacation.

• Had to go to another meeting later.

• And a buncha other stuff.

To top it all off, the WOW server will be down all the rest of the night and into the early morning ... *sigh*

---

common courtesy ...

If someone does something for you, especially if it's at your request/behest, say, "Thank you." Say, "I appreciate it." Say, "Thank you; I appreciate it."

If you accuse/imply someone of doing something wrong or bad, and then come to find out/realize/see that you were wrong in your judgment, the proper response is to apologize. "I'm sorry I accused you of doing XXXX, or implying you did XXXX. I was wrong and I apologize to you. Please forgive me." Also, "I'm sorry for judging you based on (whatever) and that I didn't talk to you first to hear your side of things. That was wrong of me."

Thanks. I appreciate it.

---

the long-awaited update ... (as if)

... sick a bit.

... toe infected a bit.

... played WOW a bit ... OK, a lot.

... work is stressin' me something fierce.

... my mom turns very old Aug. 8.

... my present to her? what every mom wants ... cash ;)

... wrote some stuff.

... nothing worth reading here.

... paid some bills.

... won at poker twice last week, only lost once.

... looking forward to the game tomorrow night.

... posting while WOW server is on rolling restart. heh.

... rented 2 DVD's ... "Premonition" and "Deja Vu." I believe I will think I watched them already.

---

you don't want to know ...

... trust me.

---

nothing much happening ...

... work's getting a little stressful, which will only increase for next several weeks.

... the dog thing doesn't look good.

... focusing on my druid in WOW, trying to get back the hundreds in gold spent in a short time, knocking out quests and getting rep so I can run heroics.

... yes, I realize the vast majority of you have no clue what I wrote in the previous point.

... won several hundred dollars last night in poker ... woot!

... got a new computer.

... my old computer may be totally fucked, which means I'm totally fucked, because I'm stupid and backed up almost none of it.

... was issued a Treo at work ... can now surf the net, check e-mail, take and send photos from almost anywhere.

... recently got a 2-gig thumb drive -- More memory that my first couple of computers. And sooooo teeny.

... Beef Curry Don is one of the best microwave meals ever ... and Beef Yakiniku Don is pretty much just as good.

... I think I will buy some new sneaks in the next few days.

... new tatt coming up soon as well, I think.

... ice cream sammiches are the best ice cream treat you can get from a store.

... time for chocolate chunk cookies ... dunked in milk, naturally.

---

a quick little update ...

... coming off what was (mostly) a three-day weekend. Saturday was Liberation Day for Guam, marking the day when U.S. forces landed to reclaim the island from 2-1/2 years of Japanese occupation during World War II, so I had Friday (mostly) off. Spent a big chunk of that time -- what else -- World of Warcraft.

... Sunday was spent with the godson, S and C playing golf. I had a horrible front nine but did good on the back. I need to spend much more time working on my putting ... I could have easily broken 90 if I had made a few short putts.

... I hear Hermione is killed and Harry then kills Voldemort. Haven't read it, don't plan to, but that's what I hear. Heh.

... Big project coming up at work ... bleah ... annual thing with all the top managers. Gonna have to bust my ass to catch up on some stuff.

... Also got to write something up for the newspaper outside of my normal stuff. Was supposed to do the interview Thursday but couldn't get in touch with the guy, so I will have to cram it all in Monday.

... No word on the dacshund; I think the guy might have given them all away already. :(

... time for dinner ... Chef Boyardee Ravioli!

---

meanderings ...

... I hate having to go into the office on evenings to cover for someone else who is out ... it's part of the job but obviously not one of my favorite parts.

... had a nice lunch ... thick steak, baked potato ... salad and some buffalo wings for appetizer ... mmm.

... got a line on a daschund puppy ... guy's supposed to call me later this week.

... Saturday is a local holiday -- Liberation Day, marking the day the U.S. came back to retake Guam from the Japanese, which means Friday is holiday pay ... but also means Thursday will have to bust my ass to get the full weekend's worth of stuff ready ... will try to limit my office time on Friday for -- what else? -- some World of Warcraft guild missions!

... ever take a shit so big and nasty that afterward it changed your entire outlook? No? Just me?

---

fancy birthday dinner ...

Monday night was an indulgence night. It was the birthday of my pare', S, who's the dad of my godsons, a friend and co-worker. His wife and I took him to dinner at Genji, a VERY nice Japanese restaurant at the Hilton Guam Resort.

The service was a bit spotty, unusual for this place. For example, I ordered a vodka with 7-Up and a guy came over a little while later and said, "Your FLAT 7-Up, sir." I corrected the order (taken by a woman who spoke much better Japanese than English) and got my desired cocktail. My entree came before everything, including my salad and my dinner companions' salads, and the sushi we each had ordered came at the end of the meal, and we had intended for them to be appetizers.

But the food, as usual, was outstanding. I had a combination teppanyaki plate, featuring sirloin steak and bacon-wrapped prawns (I know, I don't usually order seafood, but was kinda in the mood for something a little different). Awesome.

Genji also makes my favorite sushi of any -- tempura shrimp sushi. Yummmmmmmm .....

So it was a great dinner with great friends, and S got the ultimate (for him) gift from his wife, a San Diego Charger official NFL Throwback helmet, signed by his favorite player, LaDainian Tomlinson. He must have said, "Oh shit!" (in the good sense) and "This is so cool" about 12 times each. She did good.

I got him Elvis movies, which he grew up on and love, so I did good too ... but nowhere near compared to the helmet.


This was me after dinner, in the lounge awaiting coffee, in my somewhat metallic-ish dark gray new shirt.

Hmpf.

Had to call the evening a little short as one of my people had some kind of personal crisis to deal with and I had to go into the office for a couple of hours to finish out his shift and assign the main wire news page.

But, all in all, a good night.

When I got home I ran a Dungeon on WOW, getting a cool new hat ... only to realize/remember when I was done, around 3:30 a.m., that I had an 8 a.m. conference call at the office I HAD to be at ... ouch.

---

golfing with the godson ...

On Sunday (which is almost over for me), I hit a golf course with the godson, S (godson's dad) and C, a co-worker. It's one we normally don't play, and found out -- at the counter -- that they had jacked up the price from $40 to $50 for a round. Ouch.

It was a great day for golf ... slightly breezy, clear ... just VERY hot.

I was off for most of the day with my driver and woods, but still didn't do too bad ... shot a 96 I think and did have several pars. Missed 5 putts by less than centimeters, usually to left or right, which would have turned my round around ... oh well.

The godson is getting more consistent and confident, and will often play his shots from the fairway (before, he would only hit from the tee and putt on the greens). He had a few of drives today that went close to 200 yards; in a couple instances, he outdrove all of us adults, or at least some of us. Give him another year or two and that will be commonplace, I think.

McDonald's on the way home ... MegaMac, baby! ... then mostly a relaxing evening of WOW. Managed to get an instance done that had been on my "to do" list forever, which was nice. Watched some nature shows.

Right now, I'm deciding whether to go into the office for a while to knock out payroll, or to take a nap/go to sleep ... then wake up early and go in early to do it then.

Decisions, decisions ...

---

shoulda listened to my own advice ..

... and taken that break.

Two VERY bad beats (aces cracked by bullshit river straights) = $360 less in my bank account.

In addition to what I've lost the rest of the week.

Gonna have to take about a month off now ... and this time I will ignore the siren call.

---

time to take a break ...

... from poker.

Shoulda just continued my WOW addiction at previous levels.

Run of bad luck and bad beats.

Oh well ... what's several hundred dollars when you have cheap rent, no car payment and no social life? LOL

---

it's sad but ...

... this was the best part of my day on Wednesday ... coffee with too much sugar and too much cream, and three peanut butter cookies.

In fact, it was probably the best part of my week ... hell, my month ...

... but sometimes, that's just how things go I suppose.

Oh ... more meaningless drivel recently posted below, if you haven't been here in a little while.

---

a two-fer meme ...

... stolen from someone's blog, but I can't remember who ... sorry! :)


Two names you go by:
• Duane
• DZER

Two things you are wearing right now:
• Glasses
• Red gym shorts

Two things you want in a relationship:
• A woman
• Me

Two of your favorite things to do:
• Play World of Warcraft
• Play poker

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
• Money
• Her

Two things you did last night:
• Played Poker
• Bought a webcam

Two things you ate today:
• Banana-nut muffin
• Barbecue spare ribs (Jamaican jerk)

Two people you last talked to:
• Poker people (in person)

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
• Playing World of Warcraft
• Working

Two favorite holidays:
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

Two books you recently read:
• The AP Stylebook
• Born in Death

Two things you wish you did better:
• I wish I wrote better
• I wish I understood better …

Two shows you watch on TV:
• The Daily Show
• The Colbert Report

---

Tuesdays suck ...

... because it's the day (night for me) that World of Warcraft servers go down for many hours of maintenance. For me, it's usually from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., which means I can't play for a good 3-4 hours of playing time. Today, it was due to come down at 8 p.m. my time, and I got held up at work and didn't get home till 6 p.m.

So I log in and start playing a bit. The power goes out.

I wait a bit .. 10 minutes or so later, power is back on.

I log in an start playing again. Ten minutes later, power is back out.

I go wash some dishes, organize some receipts, grumbling the whole while ... then the power comes back on. And almost immediately goes out.

So I leave to get some dinner, play poker for a couple hours, head home ... power is still out. So I go to Kmart, shop a bit, come back home after 10 p.m. ... finally it's back on.

But the game is down, and will be for another 5 hours or so.

I hate the power utility ... and I hate getting cheated out of quality WOW time.

Bleah.

Oh, I haven't made the change yet in the sidebar, but if you were on my Yahoo! Messenger list, or want to be, my Yahoo! I.D. has changed ... to thedzer.

---

blustery, overcast, gray ...

... funny how the weather sometimes echoes the thoughts rambling, crashing, spilling from your mind in a cacophonous disarray of chaotic blather ...

Anyway, the weather changed abruptly yesterday. Went from all too sunny and all too hot to gusty, rainy and dreary. A tropical storm was passing south of Guam, and its feeder bands were slapping us silly, like a drunken angry woman who isn't ready to go home at the end of a debauchery of a night in a shitty, rundown dive.

Hmm ... too many bad novels perused.

Gusts got up close to 50 mph. The wind whistled and moaned through my apartment all night. The following morning, the shears of wind knocked out my power, then again later while playing WOW during lunch. Got bad enough that it knocked down some old wooden power poles. A lot of places lost power, at least temporarily, from branches knocking down lines. In the south, a dog was killed when a live power line struck it.

This is what it looked like as I made my way back, and this wasn't a bad patch:



• Lunch was crappy. A couple of plain hotdogs. Tried to improve on it afterward, stopping at a coffeehouse/bakery. I couldn't decide between peach and blueberry mini-pies, so I got one of each. Back in the office, I discovered the blueberry wasn't a pie ... it was a fruit-filled hockey puck. Crust was thick and hard. Bleah. Peach pie was worse ... overweening amounts of ginger. With peach pie? Bleah Part II. Even the coffee sucked.

• Redemption at dinner: yakisoba, chopsteak and yakitori at a little Japanese place close to my apartment.

• Was going to do laundry right after work, but because of the weather, it was pack-jam. I didn't feel like waiting around for a half hour or more before I had access to a washing machine. Hopefully not so crowded tomorrow.

• Have started taking more photos on a daily basis, with the occasional video, as evidenced above. Will try to keep it up.

• Toying with the idea of a webcam. Had one ages ago but it didn't work when I bought this new computer. So might get one that will work with this one ... and my beautiful little Mac mini, which should be in sometime this week. Not like I had serious plans for the $1,500 for the computer, flatscreen and new keyboard/mouse. At least work will load it up with all the necessary top-flight programs ... so I can be more effective at work, even when at home.

---

taking time away from WOW ...

the blue is tape ... need to replace my frames this week ...

... OK, not a TON of time away. I still play a lot.

But those of you who have actually sniffed around here over the last week have probably noticed (but then again, maybe not), that I've been posting much more often than has been my "usual" once per week.

This last week, I have also spent two evenings playing poker, which meant about 4-5 hours of WOW "lost" each night.

Twice this week, I feel asleep around 6:30-7 p.m. and didn't wake up till after midnight once, and after 1 a.m. the second time. Again, a good 5+ hours of "lost" WOW time.

Earlier tonight (Sunday night for me), I went over to my godsons' house for dinner and to spend some time with the boys. R made lasagna, which was quite tasty ... best I've had in forever. Before and after, I played a lot with A, the older godson, who loves me because I'm big and strong enough to play rough with him, as he is a big, husky boy. I can't lift him up over my head and toss him around like I used to -- and doubt that anyone outside of the World's Strongest Man competition could -- but I can still manage much better than most. Again, more "lost" WOW time.

Maybe it's because my two main characters are both the max level, 70.

My woman gnome warrior, Butchie, also has some pretty fancy stuff, though still far from the uber stuff you can get. The problem is she's a type of warrior (DPS) that doesn't get a lot of dungeon/instance runs. People want warriors they take to instances to tank. So the end result is she probably won't get all that much better unless I switch her spec, but I hate tanking, so there ya go. I will use her to "farm" (make money) and help out other people in the guild with normal, non-instance quests.

As for my druid, Treebrother, he's been respec'd to resto (healer) from Moonkin (aka Boomkin, aka DPS class) so he can help other high-level members of the guild in instances, as he's the only high-level healer. But that means he mostly sucks at anything except healing, for quests or for instances. When he goes out solo, he has a hard time killing the things that used to be easy, and hence dies pretty often and pretty quick. So he's kind of in a limbo too.

I've spent some time having Butchie learn and level cooking and fishing talents, which have and will mean more gold making ability, but the fishing has been kinda slow and, after a while, boring.

I do have another character, a level 7 dwarven priest, but frankly I haven't been in the mood to slowly level another character lately.

So, that gives me a little more time to post, and to do other things.

Oh ... and I think I should probably get to the doctor sometime this week ... cold that I caught weeks and weeks ago still hasn't gone completely away and I have been sleeping a lot and have a marked loss of appetite ... which probably means I have something a bit more than a cold ... so we'll see.

---

6 a.m.

---

so I almost killed a child today ...

... no, I wasn't overcome by rage, or recklessly shooting off a gun or anything crazy like that.

Just driving. And not driving recklessly or dangerously. Not driving and not paying attention to the road while fiddling with the radio. I wasn't even speeding.

Thank God.

I was going about 10 mph on a small road in my village when, all of the sudden, a little girl sprinted out from behind a parked car, running across the road. She saw me and stopped. I saw her and stopped. It wasn't really all that close, thanks to my low speed and reaction time, and then she just continued across after her brief stop. As if nothing had happened.

What's worse is two of her relatives (parents? aunt and uncle?) were on separate sides of the road, and neither made a big deal about it either; not to her or me -- especially not to her.

I think I'd have been a bit upset if a child (or young relative) of mine was so careless about crossing a street, especially when there was traffic and he or she had a real chance of being hit.

It was drilled into me when I was young that I had to look both ways before crossing a street. Just running across a road without paying attention to cars was not acceptable, leading to a yelling, admonition and, usually, a swat to drive the lesson home.

I guess not every parent does that.

unwanted ...

... unneeded

... unattractive

.... unappealing

... uninteresting

... undesirable

... unbecoming

---

so it's not just us Americans ...

OTTAWA (Reuters) -- Most Canadians know so little about their own country that they would flunk the basic test that new immigrants are required to take before becoming citizens, according to a poll released on Friday.

The Ipsos-Reid survey showed that 60 percent of Canadians would fail the test. A similar poll done in 1997 showed a failure rate of 45 percent.

"Canadians appear to be losing knowledge when it comes to the most basic questions about Canadian history, politics, culture and geography ... (they) performed abysmally on some questions," the firm said in a statement.

Only 4 percent knew the three requirements a citizen had to meet to be able to vote while only a third could correctly identify the number of provinces and territories. Just 8 percent knew that Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.

The survey was carried out for the Dominion Institute, which aims to boost knowledge of Canadian history and values. It said all high school students should have to pass a special citizenship exam before they can graduate.

"It is frankly disheartening to see the lack of progress made by our group and the countless other organizations working to improve civic literary of Canadians over the last 10 years," said institute co-founder Rudyard Griffiths.

---

and so ...

... the funk seems to have struck again.

what am I doing? why am I doing it? why am I not doing anything to change it? should I? should I just ride it out?

does it really matter -- to me or anyone else -- in the long run? or the short run, for that matter?

guess I'm just wondering ... well, about everything. but the "what ifs" and "why nots" and "if onlys" don't generate any coherent thought; in fact, they only serve to make things more jumbled, complicated, meaningless. they only serve to make me more disaffected, morose, befuddled, furious. but not thinking about that does pretty much the same thing.

i envy those who have a much better grasp on things ... what they want to do for a living or career ... who they want to be with or are with ... that actually like where they're at ... even those who know for sure that they don't like where they're at and plan to do something about it.

obviously, there's no real coherent point to this rambling, self-pitying, mopey post. and yet, nonetheless, here it is ...

---

*burp*

excuse me!

---

wonderful discovery ...

Those of you who been around the Diatribe for a while will remember reading about my "discovery" of microwaveable mashed potatoes, as well as mac and cheese, that are both very good and extremely close to homemade. I love finding these kind of products because they save mucho time and preparation work.

I've found another.

Pre-cooked bacon that only requires 5 seconds a slice in the microwave. So for two hearty BT sammiches (bacon and tomato — lettuce is a total waste!!!!) it only takes two rounds of 40-sec zaps, slicing the tomato while the radiation crisps up the bacon slices to perfection. Then it's a slight coat of mayo on the bread and *BANG!* ... BT's in like 3 minutes. No more greasy spatter on the stove. No more greasy spatter from zapping uncooked bacon in the microwave.

I'm SUCH a happy camper.

Each pack as about 15-18 pieces or so ... I bought 3 packs the first time I saw it a week and change ago ... then 5 more packs last week.

Yes, I do love bacon-tomato sammiches THAT much!

---

the weekly posting ...

... that's pretty much what it's come down to, isn't it?

And even worse, don't really have anything personal to post that I can think of off-hand, so I leave you with this:

It’s Test Time!!!

Do You Know More Than America’s College Seniors?

Want to test your knowledge of American history? Here are the 34 questions which were asked of elite college seniors by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut as part of ACTA’s report Losing America’s Memory. Eighth-one percent received a D or an F.

No Googling or otherwise looking up on the Web, in reference books or asking others!

E-mail me your answers if you want, or just keep them to yourself. I will post the correct answers in a few days ... or a week, more likely. LOL

Oh ... and for the record, I missed 5, for a 29/34, or an 85 — a solid B!!

1. When was the Civil War?
a. 1750-1800
b. 1800-1850
c. 1850-1900
d. 1900-1950
e. After 1950

2. Who said: “Give me liberty or give me death?"
a. John Hancock
b. James Madison
c. Patrick Henry
d. Samuel Adams

3. What is the Magna Carta?
a. The foundation of the British parliamentary system
b. The Great Seal of the monarchs of England
c. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man
d. The charter signed by Pilgrims on the Mayflower

4. The term “Reconstruction” refers to:
a. Payment of European countries’ debts to the United States after the First World War
b. Repairing of the physical damage caused by the Civil War
c. Readmission of the Confederate states and the protection of the rights of Black citizens
d. Rebuilding of the transcontinental railroad and the canal system

5. Are Beavis and Butthead:
a. A radio show
b. Television cartoon characters
c. A musical group
d. Fictional soldiers

6. The Scopes Trial was about:
a. Freedom of the press
b. Teaching evolution in the schools
c. Prayer in the schools
d. Education in private schools

7. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln stated that:
a. Slaves were free in areas of the Confederate states not held by the Union
b. The slave trade was illegal
c. Slaves who fled to Canada would be protected
d. Slavery was abolished in the Union.

8. The purpose of the authors of “The Federalist” papers was to:
a. Establish a strong, free press in the colonies
b. Confirm George Washington’s election as the first president
c. Win foreign approval fort the Revolutionary War
d. Gain ratification of the U.S. Constitution

9. Sputnik was the name given to the first:
a. Telecommunications system
b. Animal to travel into space
c. Hydrogen bomb
d. Man-made satellite

10. The Missouri Compromise was the act that:
a. Funded the Lewis and Clark expedition on the upper Missouri River
b. Granted statehood to Missouri but denied the admission of any other states
c. Settled the boundary dispute between Missouri and Kansas
d. Admitted Maine into the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state

11. Which documents established the division of powers between the states and the federal government?
a. The Marshall Plan
b. The Constitution
c. The Declaration of Independence
d. The Articles of Confederation

12. When was Thomas Jefferson president?
a. 1780-1800
b. 1800-1820
c. 1840-1860
d. 1860-1880

13. What was the lowest point in American fortunes in the Revolutionary War?
a. Saratoga
b. Bunker Hill
c. Valley Forge
d. Fort Ticonderoga

14. In his farewell address, President George Washington warned against the danger of:
a. Expanding into territories beyond the Appalachian Mountains
b. Having war with Spain over Mexico
c. Entering into permanent alliances with foreign governments
d. Building a standing army and strong navy

15. The Monroe Doctrine declared that:
a. The American blockade of Cuba was in accord with international law
b. Europe should not acquire new territories in the Western Hemisphere
c. Trade with China should be open to all Western nations
d. The annexation of the Philippines was legitimate

16. Who was the European who traveled in the United States and wrote down perceptive comments about what he saw in Democracy in America?
a. Lafayette
b. de Tocqueville
c. Crevecoeur
d. Napoleon

17. Identify Snoop Doggy Dog
a. A rap singer
b. Cartoon by Charles Schulz
c. A mystery series
d. A jazz pianist

18. Abraham Lincoln was president between:
a. 1780-1800
b. 1800-1820
c. 1820-1840
d. 1860-1880

19. Who was the American general at Yorktown?
a. William T. Sherman
b. Ulysses S Grant
c. Douglas MacArthur
d. George Washington

20, John Marshall was the author of:
a. Roe vs. Wade
b. Dred Scott vs. Kansas
c. Marbury vs. Madison
d. Brown vs. Board of Education

21. Who was the “Father of the Constitution?”
a. George Washington
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. Benjamin Franklin
d. James Madison

22. Who said “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country?"
a. John F. Kennedy
b. Benedict Arnold
c. John Brown
d. Nathan Hale

23. What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people?"
a. The speech: “I Have a Dream”
b. Declaration of Independence
c. U.S. Constitution
d. Gettysburg Address

24. Who was the second president of the United States?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. James Madison
c. John Adams
d. Benjamin Franklin

25. Who was the president when the U.S. purchased the Panama Canal?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Jimmy Carter
c. Franklin D. Roosevelt
d. Woodrow Wilson

26. Who was the leading advocate for the U.S. entry into the League of Nations?
a. George C. Marshall
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. Henry Cabot Lodge
d. Eleanor Roosevelt

27. Who said, “Speak softly but carry a big stick?"
a. William T. Sherman
b. Sitting Bull
c. John D. Rockefeller
d. Theodore Roosevelt

28. The Battle of the Bulge occurred during:
a. The Vietnam War
b. World War II
c. World War I
d. The Civil War

29. Which of the following was a prominent leader of the Abolitionist Movement?
a. Malcolm X
b. Martin Luther King Jr.
c. W.E.B. Du Bois
d. Frederick Douglass

30. Who was the president of the United States at the beginning of the Korean War?
a. John F. Kennedy
b. Franklin D. Roosevelt
c. Dwight Eisenhower
d. Harry Truman

31. When the United States entered World War II, which two major nations were allied with Germany?
a. Italy and Japan
b. Italy and Poland
c. Italy and Russia
d. Russia and Japan

32. Social legislation passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society Program included:
a. The Sherman Antitrust Act
b. The Voting Rights Act
c. The Tennessee Valley Authority
d. The Civilian Conservation Corps

33. Who was “First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen”?
a. George Washington
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. Dwight Eisenhower
d. Abraham Lincoln

34. Who was the leader of the Soviet Union when the United States entered the Second World War?
a. Peter Ustinov
b. Nikita Kruschev
c. Marshal Tito
d. Joseph Stalin

---

wow has it been almost a week?

• Still lingering effects from that cold, which went strong for like 4 days ... I think I'll be sick forever.

• Seems as if more and more people are giving up blogging, taking breaks or just plain disappeared (or moved and didn't tell me). Some time soon I will update the sidebar ... deleting the blog links that are gone; but I will leave up the ones that are there but just not posting, at least for a while. The DZERettes will stay up, but I think I will just take the links off the disappeared ones ... oh, and add a couple DZERettes who shoulda been added a long time ago but have been overlooked by their lazy DZER.

• Slow work day today ... the days that are holidays for everyone else but not for us just seem to draaaaaaaaaaag.

• It's laundry time again ... ai adai!

• Also, it's afternoon meeting time ... bye!

wonderful weekend that wasn't ...

Caught a bug from a co-worker, the bastard. It hit me Saturday afternoon; pretty bad sore throat and hacking cough.

How bad was it?

Well, I went to sleep around 7 p.m. and didn't really get out of bed til about noon Sunday. Woke up a few times, took medicine and went back to bed.

Which means ... you guessed it ... hardly any WOW at all in my prime WOW playing time. That tells you how sick I was. In fact, on Sunday I didn't play much at all ... I logged in and talked to people and stuff, but didn't actively play all that much.

Now THAT is sickness!

:P

---

just some stuff ...

• It's Tuesday, which means WOW server maintenance, which means I can't play until 4 a.m. my time ... which means I'm going to bed soon, a good 2 to 4 hours early.

• I love irony in plain sight ... like the tow truck being towed by a tow truck I saw yesterday.

• I managed to put off doing laundry one more day (so I could play WOW until it went down) by buying a couple new shirts after work.

• Why is the start of the NFL season so far away, while hockey and NBA basketball seem like they NEVER go away.

• When the hell did Camel start making menthols, by the way? You quit smoking and you miss all kinds of developments! LOL

• Anyone wanna do my laundry for me tomorrow?

• What's another word for Thesaurus?

---

some questions and answers ...

Got this in an e-mail from My Favorite Person and thought I’d share my answers, since it’s so meme-ish.

1. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER?
No one that I know of.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
It's been a while.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I have excellent penmanship.

4 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Steak.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
I'll go with the standard, "None that I know of."

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF?
I would ... but he wouldn't.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Next question.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
All of them!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I don't think they make industrial-strength bungee cords ... LOL

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Depends on my mood.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Sometimes ... sometimes I never bother to tie them when I put them on.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
DZER strong! *pounds chest*

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Ice cream sammich.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Women ... tits. Men ... who cares?

15. RED OR PINK?
Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I don't have the time to list them all.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My dad.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Well, if anyone wants to blog it, feel free.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Black pants, no shoes.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Some nasty baked potato chips.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
"Without a Trace," the TV show.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Pasty.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Nekkid woman.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Someone from work.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Duh!

26. There is no 26.

27. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
NFL and NCAA football.

28. HAIR COLOR?
Brown when I let it grow.

29. EYE COLOR?
Steel blue

30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Put something into my eye? Are you nuts?!?

31. FAVORITE FOOD?
Too many to list.

32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings at the massage parlor.

33. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
"Music & Lyrics."

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
I'm not.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Winter.

36. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both at the same time, please.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Sam Choy's cheesecake.

38. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Dunno.

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
You.

40. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
None at the moment.

41. ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
My mouse.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
SportsCenter, some Comedy Central.

43. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND?
Subdued moans ... or frenzied moans.

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles.

45. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Thousands of miles.

46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Like in "The Jerk?"

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Rome, N.Y.

---

staying chilly ...

So after a full weekend with power and getting used to a return to normalized life, what happens? Air conditioning unit decides that 3 years is enough time to live and cool.

First, I gotta take it down. It sits up in a hole in the wall about 7 feet up. It's a 12,000-btu unit that almost killed me when I put it in, because I did it myself, being the big strong man that I am. Well, 12,000-btu units are very heavy and bulky, and I almost dropped it on my head putting it in.

Taking it out, I somehow managed to power it down and then, as the weight hit, push it out far enough so that when it hit the ground in front of me, it didn't crush my toes.

Quick drive down to the warehouse store ... $199.99 for a new, 8,000-btu unit ... back home, take it out of the box, attache the little expander wings on the side to fill the space, since this unit is smaller ... used a variety of foam, wood and tape to seal up the rest of the hole and then plug it in to start the cool air -- which was needed because I was coated in sweat from all this manual labor in a hot apartment .. totally drenched ... it wasn't a pretty sight.

Nothing.

Remote doesn't work. Buttons don't work. Try a different outlet. Nada.

About to start breaking things when I notice this unit has a reset button like power strips right where it plugs into the wall. Duh. Click. Cool air again. Nice.

Then it was a long, cool shower, followed by a super-late night of WOW and 4 hours of sleep.

---

i'm back, bitches!!

fucking finally!

---

the update ...

I guess this will teach me to refrain from optimism.

I didn't take a new place because work was being done and I thought I'd soon have power and thus be able to keep living the cheap rent life.

Yesterday — Wednesday, the inspector came out and OK'd the work. A little after 1 p.m., as I was leaving my apartment, a power utility bucket truck was on the scene. I did a little internal "woo-hoo," thinking I'd have power when I got home later that afternoon.

I didn't.

Seems the electrician botched things. When the utility went to energize the lines, there was a short on the building side. According to the power guys, the work never should have passed inspection.

Nice, huh?

The building owner's representative hates me and one other tenant, who have been constantly bitching about the situation. He told her that she complains too much. Over piddling things, like not having power for 12 days ... 13 now.

As I left, the electrician was on the scene. I talked to the other tenant last night, who said she was told things would be fixed today, and we'd have power again.

I won't hold my breath.

The building owner's representative has threated to find a way to block power from my unit once power is restored, and he and the electrician were standing at the bottom of my stairwell near my power meter when I left today.

So you might want to check back here in the next few days, as My Favorite Person has the "keys" here, just in case I'm indicted for murder or something of that sort ...

---

Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. ...

Still no power.

Landlord of the building needs to get from from utility, then get inspection by gov't. agency, then utility will reconnect power.

So far, none of that's been done.

And boy, oh boy does it suck.

---

hopes for Monday ...

So the electricians worked Friday ... and then Sunday (today). I talked to the main electrician about 10 minutes ago, and everything is done from their end. All that's needed is a government safety inspection, then reconnection of lines by the power utility. He's pretty confident power will be back on at the building in the afternoon ... and only 10 days after we lost it.

Huzzah.

Some of the things that I've done since losing power:

• Cleaned up a bit, throwing a lot more junk out (and some more still to come).

• Watched a lot of movies this week (air-conditioned theaters, no TV/cable) -- in no particular order, I've seen "Shooter," "Fracture," and "In the Land of Women." In about 30 minutes, it'll either be "Next" starring Nicholas Cage or "Blades of Glory."

• Sweated in the semi-dark, including whilst trying to sleep. I think I've only had one real good, long, restful night of sleep in my apartment ... it was very rainy Saturday night, so it was cool and breezy all the way up till noon.

• I've driven my truck more in the last 10 days than in the previous month. The homebody became a leaving-the-hot-dark-homebody.

• Found an Internet cafe that is very cool and helpful, even though I'm the only one over 21 playing World of Warcraft there at varying hours.

• Eaten a lot of cheap meals in cheap restaurants.

• Read four books and have just started my fifth.

• Played poker twice ... losing both nights on bad beats, unfortunately.

• Just today I: ate a lazy breakfast at a diner-esque place and did the Sunday crossword puzzle; got the oil on my truck changed (long overdue); saw a movie; went to the bookstore (and bought the fifth book mentioned above); bought a new bed, complete with frame, headboard and nightstand, as well as a new, comfy desk chair; moved said furniture up into my apartment; swept the stairs up to my apartment, as well as most of the living room ... and I'm currently blogging and almost ready to head for the theaters.

That's it ... look for a much more boring week ahead for me ... IF the power actually is reconnected tomorrow.

---

Guam to shine(?) in national spotlight ...

• The Thursday edition of the Colbert Report featured none other than Guam Del. Madeleine Bordallo, our non-voting congresswoman in the House of Representatives. If you missed it, try to catch the repeats on Friday.

I'm told he skewers her, Guam and focuses mucho on the brown tree snake ... but can we expect less from Stephen Colbert? I'm sure it's gonna be hilarious!

• Parts of Guam also will be featured on "The Amazing Race," I think this coming Sunday ... though it mostly focuses on military base areas -- they don't really get out in the local Guam area.

update ...

Thursday here and still no power. I talked to another tenant Wednesday night and he said a couple people came out to look at the main breaker box earlier that day, and that an electrician was supposed to come out today for the repairs. I never saw him, nor did anyone else, and it looks like nothing has been done yet.

I was to have signed the lease for a new place today, though I wouldn't be able to move in until next Wednesday. So I held off and haven't done it yet, hoping/praying that maybe the power will be back on at my apartment sometime this weekend. If it's not fixed by Monday, that still gives me about 2 days to find a new place, and I'm well on my way to clearing up junk, tossing things out and packing away what I want to keep.

I'm hitting an Internet cafe every night for 2-3 hours to get some kind of World of Warcraft fix, though that's still far short of what I usually play, plus it's a lot less comfortable. But the place I've found is cool, have given me some discounts, and I have actually talked WOW with other gamers, who don't look at me with the "whatever, geek" expression on their face. We've traded tips, tricks, and death wipe stories.

I really should move stateside, but I just can't up and go ... I need to have the prospect of work waiting for me ... I can't imagine just moving and then looking for a job. Plus, it's not like my field is that general ... How many newspapers are in your town? How many editors? It's not like I'm a retail manager, salesman, executive assistant or accountant, where the job is basically the same from company to company and industry to industry. If I decide to move someplace and there are no news jobs, I could go to the darkside of advertising or marketing or government public relations or something like that, I suppose ... but even then I'd much rather have the prospect of a waiting job than trying to eke by on my savings and wits while trying to seek employment.

oh well ... that's it for now.

---

DZER has become powerless ...

OK, this time my excuse for not being around isn't World of Warcraft.

On Friday, I get home about 5 p.m. to find a cop car and a truck from the power utility at my apartment building. Turns out someone stole, or tried to steal, some of the copper lines connected the building to the power grid.

But the owners of the building are cheap and don't care about any tenants there (there are two or three other units now occupied by some families), and it's the weekend, and the representative of the owners says he's not sure when they will bother to fix things and reconnect the building to the power lines. Not only that, but since the owners and the guy who owns my unit are still at odds, he actually threatens that once the power is reconnected, he will make sure mine isn't.

I tried to get some electricians out to look at the problem to see if they can at least just reconnect me, but it's the weekend, or they're busy, or they want some kind of OK from the power utility first, and of course the utility is closed on the weekend.

Friday night I sleep at the office on a futon on chilly tile, because at least it's cool and I won't sweat miserably in my apartment.

For the weekend though, I need something beyond that. I book a room at Best Western. They have a $109 2-day package and all rooms have high-speed Internet, so I lug over my eMac and a couple changes of clothes.

Hook up the computer and nothing. Turns out they recently discontinued using the modems that are still in the rooms, and are completely wireless. I have no wireless card in my computer. I argue for a bit and get a full refund.

Still stuck without a cool place with Internet connection. Call the Hilton and ask for the local rate. Am pleasantly surprised when informed about a weekend getaway special for $150 that includes welcoming drinks, breakfast ... though high-speed Internet will cost me $12.99 per night (24 hours). Oh well ... booked ... checked in ... connected ... happy.

Bed's a little hard, but the room is great and the view is awesome.

The hard bed ...

My weekend WOW workstation ...

Tub big enough for 2, or 1 DZER ... and used for 2 bubblebaths ...

The view from the room ...

The view continued ...

So everything's cool, right?

Until I go to check out Monday morning.

Turns out there was a "miscommunication." The weekend getaway rate of $150 is PER NIGHT. I argue that I was told it was $150 for the weekend. Front desk goes to get a manager. Who is extremely rude. It is what it is, he says. A miscommunication, but tough shit, basically. Any attempt to ameliorate an angry guest? Any discount on that or future stays? A free brunch? Nada.

"I'm never coming back here again," I growl.

"That's too bad," the manager says.

Go back to apartment. Nothing's been done. Go into work.

During lunch break, look at a couple apartments. Squallid. Dirty. Dingy. Urine smells in hallway.

Back to work.

Look at nice place in afternoon ... only double my current rent.

Home. Clean some. Organize some. Sweat lots.

Shower. Mall. ATM. Two-choice dinner. Movies — "Fracture."

Currently at work. At almost 11 p.m. Know I have to go home soon and sweat some more.

Will I be able to sleep at all in the heat?

Probably some, but not well.

Hope your weekends were much better.

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a new post ... finally

Stunning, no?

Well, I can't blame the lack of posting and failure to read blogs on World of Warcraft. Yes, I have played it a bunch since my last post, but no more than normal.

I've just been in a state of ennui, pretty much, plus not all that much has been going on, at least nothing all that different from normal.

Some of the stuff that has happened:

• The mother of my godsons had another baby last week ... I was gonna go see her and him at lunch today, but had a bit of a cold or something, and didn't want to risk getting the baby sick, so I'll have to wait a day or so.

• My mom is going under a round of radiation treatment as a follow to the removal of a lump recently. Doctor is pretty sure he got all of it and advised her that radiation was the best bet, instead of chemo or chemo/radiation combination. She's doing good; I spoke with her a little after Easter. I really don't call her enough ...

• Big load of laundry tomorrow ... and probably another trip to the laundry on the weekend. I've let it pile up and up ... at the end of last week I bought a couple pairs of pants, shirts and some socks just to further procrastinate. Sad, but true.

• I've also managed to read three books over the past week or so, plus re-read another three. Also watched two DVD's ... with a huge range between the two -- "The Holiday" ... and "WWE: No Way Out." How's that for variation?

• Tonight will be spent balancing my checkbook and doing a stack or two of dishes.

• I also have to clean out some boxes and junk from my bedroom ... I'm going to buy a new bed this weekend. Was gonna do it last weekend, but someone called in sick and I had to fill in for her shift. Ugh. And it's not really a new bed; there's a store here that sells remainders from hotels and other businesses. Still, it will be better than mine, which I should have replaced long ago. The "new" bed will be a double -- just $95 for the bed, boxspring, frame, headboard and nightstand.

• Dinner will be either a HUGE bowl of Golden Crisp cereal ... takeout Vietnamese food ... or PB&J's.

• I also will try to post a new early HNT from Guam over the next couple of days; just need to remember to buy batteries the next time I'm at the store.

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thank god for memes ....

A meme stolen from one who dodges most artfully … based on my Friday.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
I think it was something like 11:30 a.m.

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Doesn’t the Prince song acknowledge that you can have both?

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Haven’t been the movies in a LONG time; can’t remember

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Of all time? Currently? I’d have to go with SportsCenter … “Criminal Minds” … “How I Met Your Mother” …

5. What did you have for breakfast?
I normally don’t eat breakfast … first food of the day was a banana.

6. What is your middle name?
Miguel

7. What is your favorite food?
Type of cuisine? Meal? Individual item? Hmm … Chamorro/Italian/Chinese … roast beef/turkey with mashed taters and gravy … red meat

8. What foods do you dislike?
Almost any kind of vegetable bean, peas, asparagus, okra …

9. Favorite chip?
Chocolate

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
I don’t invest in certificates of deposit.

11. What kind of car do you drive?
Old, beat-up Nissan Kingcab pickup

12. What is your favorite sandwich?
First of all, it’s “sammich” … and there are too many from which to choose

13. What characteristic do you despise?
Hypocrisy and bigotry

14. What are your favorite clothes?
The trashy ones strippers wear

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation?
I don’t like traveling all that much, but yes please

16. Where would you want to retire?
We’re allowed to retire?

17. Favorite time of day?
Very late night, early a.m.

18. Where were you born?
Rome, N.Y.

19. Who do you think will not respond to this?
Respond emotionally? Everyone will … my writing is moving ;)

20. Person you expect to respond this?
That woman. No, her. No …. HER! Geeze!

21. Beavers or ducks?
If it’s for building a dam, the former; if flying, the latter

22. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I am related to Woodsy the Owl … give a hoot, don’t pollute!!

23. Pedicure or manicure?
No thanks

24. Share?
Sonny was the genius behind that duo!

25. What did you want to be when you were little?
I’ve NEVER been little … only younger

26. What is your best childhood memory?
I have a lot of great ones, usually involving stuff with my dad and the family.

27. Piercings?
Both ears; two in left, one in right.

28. Ever been to Africa or Alaska?
Neither …

29. Ever been toilet papering?
Just my ass

30. Been in a car accident?
A few, but never anything too serious.

31. Favorite day of the week?
Sunday is golf and a lot of World of Warcraft …

32. Favorite restaurant?
Al Dente Ristorante

33. Favorite ice cream?
Ice cream sammich …

34. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Burger King

35. Last e-mail?
That I sent or received? Sad, but in either case to myself … from home to work and vice versa.

36. What was the last movie that you rented?
The Departed

37. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
No credit cards here

38. Bedtime?
Somewhere between 2 and 4 a.m., usually

39. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
God.

40. Last person you went to dinner with?
My friends R and S

41. What are you listening to right now?
SportsCenter highlights

42. What is your favorite color?
Black and charcoal gray

43. How many tattoos do you have?
Four

44. Favorite magazine?
None in particular

45. What book are you reading?
I’m about to start a Sci-Fi novel by Haldemann

46. Weirdest thing in your purse or wallet at the moment?
Is money weird? Coffee card?

47. If you had one wish, what would it be?
In the immortal words of the Dave Chappelle Show … to be “Riatch, biatch!”

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well it's tuesday here ...

... so that means that the WOW server is down, and will be for 8 hours.

Yes, I realize I'm pretty much addicted and don't have the time anymore to blog as much as I used to or, for that matter, to visit all of the blogs on my blogroll all that much either.

Oh well. Life changes. :P

In WOW news, my main character is progressing well, up to level 64 and almost enough gold to be able to purchase my epic mount. And yeah, I know that the vast majority of those who read my blog, of the few that are left, have no clue what any of that means.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Went to a friend's baby shower on Saturday. One of those progressive, both-sexes-invited things. The expectant mother is the mother of my twin godsons, and she's due in about two weeks. Some good chow, for snackish kinda food, and some fun games -- make a baby out of modeling clay, list as many songs with the word "baby" in the title.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

Dinner tonight is roast beef (from a can) and microwave mashed taters (from Country Crock). Might not sound that great, but it's pretty fucking tasty.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

There's another typhoon out in the area where the ones form that have a chance at hitting us, after this last one narrowly missed us. Fucking Bleah!

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

OK ... off to cook and do a couple chores. Ciao!

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close call ...

Guam almost was hit by a typhoon.

But, luckily, it tracked more northernly.

Whew!

*knocks on wood*

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oh you bitch and other meanderings ...

• It's just plain mean when you comment on someone's blog about the fact that you're making pot roast and potatoes when you know full well how much that person LOVES homemade pot roast and potatoes.

• It sucks when Blizzard tells you that there will be only rolling restarts instead of extended maintenance, which is supposed to mean only 20 minutes of down time, and then later comes back and tells you they need to do three hours of maintenance. Assbandits!!

• I'm hungry ... it's gonna either be roast beef sammich, turkey sammich, roast beef and turkey sammich, tuna fish sammich, or hot chicken noodle soup with peanut butter sammiches to dunk into soup. Or pop tarts. Or frozen toaster waffles.

• Politicians -- at pretty much every level -- suck major ass.

• I sooooo need to see the Will Ferrell figure skating movie!

• Ooh! Almost forgot that I had Golden Crisp cereal!

• Ugh ... at least another hour till WOW's servers come back up ... Fucking Bleah!™

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