OH SHIT! just informing the readers that there will be a significant lack of blog updates from me, Omar. Shawana's computer has suffered a major system crash and thankfully its in the capable hands of its creator being fixed. Thats all good for the computer, but this downtime will severly halt the process of work done to my new website and daily words of shared nonsense found here. I will try to keep it up from work, but that can't be guaranteed especially after I get back from our most recent trip to MS. Shawana and I had a good time traveling and while there we said the usual hellos to her family members on "Hawthorne Road" It wasn't a trip for pleasure but to attend a funeral. It was a rainy trip for the most part and that meant lots of MS mud. Plus I'll be playing the roll of "supervisor of graphics" to the new employees I get to work with to retouch photos.
As if travelling to a funeral wasn't enough to affect a road trip, another sad point to the trip I must share is Vep Sias' death. While we were driving up to MS Tuesday night, my mom informed me that he was in the hospital since early afternoon because of an auto accident and he passed away late in the evening. I remember spending many saturday afternoon's at Grandpa Sias' house eating lunch and hanging out with his family and my sister. My mom use to work every other weekend at the hospital so for a time there, we were guaranteed to being at the Sias'. I'm very saddened to hear he passed away, he will be missed and my prayers go to the family.
If I am going to survive to see the ripe old age of.. lets say 35, there are some things I must remember. When you see a cute kitten with soft fur and big eyes and I feel a deep desire to give that kitten a new home, make sure there are 2 of them. This hint can save you and whoever dares enter your dwelling from the drama of a lonely kitten. I once again remember the period of time that Shawana and I kept cotton balls and rubbing alcohol on the living room table because we needed them all the time. First Aid was administered daily on fresh cuts and stratches to whatever limb was closest to Shelby at the time.
Another great advice I'd like to share is all about moving. When somebody asks you for help in moving them from one residence to another. Take a second and look around. Familiarize yourself again with the person asking for assitance and their belongings. And think really hard of what you are gettng into to. I know I'm a nice person, if someone is asking for help from me, then they'll get it. But as I get older, I have to consider the health of my body. I'm hoping the next person I help move their stuff is cheap. I'm talking about somebody who likes prefab particle board crap, especially if you can take it apart and put it back together with a screwdriver. I know they don't look all that great and sturdy, but I believe they are more mover friendly.
Its been 2 days and my legs still feel the weight of carrying wood furniture. I mean the stuff I helped move was real wood, like from real trees and shit. Real wood makes beautiful furniture but it also has the ability to break a poor man's back. Especially if you add a staircase to the path this wood must be carried on. I'm neither in great shape or mentally prepared to move real furniture ever again.
My art director, Collette, has been doing alot of interviews for positions to help me. I've got a serious backlog of photos that need to be edited and the clock is ticking so I need help fast. Many potential applicants have come in. One guy really stands out because he comes in and the interview goes for about 45 minutes. She's asking him questions, trying to get a feel for his style and what he would be interested in. Its all the regular bullshit type stuff.
So the time comes for him to do the little photo editing test because basically that is what he would be doing for awhile. Once the photos are caught up, then work needs to be done for all the other sites the company runs. So Collette sits him down in front of the computer and starts explaining what he needs to do. He gets a puzzled look on his face when she says "You'll be working in Adobe Photoshop"
This guy is currently enrolled at a graphic design school and gave that look because he doesn't know photoshop. He put it on his resume and was hoping to get by and learn it on the job. What a moron, sorry pal try again.
Our network administrator in the office is on vacation for this week. How fortunate, because something went screwy with our network yesterday that has our corporate edition Norton Antivirus freaking out. It believes that serveral computers in the office are infected w/ a virus. There is no virus, but a system error is reporting the trouble. When I left there were 8,000 notification emails from my computer to systems email. The damn thing ran all day long seriously slowing down my work. Thank you Symantec!
Our poor Shelby. Something is wrong with his right eye. His cornea is all cloudy as if he has glaucoma. He's only 6 months old so I don't think that's the cause of his condition. It freaks Shawana and I out when something is wrong with the "kids". This morning he was playing with elise like normal, but I'm sure his visioned is impaired. I imagine that in the midst of shelby and elise's play time he got something in his eye. Its really sad to look at him.
There's a new camera in the house. Its an olympus c-750uz. Thanks Babe! I've been taking shots like mad. There not all good but thats what practice is for.
This shot here is our cats eating. Elise is our newest puffy kitty and is positioned on the left and thats her normal position. You can find her face buried in food all the time, so its expected she is going to be the big fat budha cat. While older and wiser Shelby is on the right. I would have gotten closer, but it really isn't a pretty site to watch them eat.
I was really glad that Shawana and I had already gotten our gifts for each other. Because Friday night we went to Wal-mart (hate that place) and sure enough the crowds were there. The candy aisle was full of those last-minute fulls hungrily searching for that perfect "I planned to get this" gift.
Anyways we just went there to pick up a filter for the vacuum cleaner. Shawana had ordered some new bags online because the many times we have gone to wal-mart to check their stock, they've had none. Months ago an associate said check back in a couple weeks and they should be there. The wal-mart associates lie. Fucking A! if we didn't go there and find a plethora of the bags we needed. I thought it wonderful that after months of checking, the one time we aren't looking is when they decide to drop a truckload.
When I came in from work Thursday evening there was a package from proflowers.com at the door. I beat Shawana home so I was the first to see them. Its a good size box and its obviously flowers, but there not the flowers I got for her. I ordered my flowers from a local shop and they were supposed to be delivered on Friday. I would be pissed if the local flower shop charged me a shit load just so they could order them online and deliver them by Fedex.
They didn't so my mind turned to jealousy. Is there some other guy out there showering my girlfriend with lovely flowers and making moves on her. I was extremely worried for awhile. My heart was racing and I could feel the adrenaline flow.
Fast forward to when Shawana got home. I brought the box inside the apartment and showed great reserve to not open the package. Shawana comes through the door and her face brightens up and her smile goes from ear to ear. Her day wasn't the greatest, but not all Thursdays are, so she was surprised at seeing the box of flowers. She said they were great and I was like 'thats nice' but I didn't send them. I figured they were from one of her good friends, and they were, but I thought it funny to freak out. hehe... Anyhow it was all good and the weekend of love continued.
Sometimes my plans don't work out. My plans for events for Valentine's day didn't work out, but things weren't really in my control. But much like life, unexpected things can become successful. I ordered a cheesecake from QVC last monday hoping for its timely arrival by Friday. Now this isn't just an ordinary cheesecake but the best. Its shipped directly from Junior's restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. Its on Flatbush Ave. if you ever get a chance to eat there in person. When Shawana and I went up to New York in September, I dragged her there so she could sample the world's best cheesecake.
So I thought it a special gesture to get us one for Valentines' day. To relive the memories of us gorging ourselves with cheesecake for three solid days until we were sick and our bodies clogged with cheese. Great Times. So thursday night as we are sitting around the house, UPS calls because they have a package for us and the address was incomplete. They didn't have the apartment number on the label. Shawana has no real clue of what is going on, and is more intrigued because I tell them I'm on the way to pick it up.
The fine people at UPS were concerned because the package is shipped in styrafoam and dry ice and is only good for 2 days of travel. They were making sure the product would be delivered.
Let the cheesecake consumption begin! I ordered a 4 flavor sampler, item #M8351 if you're interested. Preparing for Valentine's day kept me busy last week. Plus my snooping to find out what Shawana had gotten for me for Valentine's day ensured that, because I did find out early. So I'll be busy this week sharing the details of the weekend.
It sometimes seems like an overwhelming thing I have committed myself too. I started this blog, as the cool terminology goes, as a medium to share my thoughts. But my mind is jumpy lately. Everything piles up quickly because the amount of useless events that happens in our lives really is *unnumeral (*not a real word). My days are busy and my evenings are shared with others so its more of a chore to keep this activity going. Now don't think this is my farewell speech. No my friends, this is my excuse to my daily audience. There are many hours of the day and I need to utitlize them again. It wasn't that long ago that 2am was my standard bedtime. I find sleep alot more pleasing now. Its really a beautiful thing. The body needs it and who are we to deny the body its only desire of rest. Oh well its getting late tonight. I'm done with this...
And I'm not talking about the flower, but the sleek, crazy handling car from across the Atlantic. Elise is our new kitten and she's a riot. Shelby, our other, now more adult cat didn't like her on first site. But now he is open to the idea of a furry object he can chase and pounce on at will. Its funny when I think of it, but we have to monitor their playtime because they are like children on the playground. They will keep going after each other until you seperate them or they draw blood.
Actually a better flashback would be the way my sister and I fought when we were younger. I love my sister now but if you were to ask her about our childhood trauma, I guarantee she'll bring up the remote incident. Like many siblings we argued and hated each other just because the opportunity was there. During the summer breaks from school we spent an obscene amount of hours around the house doing nothing but aggrivating each other. My mom worked days at the hospital, leaving us alone to hang out with the neighborhood kids watching TV in our living room. So the story goes, we were home alone during the summer. I believe the argument started on what show on TV we should waste the next hour of our lives with. Then the screaming insued, followed by profanity and death threats. Don't worry all this is well within the normal interaction of brothers and sisters. It ends up I threw the remote control at her while she was leaving the room and it made contact with the back of her head. She swares she lost consciousness and I'm not too sure, but it could have happened. But even after that much nonsense during our adolescent years we have grown past that. We still have disagreements, but that is all still covered by the bonds of siblings.
So I am looking forward to the day when Shelby and Elise sit down in front of the window and talk about the good old days. When they would laugh and chase each other off the couches and through the kitchen. Around the bathroom, over the garbage can and under the coffee table. You get the idea.
My job has become a little overwhelming. I retouch and crop photos all day long, but its good work and I like it. The work load has gotten so much that I may be stepped up to a supervisor level for the new employees hired to help me.
The ad for the position only ran for one day but that was long enough to grab the interest of 160+ applicants. The funny thing is the reject pile that my art director and I ended up with. One individual applied from Ohio hoping to get moving costs covered because he was that good. And even some of the local applicants weren't that close. They obviously didn't think about driving US 19 to Dunedin when you are going the same way the traffic is. Interviews start this week and hopefully an assistant and my new computer will make the work fun again.
Yesterday Shawana and I accompianed her friend from work, CC, to her daughter's soccer game in Dunedin. CC recently had surgery and Shawana was more than happy to help her out. Now I like soccer, I mean I like it alot. I watch the English Premiere League and I was one of the crazy that was up early on a Sunday morning to watch the World Cup finals. That's me but Shawana has a different take on the sport. I would have said she was like many Americans who are unfamiliar with this sport that the world embraces.
But Dunedin was like its sister city in Scotland this morning. It was really cool to step into the world of the soccer mom for a bit. They are hardcore because they were out there before 8am for the early game and add in the fact that it was fucking cold there. GOAL!!!
The other night I was doing my usual low-cropped haircut. To be more specific I was shaving my head because I'm bloody balding and I have accepted that. I was shaving behind my ear when I felt pain. I shook my razor out in water and got blood and a patch of skin. Oh shit, I'm bleeding. I couldn't see where the cut was and how bad I cut myself. So I called to Shawana for some assistance, but Shawana and blood don't mix well. She described it as blood draining down my neck and took a seat on the tub edge because she was feeling faint. She did manage to help me clean up the mess but I hope I'm never a stabbing victim. She guaranteed me that if I were to be attacked that she wouldn't run. She would be by my side because she passed out there from the site of blodd. Oh damn.