A 10 Month Countdown

So it is written so let it begin.
10 months.

This is the amount of time that I have, give or take a few days.

In 10 months my BFFF will be out in Vegas with his woman and they will be doing the whole "eternal bonding at the Elvis Chapel of Love" thing.
Me?  I'm just the best man.

A few years back I did the whole best man thing and quite enjoyed it.  Had plenty of time to plan my roast best man speech and then at the last minute decided to just wing it anyways.  All that planning for naught.
The problem was that after the laughter died down and everything was over there was photographic proof that I'm a big fat ass.
Pictures don't lie (unless their photoshopped, but even then there is still some truth to them).

I'm the two guys on the left

So, this time I want pictures that I can look back on over time and be proud of.  I want something that I can show to others and say "See, I do look good when I dress up" instead of "see, I'm just the fat guy of the group."

So, Next January is when everything is going down and I've got until then to get my ish together and slim down considerably.  I've done a good job over the last year of losing weight and want to continue that trend. But, I have a goal and I have a time frame.

Come January my goal is to be 180 pounds.
I'll accept anything under 200 but 180 is what I'm going to push myself towards.
My last couple years of High School and first year or so of College were right around the 180 mark.
I'm certain I can get there again with the proper diet and exercise and support from all 3 of my friends.

Comics for March

Much like I wanted to I went through the whole Death of the Family story line through the Batman Books.
I completely loved the story and the Joker made it all worth while of course.  (The Joker being my long time favorite villain since watching the the Keaton Batman with Jack Nicholson as Joker way back in the day - Even bought the Prince Soundtrack to go along with it and played the NES Video Game which really stunk to high hell based on my memories).

So, in preparation for this I read all of the associated comics up to the point where this story arc started.  I loved the Joker and everything he put the family through but the ending was left a little meh.  I'm still OK with it and I'm curious to continue reading and see what the fallout will end up being.  The whole point of this story was to Re-introduce the Joker and all he really wanted to do was get rid of the family so that he and Batman could play their own particular game without everyone else interfering and (as he claims) weakening The Bat.
So, the Joker set out to and kidnapped those such as Red Hood, Red Robin, Damian Wayne and Batgirl on his rampage.  Then he sets up a huge dinner where he faked ripping off everyone's face and set up an explosive device for The Bat to choose whether he would track down the Joker to continue their relationship or if he would stay with The Family and help them escape.
Family or Villain?  Who do you choose Bats?  It was a great read and I will go through it again in a couple of months because it was so enjoyable.

During this read I started reading Teen Titans because they were one of the titles.  In Teen Titans they have cross overs with Superboy and as such I decided to go back and read his story.  Superboy then had cross overs with Supergirl and Superman and next thing you know I'm reading their titles as well.

H'el

This brings me to the H'el on Earth arc involving those 3 titles.  H'el claims to have been a researching who was good friends with Superman's dad and arrived on earth needing help to go back in time before Krypton was destroyed to help make it so that event never happens.  In the process he tries to destroy Superboy (because he's a clone and clones are evil), Fights Superman and convinces Supergirl (who is only recently on Planet Earth and really misses her home) to join him in going back to save Krypton.  H'el is so powerful that even Superman cannot stop him and he had to recruit the Justice League (and evidently somewhere in another mag he starts hooking up with Wonder Woman or something) to help with the final assault.  By the end of the story H'el ends up back in time, on Krypton, to be discovered by Superman's dad - so eventually this story and villain will continue.
As much as I really couldn't get into Action Comics when I tried to read some of them last year I really started to get into the whole Super family this time around.  So, I'll give Action Comics another try in the future in my on going quest to be completely caught up on the whole DC New 52 comic runs (a daunting task based on the way I flip back and forth during my reading).

(I realize that this would be better broken down into more bite sized bits as I'm actually doing my reading instead of one long ass post at the end of the month but I got lazy and just didn't feel like writing until this very moment.  Well, not this moment but a few moments ago when I started typing this crap out).

I've been wanting to get into this comic as I really heard some good things about it from others but just never did.  However once I found out it was only 5 issues long I decided that I might as well take the plunge and I'm glad that I did.
There probably aren't enough good quality horror comics out there but this was one that I was left enjoying and really wishing for more.

The bad guy is named Nimble Jack and he's quite the character.  I would really love another book or two just featuring him and his back story and some of his other deeds over the course of the years as he truly made this book creepy at times.

Also showing another world that only crazy people can see and the reason for them being crazy I thought was pretty damned creative.  The artwork was superb the whole way through and I hope the writer and artist team up for more short stories based on the world they have already laid out.

Nimble Jack looking for Food!

Avengers vs X-Men

I'm about half way through AvX and enjoying it a lot more than I thought I was going to.  I've been waiting to finish this off before actually getting into the whole Marvel Now line of books and being caught up.  (I have been reading some though just because I've got favorite characters I love to follow).
The gist of this is that the Phoenix Force is on it's way to Earth and will be inhabiting Hope Summers as it's next .....
Avengers believe that it will be the destruction of the entire Earth and all mankind whereas the X-Men believe that it will be a rebirth of the X-Men and Mutant kind and will negate the damage that was done the last time it visited earth and nearly destroyed all of the mutants.
Where I currently am is that the Phoenix Force has made contact and due to interference from the Avengers ended up inhibiting the bodies of 5 other X-Men instead of Hope.  Those 5 X-Men are now all powerful and going through the earth and trying to make things right in their eyes.  They are creating limitless Food and Water and Energy, Outlawing Wars and Conflict and destroying weapons.  Essentially making them the supreme rulers and laying out how they want everything to be.
I believe this to be the half way point and I will finish the story in April.

At that point I will focus on catching up on my current titles and then playing catch up with a bunch of titles that I haven't even started reading.

While I started out this year hoping to read the entire Amazing Spiderman run (which I read nothing of in March) I've diverged and am now just trying to play catch up so that I am current with where the comic world is today with DC New 52 and Marvel Now (Marvel Now will be easier because it's more recent).

By the end of the year I'll be burnt out on comics and burn them all!!!

Next month I have a few story lines for ongoing comics that are ending and as such I'll talk about them then.
Tomorrow is April Fools and Easter Sunday - Seems like a lot of really bad (good) religious jokes in the making there.
Zombie Jesus rising from the grave to hide eggs and play pranks!

I played Poker (results inside)

I was the receiver.

Rob got to watch most of it.  It was uglier than it should have been.
I understand that Joy comes from doing well at something and as a result I think I'm coming close to losing my joy for poker.
It will probably be a while before I play again, and I know that I will play again.
But, maybe my focus is just elsewhere and even when I'm sitting at the felt my mind is wandering to other things too often.  Maybe I'm not focused enough and need to let a few things blow over before I can put the proper focus back into playing to make the game fun again.

Either way.  Session sucked.
 :)

Just When Things Were Looking Up

When I originally turned my computer on this was the post I was coming to write.
Then I got distracted by JT88  and his post about Bacon or whatever.
Then while opening all the blogs I wanted to read for the morning I found out that another random poker player out there has added me to his reading circle and became my 48th follower - Hot damn.
Most of my followers are poker players or interested in poker and I absolutely never talk about poker, weird shit :)

However - What I brought you all to talk about today is that ugly thing we all call work.
Specifically retail work, you know, since I work in a retail environment and all.

Things were finally looking up at work - they really were.
I supposedly manage two departments and both of those departments finally got to the point where they were fully and properly staffed so that I could actually manage instead of just also being a grunt with more responsibilities.
The slower of the two departments, Electrical, was up to 2 full time employees and 2 part time employees.  There was coverage for every shift and was even going to be some times where I might have more than one person working for a few hours.
The busier of the two departments, Plumbing, was up to 3 full time guys and a part time guy, Plus myself (since it's the busiest it is the schedule I am thrown onto).

For the last two weeks I have actually had about 50-60% of my own shifts where someone else was working and I was free to finish up some tasks and do my paperwork and whatnot.  It felt marvelous.

However, this is retail.
One part time guy in Electrical quit because the lifting was too much for his arthritis.  He thought he was going to be able to just help customers and not touch product.
The other part time Electrical guy has been sick for a week but assures me that he has doctors notes and documentation and all that happy horse shit so that he can retain his job - Looking forward to getting him back.
My full time CSA whom I had been working with to help get into a Department Manager role just got promoted (not to a manager position) and moved to the Millwork (doors and windows) department.

Neither of my two loses are going to be replaced.

So, in Electrical I have just enough coverage to fill the available shifts which means no overlap and no one actually gets to work together (which is a crappy way to be a worker if you are by yourself 90+% of the time).
In Plumbing I'm now back to being coverage at least 80% of the time I am working because the part time guy will be scheduled mostly to help out on freight days.

This is the wonderful world of retail, especially for a slower store.
The biggest issue is that the plumbing guy that I just lost is the one who was helping me out with most of my paperwork for his training - so I lost my right hand man.  A lot of that help is now going to have to be divided amongst the other 3 - two of them who are Brand Spanking New to the company and will take some time to get up to speed on everything.  One is an old curmudgeon who really just wants to do things his way until it's time to retire and fade away.

I got promoted and started working this store in October.  I started with 5 Employees and am down to 2 of the originals as I've had the other 3 promoted into other area's of the store.
So good for them but bad for me.

I have another week (I think) with good coverage in Plumbing to take advantage of but after that everyone is going to have to pick up the slack left by us losing 40 hours per week.

Oh, and corporate decided to block Google Drive access at work which really really sucks.
They are going to be rolling out that shitty Microsoft version of Office 365 or whatever it's called and they finally decided to block Drive which I used pretty much every single day.
I've got a lot of documents on there that I edit and print to help with my daily routines.
Now I'm forced to print them from home but can only edit them when I'm not working if I see changes that need to be done.
Two days ago I was just in there using them, yesterday it no longer worked as it was banned for being "Online storage device."
And we do not currently have access to the Office version.
Screw You Hippies.

Forty Ate is Grrrrrreat

You can either choose to go to a blog that does not currently exist in any real fashion or you can just check out the Google+ page but either way please welcome Alfie AA to the Cult of Grrouch!!!

You are number 48 on my quest towards world domination and 100k hits per month.
It's going to be a long road ahead especially when I don't talk about anything that is particularly interesting!

Welcome aboard you silly poker player you

My Thoughts on Gay Marriage

Like the old Pringles commercials "Fuck who you want, we'll make more."

Who cares? Right?  Pro? Con?
Blah Blah Blah
What I do know is that I support the rights of people to eat Bacon.

Facebook has become doomed with the equality sign recently and I pretty much only favor the ones done in jest that make me smile.  The world is talking about if a man and another man and a goat can legally become married and make each other miserable for years and years to come.  Well, why not?  It's not just straight people who can drag each other down and then get a divorce and fight for the belongings.  I think everyone should have bacon rights!



I'm not saying that it's wrong or right (if it feels good can it really be wrong?) I'm just saying that those opposed to it shouldn't get a say in the matter.
If you don't want gay marriage - then don't marry a gay.  You made your choice and they are making theirs.  You don't get to tell me what I can eat for breakfast so why should you tell me who I can pledge my life to?

GFY you crazy leftists (or is it rightists?) bastards.  There always has to be a big controversy to keep the country running it seems.
Blacks are evil and must remain separate.  Well, we can tolerate them but they can't be with my child.  Stop mixing the races.
Oh, we hate the gays - You're not allowed to fuck that other guy because I think it's gross.  Ok, we'll tolerate you now but don't tell anyone in the military!  OK Fine - just don't get married and that will make us happy because we'll still be able to believe that we are somehow superior to you because we can do something you cannot.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm absolutely in love with a non gay member of the opposite sex right now I'd run out and get hitched to another dude just to piss off the people who are against it and trying to make sure it can never happen.

grrouch out
mmmm, bacon

Penultimate

So, in all of my 36.5 years on this planet yesterday ended up being the one moment that I would deem the most emotional moment of my life thus far.

As I was playing ball with the kid while his mother worked he turned to me and said:

"Serge, I wish you were my dad"

Then gave me a big hug.


Fin

Sunburntout

Yesterday I helped the lady with some yard-work.
What actually happened is that I got to play with a weed whacker for like 2 hours and just cause massive amounts of destruction and enjoyed the shit out of it.
However, what failed to happen is me putting on any suntan lotion or a hat or anything else that would have helped keep the sun off of my sensitive parts - my head and neck.

So, yeah, a little sun burnt.  I am a pale white guy after all.

After that was over we relaxed a little bit and then took the kid to the park where he proceeded to want to play some football.
He was playing with some other boys for a while but when they were done he wanted me to play.  Problem is the football he has is basically a Nerf football.  It's horrible, the wind decides where it wants to go and it's been beat to hell so it doesn't even fly as good as it should.
I really need to get him something closer to a real football - though I'll keep it on the smaller side since he is only 7 and he is small for his age as well.
However, all that being said, I had an enjoyable time throwing the football around with him and really hope this is something he wants to keep doing.  Kicking a soccer ball is boring - football is more my thing.

Yesterday I had to order a new phone from the insurance peoples.
What had happened was.....
I got home around midnight and my phone started ringing.
I pulled it out of my pocket but must have had a horrible grip as it slipped out of my hand.
Proceeded to land on the floor on the upper left corner at precisely the right spot to just break the screen.  The corner cracked and chipped and a crack was sent across the whole screen in multiple directions.

I've never broke a screen before (except for my old iPod touch which shattered because it was made out of cotton candy or some shit) and kind of annoyed.  So, I made my insurance claim and should have the new one by the time I get out of work tomorrow.  I'm sure it's a refurb - i just hope it's the same model as I really like my phone.  I technically only need it for another 2 months until I'm eligible for an upgrade but I don't plan on upgrading for quite some time provided my "new" phone doesn't shit the bed.

Saw a pic of the new companion for Doctor Who and I already miss Amy and Rory.
Mostly Amy.
Oh Amelia Pond.

A thought about Older Posts

So, my blog has been getting a very unusual number of hits within the past month or two.
In fact, while my average views had settled down a bit now they are all the sudden spiking and for the most part I think it's spam oriented.

A post about my puppy has well over 1000 views.
A post about Splitter and by Splitter are getting big views.
Just recently my post (from last year sometime) about Insert Coins has been getting a bunch of hits and spam posts.  (I've been deleting a bunch of spam lately - though blogger catches most of it).

So, I was thinking about these posts that are getting targeted for reasons I cannot comprehend, should I alter them? Delete them?  Will any of it matter?  Will I just end up getting a new post or 3 targeted instead?

I started this post earlier today but due to the internet collapsing upon itself (at least in my house through my wireless connection) I was unable to finish it.
So, Really quickly I'm going to show you a picture of how one person decided to stumble upon my blog today.  I really wish that it would tell me which Post popped up for said search.

MOJO EDIT******

Number 47 - Peter Chien

After what seems like years of stagnation I'm happy to report that I've finally added another member to the cult of grrouch!

Everyone please warmly welcome Peter Chien to the family, slap him with some wet noodles and take away his Top Ramen if he gets out of line.


In Poker news there is a small chance I'll be getting out late tomorrow for a session with Rob and Prudence if they are still playing (or I guess depending on how long they will be out playing).

Friday, however, I am making it my own personal mission to get out and play with them no matter what.

Also, Grouse is in town March 26th - 29th and I am going to try my damnedest to get out and meet up with him one evening for either a poker session or a heavy drinking session.
Looking forward to it.

While I have taken off what feels like the last year from meeting people and playing games I'm really starting to get to the point that I miss it.
Used to be a time that I'd hit up the tables with Stump consistently.  Used to get a text from Rob every time he was in town so that we could meet up and take down some fish - or at least just have a good bloody time.
The poker tables are calling me and I need to find a way to answer.

Vacation

Pretty much epitomizes me.  On vacation and dreaming about the super cool shit I could be doing if it weren't for the fact that I'm a big cheap ass and didn't put any actual thought into it other than "I don't want to be at work for this many days."

So here is a list of shit that I would rather be doing.
Sleeping
Eating
Eating very unhealthily
Touching Myself
Drinking
Drinking Heavily
Playing Poker

The list could go on for a day or 3 so I decided to end it with Poker.
It seems fitting that I'm exiled from work and the world renowned Rob - the Vegas Poker enthusiast - is in town for an extended period of time and will probably be playing some sort of Poker at Big Casino's on the Strip during this time.
So, my new goal is that one night during this vacation I want to head out and play some poker, preferably with Rob and hopefully with Prudence.  Maybe the evening could result in a good story for her part of the interwebs.
Either way, I'm off (my rocker) and there is a new Pope in town (and sadly it's not Pope Corky the 23rd) so that's reason enough to celebrate right?

As for the here and now?
Well, I just Shit, Showered and Shaved and I've decided what I'm doing for lunch.
After that it's yard duty.

Mini Vacation and the Joys of my Life

Today is the last day that I work before my 5 days off.
It's probably going to be a busy 5 days off though.

I'm helping my love do some spring cleaning around her house and then I'll be moving on to the same thing around my house.
I'll also be trying to figure out a way to teach a 7 year old how to add money.
He's a tricky one because his need to want to do things quickly and get them over with instead of slowing down to make sure he does it right keeps getting in his way.
He'll add a bunch of dimes together and get them right but once you ask him to throw a nickle in there he doesn't add things up on the "penny" side - he keeps adding them up on the "tens" side instead.
So 3 dimes gives him 30 cents, but ask him to add a nickle to that and he goes (in his head) 40, 50, 60, 70, 80..... 80 cents....
My goal is over the next 5 days to knock that bad habit out of him and get him really good with monies.
Racist joke coming up.
He is black so naturally he is bad with money, I'm just hoping I can rub my whiteness off on him.
End racist joke.

I love that boy and mean no harm by what I said above :)


Since I have known him he has liked to draw little family portraits.
At first it was always him, his mom and his dad.  Add the dog in there and maybe his brother (his cousin, but they were born 2 days apart and call each other brothers).
Then a few months ago I randomly ended up in a couple of the family portraits - but I was waaaayyyyy off to the side.

For instance, he'd have His dad and his mom with him in the middle.  Then his brother would be there and then the dog.  Then like 20 feet to the left would be a tree and I'd be hanging out by the tree watching things like a creepy Peeping Tom or child abductor.

The last portrait was His mom and then me (front and center) with him hanging on me, arms wrapped around, then the dog and his brother.  There was no sign of the actual sperm donor this time.
So, over the course of time I have entered the family and made the portraits.

It made me so happy that he's accepted me and included me into his family and the picture filled me with some sort of pride.  Touched me in a way (but not a touched by an uncle kind of way).
My love took a pic of the picture and sent it to me on my phone and I cannot stop looking at it.
Makes me happy and fills me with joy.

Funny shit, I was going to talk about what my plans were for work and got side tracked.

Oh well.

Until next time.

A story with pictures (not a good one)

 I was hungry so I called home and asked the little lady to have some dinner ready for me by the time I got home

 At work I recently found out that I am, indeed, just another NPC in the RPG of life.  I don't do anything cool, I'm just there to serve a purpose for all of the other assholes who actually do things that are cool and experience life.
This existence sucks just as bad as I thought it would when I was young and making fun of it.

 

When I got home I said fuck the bacon - How about a blow job?  She agree'd

Right before climax the dog jumped on the bed and licked my anus.
How can I train the dog to continue this?

My Spider-Sense is Vibrating

Recently KenP sent an article my way that he thought might pique my interest.
He was right.

A bunch of geniuses came up with a suit to wear that has some built in censors designed to give you a real life version of Spider-Sense, the famous ability from our favorite web-slinger to detect things about to happen to avoid them.

In this suit you are hooked up to 7 different censors that will send impulses to you when it detects something.  This can alert you to an incoming danger like a wife entering the room or a nearing bookshelf so that you can adjust your course and steer clear of any trouble.

The prototype suit costs about $500 and the price is expected to be lower as costs are cut and mass production would begin.

However, I think this suit has some amazing implications for those that are sight impaired Stevie Wondered freakazoids.  Er... Blind.


Combine this technology with the coming Google Glasses and in short order I'm going to be impersonating the T-2000 but with new Spidey Abilities to make me nigh invulnerable!
I'll know your hit-points, I'll know your power levels, I'll know the last time your girl gave you a handy. And, when you take a swing at me my left nipple will vibrate telling me to duck, adjust to the right and kick you in your balls.

Thank you, Future, for being so cool.

Another One Bites the Dust

I suppose it's obligatory that if I'm going to use that as my post title then I should at least provide the soundtrack for the reader.

There we go, got that out of the way.
The post title really is just about the fact that just a week or two into his new position I have already had one of my part time employees up and quit on me.
Turns out that the guy had some sort of bad issues with arthritis and all the work that was required of him was just too much to handle.  Thus, when I become fully staffed I am now back to being just kinda sorta staffed.

I was told today that after a month or so they would look at the hours and decide if they were going to replace him or not.  Here's to hoping the guy who just started this week makes it longer!

And, my much more preferred version of the song, done by one of my favorite performers.

Today before work I put an hour or so into God of War Ascension and am quite enjoying it.
Doesn't feel as hard as GoW 3 and the controls don't appear to be quite as smooth at times but I'm really enjoying the new moves and enemies.  It's quite satisfying.
The biggest complaint that I currently have is that they did away with the whole "Save Point" system though and now the game just has checkpoints where it saves itself.
Yes, that's the more modern way to do things and save points are pretty much antiquated at this time but I always enjoyed save points because you could create multiple save files.  I guess I'll never out grown the RPGer in me.
I read up a little bit on the trophies and it appears as there are only 1 or 2 of them that are Multi-Player Trophies which is a good thing for me.
In order to play the MP portion of the game you have to use your Online Pass, which I can't activate because it gives you 48 real time hours to earn double XP.  So, when I finally activate it I want to make sure that I'll have the two days off of work and other commitments so I can put a good amount of time into it to take advantage of the Double XP as much as possible.

Still trying to find a way to secure one of those sexy red systems without causing too much of a dent in my pocket book.
I can trade in one of my systems.
I can trade in all the games.
I can justify a certain dollar figure towards it because I was planning on upgrading my hard drive anyways (and the new one has a 500 gig compared to my 80 gig).
But, it's the difference between those two figures that I need to find a way to make up or justify!
First World Problems my friends.

Weight Loss progress update

It's been a bumpy road over the last month or so - at least that's the way it felt.
I was sick and lost a good amount, then I was having dental issues and eating very unhealthy and gained it all back plus some and then I got sick again (due to dental issues) and lost again.

The net sum of it all?

Well - One month ago I took this Picture.

2/12/2013

Well - A month and two days ago to be precise - February 12th 2013.

As a refresher - my weight for all intents and purposes of this blog is a 1st thing in the morning (when I wake up I consider that to be morning no matter how late in the day it might actually be) before I've gone and put a whole lot of stuff into me and without a whole lot of clothes on.  For my purposes I'm more interested in my natural weight currently.  Why? Because it's less and makes me feel better and when I saw that I was over 300 pounds that's what I was wearing at the time as well - Not A Bloody Thing!
My "Weight Watchers" weight is significantly different because that happens at 6pm at night fully clothed.  I've been eating all day long and got stuff weighing me down.

This morning I took this picture.

3/14/2013

The first thing everyone will notice (and was pointed out on Facebook) is that I've got a bit of a case of Hobbit Feet.
The second thing you should notice is that in the past month I've lost nearly 6 pounds.

Starting at 303 I've now dropped 70 pounds.

I'm now 13.4 pounds away from my goal of 220 that I set when I began this whole journey.  Looks like I'll be hitting that before Summer and I'm pretty stoked about it.
Funny thing is that as I near my goal I still look at myself and say "Man, you're still a big fat tub of lard with a lot of progress left to go."
It's true, it's true.  So, as I inch closer to my first goal of 220 it does appear as though I'll set my next goal a bit lower instead of just being willing to maintain there.  I'm still not satisfied with what I see when I look at myself and in my mind I'm still that fat 280 pound bastard that I've been for the last decade.

Progress, it's what's for Dinner!

God of War Ascension

Just dropped off at my door from Amazon.com.
While I won't have much of a chance to play it today I'm quite excited that it's here.  Tomorrow I'm going to devote a few hours to it.

Tonight I'm bringing over the lady and kid and think I'm going to have to hide the Game/Statue because he is going to want to play with both.  The thing about 7 year old's is that if it looks like a toy they think it should be a toy.  Every time he comes over he questions why I have so many toys if I won't ever take them out of their package and play with them.  "That's stupid."

The Steelbook case

The Box it all came in

The Statue

I absolutely love the God of War Games.
I was a little late to get into them but when I started playing I became instantly hooked.  As far as action games going the teams that developed GoW and Kratos knocked the action out o the park.  I'm not strictly referring to the look and feel of the game but I'm talking about the controls as well.  Everything flows so well and it all works beautifully and since that time other games have tried to copy/adapt the system in order to fit other games (and none of them work nearly as well).
Dante's Inferno was a strict God of War knock off done by EA and while it was fun it was no where near as good (control wise).
The last console version of Castlevania owe's much of itself to God of War as well.  The control scheme completely changed from what it was before to the GoW Adaptation that it became trying to still cash in on it's old (successful) name but capturing a new audience familiar with this type of new action.

So, here's to you Ascension.  The 6th game in the franchise and the first with multiplayer action (which I expect to hate).  I'm going to have to play the multiplayer just because I want to get the Platinum Trophy for every GoW game, but I can't wait to rip into the single player campaign.  
I think I just found what is going to slow down my comic book reading for a while :)

The Internet ate my post

This morning I wrote out a post about how I was sick all weekend.
I gave lots of little details about Thursday through Tuesday.

I hit publish.  Blogger duplicated my post but only posted one and saved the duplicate as a draft.
The duplicate ended up being a blank page.
The one that it posted got 3 views before it randomly got reverted back to being a draft.

By the time I got home from work and heard from a few people that they couldn't read my post I checked it out and dag nabbit they were right.
So I went to go "edit' and republish and the mofo was gone.  Well, it was sitting there missing about half the post.
I started to try to retype some of it and gave up after 3 words.  That's just not my style man.

So, I'm not typing it back up.  I'm going to summarize.
Thursday: Dentist - one tooth still infected.  Opened and Drained.
Friday: No NASCAR because of the rain.  Took the family out to dinner instead.  The kid and I had a blast and adopted a fake British accent for everything at one point.  Listening to a 7 year old black child call his mom "Mummy dear...." in a bad British accent by anyone's standards was fucking precious.
Friday: Started feeling not so well in the head.  Foggy, Fuzzy.  Concentration issues.  Wanting to just pass out randomly.
Saturday: Went to work - felt miserable.  Head was horrible - no pain just this alcohol-like fog.  Everything was wrong.  Went home when my mid-shift got there and slept almost the entire day.
Sunday: Called off and slept almost the entire day.
Monday: Head fuzziness gone but stomach issues.
Tuesday: Pre-work Shart

Happy now?

Today at work was interesting because starting next week-ish I'll be fully staffed in both of my departments.  I'll be able to actually go back and forth between them (when I'm not coverage) and do weird managerial stuff.  I'm not sure what this entails but I guess I'll just make this shit up as I go along.
My new employee is actually a local Vegas Comedian whom I've been following on Facebook for a while.

This whole "small world" concept really amuses the shit out of me.  I have been putting off my lame attempt at doing an open mic or preparing for it because of a whole lot of extra stuff that has been going on this year that needs my attention instead.  And now that I'm hopefully nearing the end of all of it I've got this dropped into my lap.
Another person who does it.  Another person who I can talk to, run stuff by et cetera.
It's interesting how life works sometimes.

I have the next two days off of work but I think I'm still going to head in tomorrow to make up some hours from leaving early Saturday and calling off on Sunday.  I've got some stuff I can accomplish while hopefully not having to help customers because I'm not actually scheduled.  We will see how that goes.
Thursday is hopefully the final trip to the dentist to get that last tooth finished and the crown put on permanently.

Thursday is also Weight Watchers night since both myself and the lady are off and I'm hoping that my mouth feels good (you dirty minded freaks) because I'd like to take her to her favorite Sushi place afterwards.  That last part will of course depend on if we have the kid with us or if her parents will watch him for a couple hours while we hit up the WW and dinner.

I've been playing this song a lot lately (especially now that I have replaced my Blu Tooth headset).

Dental Update

Oh Joy.
A quickie.

After not sleeping the past two nights (4 and 4.5 hours respectively) I made a trip to the dentist today.
Was supposed to be the last one but turns out it's the next to the last one (dog willing).
What had happened was we got 3 of the crowns put in and the 4th is just temporary at this point.
One of the teeth was still damned sensitive and causing issues so he worked on it and I think drugged it up with some antibiotics.
Next Thursday I go back and as long as all is well then the crown becomes permanent.

What does this mean for you guys?
Well, I'll probably stop talking about my shitty teeth and turn my attention to talking about the 4-5 pounds I've gained over the past 3 weeks as I attempt to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon and lose it again.

Now - off to the comic book store :)

Rise and Shine

Gravy

So, the original Gnarls Barkley song has recently started playing at work a couple of times a week and I pretty much hated it when it came out.  It's catchy and whatnot and eventually I got used to it.  However, loving all things parody I really let my shit hit the floor first time I heard this other version.
So, now that Crazy gets stuck in my head now and then out of nowhere this song came back to me and keeps getting stuck in my head.

Last night was a pretty low dorky dream.  My dream was that I was actually reading comic books (yes, I dreampt that I was sitting down and reading comic books, flipping through the pages and trying to make sense of the story) and the whole time this song was in my head.
Then when I awoke it stuck in my head and I had to share with all of you.

You can thank me later, especially Waffles! - Or, should I say, especially Waffles!!

Now, after 7 straight nights of Closing shifts at work I have to go work a mid shift and I think I'd actually prefer another close.
Tomorrow is an open and I think I'm going to switch that to a Mid with one of my guys as I really don't want to open on a freight day, ugh!

Tonight Tonight Tonight

oh OoooHHhHhhHh
Sometimes you just need to quote Phil Collins.

Today at work was one of those days that you just dread.  There isn't enough time in the day to accomplish what needs to be done and I blame it on scheduling (to a degree).

Today I had an opener and a guy working 8-1.  I came in at 1:30.  So, for me there was no coverage at all - I was alone - I was all by myself.....
Sunday, from what I'm told, was one of those brutal days where there are so many customers with a million questions that it's hard to accomplish anything other than helping.  A gent from another department informed me that we were so busy in plumbing he came over and helped with 4 carts of returns since the help was desperately needed.
However, none of this mattered to my opener who wanted to just bitch up a storm about how bad the department looked.
This guy is going to be fun, Oh Boy!

When I got in there was still some freight that needed done.  There was a lot of cleaning up that needed done and there were the tasks which I had planned on doing that got put off until tomorrows shift.

Retail - you are a fickle bitch sometimes.

Now that I'm fully staffed in both of my departments I need to hold either one or two "departmental" meetings.  I'm not sure if I'm going to do them all separately or if I'll do both at once.  I'm leaning towards doing them individually.
I also need to make some time to meet with all of my employees individually and discuss expectations, their aspirations and whatnot.  Those meetings will be the most interesting as I have a feeling people are going to be willing to talk about things one-on-one instead of with the whole group.
So, I should do those first and bring up any issues and concerns once the group is gathered.
I need to make sure I get these done before March ends to get them out of the way.  They want us to have these individual meetings every 3 months and the group meetings probably twice a year would be good I think.

And now for a completely random picture

Hey Look - A Bonus

This past weekend has been pretty amazing.
With a few minor hiccups (like watching the movie Ted) it was pretty close to perfect.

I devoured the entire Death of the Family event from DC.  I think I want to read through it again before writing anything up on it (but probably not) but man I love the Joker.  By far my favorite villain in any universe and well portrayed throughout the entire event.  The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the ending but I still think it was completely worthwhile and there should be a good amount of aftershocks felt throughout the Bat-Universe because of that story line and the effect it should have on the major participants.

I started reading Batman Incorporated in order to get more background and info on Damian and the 500 million contract out on his head.  This magazine is really hit or miss with me.  Sometimes I feel that it's got me spellbound and other times I feel like the words on the page are in gibberish and I'm all like "WTF did I just read?"  The art style really just doesn't do it for me either as it feels too all over the place.  I love the art for Batman, Detective Comics, Batgirl and Catwoman.  The I pick up a copy of Batman Inc and my senses are just thrown for a loop.  I'll probably keep reading (lord Knows I continue to read worse mags - i.e. Thunderbolts) for a little while if the stories interact with the other books, but if not I'll probably drop it from my list.

At my "all store meeting" tonight they delivered the good news that we bonus'd for the last quarter.  Then they proceeded to give out the amounts that everyone would receive.
I'm not sure whether or not I really like this practice of publicly telling everyone how much the bonuses are because of the vast variance between positions.  I know I don't like it, but I'm not sure how much I dislike it would probably be a better line to have typed.
Here is my logic.  There are several tiers of the bonus.  Part Timers, Full Time Peons, Pro's, Specialists and then Department Managers (in that order from lowest to highest).
On the one hand it gives people in the lower positions more of a reason/desire to achieve better positions.  Not only will your base pay increase as you climb the ladder but your bonus potential does as well.
However, for those who are already disgruntled it just gives them more reason to dislike those in a better position than them and causes more segregation.  "Oh yeah, I work harder than such and such and they get 3 times the bonus that I get."
To me it's along the same lines as the old adage "Don't discuss your pay with anyone else."  It's no ones business.  But, I'm probably in a minority here.  I don't care if people know what my bonus is, they can ask and I'll tell them.  However, if I were just a lowly part time CSA working my ass off for a pittance then I sure as shit don't want to hear that the Specialists and Department Managers (and maybe even the Pro's) are getting a bonus that is probably twice what my check normally is.

The good news is that this bonus will show up on Friday's check.  Friday just so happens to be our planned trip to Vegas Motor Speedway and thus the cost of the tickets is not an issue.
Another major portion of this bonus is also being tucked safely away for the tickets to Disney at the beginning of the summer and it will be nice to not have to worry about where that money is coming from.
The 3rd portion of the bonus - well - I think daddy needs a new pair of shoes (so to speak).
I am going to treat myself for surviving 2012 and for a planned amazing 2013.  I don't know how I am going to treat myself right now but I know that I will.

Today I was able to eat with absolutely no pain.
So, this week is going to be a good one.
Thursday (hopefully) I get my permanent Crowns and after the little bit of pain goes away from that I'll be good to go.
Ahh, I do not plan on eating very healthy tomorrow at all :)

Good night friends

Ted the Movie

For a movie that I really had high expectations for and have been clamoring to see since it came out in theaters but have been unable to watch due to the fact that it would be mildly (understatement) inappropriate to watch with a 7 year old, I would like to make the statement that I was very disappointed.
In fact, disappointed is also an understatement.  If I had to give Ted a rating I would give it two fingers up. Two middle fingers up.  Two middle fingers way fucking up in a sign of protest.

Ted.  You had an amusing premise.  You had a cast I could get behind.  You had a creative team whom I enjoy and feel is full of brilliance   You even had some good lines in the movie, but over all you get two rip roaring disappointed middle fingers in a salute.

The best thing I can say about Ted was that I paid nothing for the movie.  It came via a free RedBox rental.

In the 1 hour and 47 minutes that the movie ran these were my favorite parts.
Note - I did not watch for the entire 1 hour and 47 minutes.

The Garfield gag.

Lori: "There's a shit on my floor....."
Ted "Yeah, we were playing Truth or Dare and Charene was pretty ballsy."

Frank: "You had sexual intercourse with a co-worker on top of the produce that we sell to the public?"
Ted: "Last week i fucked her with a parsnip and later sold the parsnip to a family with four small children"

Maybe my expectations were too high.
Maybe i was expecting more than just an hour and a half of "too dirty for Family Guy" material.
I don't know.
Either way - ugh - fuck - I wish this movie was better.
I'm going to go watch Bad Santa to wash the dirty taste out of my mouth and get some sleep.

Bills Bills Bills

I hate the beginning of a new month.
I get to look at my bank accounts and my budget spreadsheet and see all of the numbers that exist, but will cease fairly soon.

Then, with a few clicks of my mouse and a couple strokes on my keyboard (it does take different strokes to rule the world) all the money dwindles and I'm left with bleh.

Oh well, that's the way it goes when you live in the real world and aren't grinding VBJ for a dollar an hour I guess.
I have a short day at work, I go in an hour late.  Of course this is in part to make up for the fact that we have a 2 hour mandatory meeting tomorrow after the close of business.
Someone told me that Nevada has a law that says you have to work for a min of 4 hours for it to be mandatory, or your company has to at least pay you for a min of 4 hours for any shift you work.
I don't really believe this but I'm still going to perform a Google search and see if anything relevant turns up.

Really, it's just so I can be selfish and skip out on this "all store" meeting that falls on my Day Off, and at the end of it for that matter.
I've already got plans to spend the day with my love and I just don't want work to be the reason I have to drag myself away from a much more enjoyable situation.

Getting some Fries on the way to work - Decided!

Also, I will be buying some of this

Screw You February

February came in with a lot of hope and promise and left with annoyance and bitterness.

Everything started out great as I was able to piece enough money together so that I could proudly proclaim that I'm Debt Free!

Before the month ends that proclamation ended up being short lived as a trip to the dentist office forced me back into becoming a debt slave again until probably the end of the year.  Ugh.  WTF.
When all is going right, there is something out there to derail me.

However, it's all just temporary.  Hopefully before the year ends I can make this scream and statement again - though probably with a bit less enthusiasm.

I did a lot of reading in February, all of the Comic Book Variety.  The month started out slow but picked up and ended with a bang.
It appears that on the days I work the late shift I do a lot of early morning reading.  When I work earlier shifts I tend to spend my free time with the lady and kid.  So, having nothing but closes to end the month allowed me to catch up to where I wanted to be and start March with Death of the Family which is turning out to be amazing so far.
The Joker really knows how to spice things up.

I'll probably start doing at least one Comic Book post per week to sum up what I have read and what I liked or didn't like over the course of the week.
February saw me playing catch up (and blogging about) Red Hood and the Outlaws, Batman and Robin, Teen Titans and Suicide Squad.

There was, of course, more reading than just that but that's all I really talked about.
In total I read (and forced the last few out just for the good ratio) 140 comic books in February, this works out to an average of 5 per day.  An "improvement" over what I did in January but something I doubt I can keep up for March unless I happen to work a lot of evenings.  I'll admit that the first two days are well above average because I can't stop taring through Death of the Family.

Weight loss was pretty close to a zero sum game.  I got sick and lost a good amount of weight but then I had some dental work which caused me to eat a lot of chicken noodle soup and pancakes which caused me to gain weight back.  I'm starting March at 237.8 which is NOT the 235 I wanted to be at already.
The work on my teeth will be complete on Thursday provided my crowns come in and as soon as I can exercise with no thump thump thump in my teeth then I plan on going to the gym on my two days off every week.  Gotta start somewhere and I'm willing to start small.

This Friday we are taking the kid to the Vegas Motor Speedway for the Nascar time trials and whatnot.
If I can find a way to come up with the money Stephen Lynch is playing at the House of Blues on Saturday.
Since I just got home and ate breakfast right before typing this post it's time for a shower and some more reading.  I can't wait to see what that Joker has in store next!