Anything and Everything

War and Ruin, My Heroes!

2010-11-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late to be bringing this title for the Playstation 3 to light, but I cannot stress enough how superb this title is. Darksiders for this Playstation 3 was nothing less then an amazing title.

Ok. For those of you that are not familiar with the back story on this title, War is one of the Four Horsemen Of the Apocolypse and Ruin is his trusty sidekick in malevolence and mayhem. Upon being mistakenly awakened for 'Armageddon', the 'Council' governing War, decided he broke the sacred balance and was subsequently stripped of all his hay making abilities. I really don't want to dive into the plot all that much as it would destroy certain cut scenes for you. But at a glimpse, the whole point of the story is that you are trying to prove your innocence to the 'Council' whilst getting revenge on your betrayers. The story and characters are interesting enough, but that is not the read draw on this masterpiece.

The attraction here, by far is the open world you get to explore after a certain point in the story. These landscapes of a ravaged, dystopian Earth or something straight out of Seth McFarlane's Spawn comic. You couldn't be any more engrossed in these matte paintings if you were digitized yourself. Unbelievable 'eye-poppers'. Screens: (1,2) Keep in mind, these screens are In Game. They are not cut scenes at all.

I could talk endlessly on the artwork, however, there are other points of interest equally just as stellar. Take the game play. The animation is smooth, and the controls are exceptionally crisp. There isn't a lag here at all in character motion. You want to squish a zombie tortured soul's head, you get it on demand. You are high tail luggin' it across the Ashlands and don't really feal like walking any more, just call up Ruin and there he is. In a seamless motion though. When War mounts Ruin, I gotta tell ya....It reminds me of the old style westerns where it used to be the thing to have your main character run and mount the horse at the same time. Vigil, the game's developer, knocked it out of the park. That motion is flawless and certainly adds a level of 'ass whoopin' ego to the game. Because War's sword is so large, and he effortless hops up with one arm; One could certainly understand why his name is War.

Vigil didn't skimp on the 'stuff to do' in game either. Casting the linear storyline missions aside, there are plenty of bonuses to go after in game. Again, I will not divulge any spoilers, so do your own homework. Trust me, there is a lot more other then the story. I didn't go for the platinum on this title. Don't get me wrong it was fun and in depth, but not enough to keep me interested in the platinum award. I finished this one out at 68% of trophies to be earned.

Overall, I give this title an 8.3/10 on the 'Clay's Collectible Game List'. Buy it for your collection and squish some demons for me!

The Infinite Wisdom of My Car

2010-11-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

I, like many of you own a car. Now there is nothing really special here. It is just a car of little importance. Or so it seems. My car has taught me quite a bit within the few years of owning this gem of a wonder.

To start, lets mention Patience. I have decided to add a link to the word patience to emphasize the definition of said word. There can be no misunderstanding about why I chose this word.

Little background information here. My car isn't a brand new car, but it isn't mechanically on its last leg either. I try to keep up with the routine maintenance and replace non-working parts myself. I love tearing that thing apart! The smell of grease and gasoline is better then a McDonald's double quarter pounder with cheese when you have a hang over. (Another story) The last part I had to replace would have been the headlight assembly switch. Not really a big one here. It was all about four Torx head screws and a couple of simple plastic snaps for the steering column. The whole job took me about a whopping 45 minutes soup to nuts to complete. (Excluding the drive to the local parts dealer, and a trip to the garage for operation deconstruction of vehicle.)

Ok, back to the point....One night I was heading into work on a seemingly regular day. It was a little chilly out and the light drizzle just seemed to emphasize the 'normality' of it all. I kissed my girlfriend goodbye as I am so often 'reminded' to do. I lit a cigarette, looked up at the sky and strolled to my car. For the life of me I can never understand why I always look up at the sky when it is raining. I don't know. Maybe acid rain in your eyes is good for you. Anyways. Upon reaching my destination, I proceeded to pull my keys out of my pocket. This is always a huge hassle for me. I am one of those people that have an inordinate amount of keys hanging on my key chain. The severity of this problem has since led me to split my keys into two seperate key chains. So now instead of fumbling through my pockets for one key chain, I have to make sure it is the right one I need at the time when pulling them out of my pants. Upon isolating the correct key chain, it is then an even more arduous process of locating the correct key for the correct item. This is why I light my smokes before heading to my car. If I didn't have that sweet nicotine coursing through my veins, I would probably have an anurism alone just meddling with my keys.

So, after locating the correct key, I then proceed to insert my glorious trophy into the lock and unlock my door. I jump in the driver seat, close the door, adjust my mirrors, fire up the GPS unit, turn on the windshield wipers, and start the ignition. The car starts up first time every time, thank God. My day time runners were on so I didn't think anything of it. My head light switch is the twist kind on the steering column, so after adjusting the steering wheel, I habitually just 'twist' the lights on with my left hand and off I go on my merry way. Now we get to the fun part. I pulled down the road about 150 or so feet and my headlights, day time runners and all, abruptly turn off. If you have ever driven at night during the rain, you can quite easily imagine my panic and terror when the illumination to the road was taken from me. I immediately lowered my speed to a crawl at about 15 miles an hour. Second came the hazard lights. As soon as I realized I was on a major road and not wanting to cause a traffic problem, I made a 'left' as quick as humanly possible. After making the turn, I veered off to the berm of the road and started to investigate. Now, I am not the smartest cookie in the Keebler pack, so I tried to look for an obvious fix. I should also state that I am extremely forgetful of minute tasks. All I can hear going through my head at this time is my older brother Drew. He likes to make fun of me incessantly.
Hahahahaha! What a moron! Did you turn your headlights on dork? So, I did what any normal person would do. I turned the switch off, and then on again. The lights came back on. Shortly thereafter, they blinked off again. This process repeated for about 10 times until I realized that "..if it didn't work the first 10 times, why would it work the next time?" What can I say? Sometimes I am incredibly dense.

Well, this put me in a large pickle. Not only did I have to get the car back home, I also had to figure out what was wrong with it and get it fixed. Fortunately, home was only about 150 or so feet away. Miraculously, after fidgeting with the headlight switch, I discovered that there seemed to be a flawed contact somewhere in the switch itself. So, if I 'jimmy'd' the switch, the lights would stay on for a bit. Even though home wasn't that far away, I am sure there are more than a few perturbed drivers out there now because of me. Either annoyed or half blind. Me driving down the road, headlights blinking on and off from normal to 'high beams' and then off completely. I wouldn't be suprised if the other drivers thought I was trying to tell them there was a cop ahead, or if they thought I was just drunk. Either, way I got the car back home.

Right about here is where my car taught me patience. After determining the part that needed to be replaced, and guessing how long and how much it would cost me to replace the irritating piece....I looked for an open auto parts store online I could acquire this little ingenious bastard that wrecked my night in five minutes! Once online I quickly located a suitable place within a respectable radius, and definatively quantified how much was to be siphoned out of my bill fold. The vein in my head slowly but surely was starting to protrude from my forehead. So, I called the parts retailer. The vein in my head steadily grew larger as I listened to one of those hell beast Automated Attendant Systems. The local parts retailer would not be open until tomorrow morning in the early AM. The vein in my head surging yet again, and this time starting to produce a 'thumping' sound in my ears. It wouldn't have been so bad with the obnoxious system, had I not had to listen to motor oil specials for 5 minutes from some chipper wench I have never met, and will probably strangle if I do.

If at first you don't succeed, try again. I tried locating another local parts dealer; primarily company A's competition, and received pretty much the same treatment. Only this time, it is a man I want to strangle after I shove brand name motor oil down his throat. The vein, at this point, has a mind of its own. The most crucial part of this story, is the fact I had to miss a night's worth of work because of this tiny, unrelenting piece of Korean made plastic. With no viable alternative car or means to do my job...I had to call off work.

Well, I then proceeded to do what most anyone else in this situation would. I grabbed a beer, plopped my fat butt on the steps in front of the house, lit another smoke and drank my throbbing vein away. Realizing there wasn't anything I could do to get to work that night, I chuckled to myself at my car and proceeded to say 'Thank you!' for a Life's lesson in patience. I am still trading you in first chance I get!!!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-11-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

Grandma was at it again in the kitchen. She makes the best chicken noodle soup in the world.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing outside in the snow, and then coming in to get a bowl of condensed chicken noodle soup? How it used to warm you up from the inside? I personally remember that the chicken noodle soup my mom always used to feed me and how it was seriously lacking. The soup it self was 9/10 broth and rediculously salty to boot. You were lucky if you received 2 or more pieces of chicken. And they were discolored! There was always that one piece that had a little black spot in it that you avoided like the plague. So by the time you got down to it, it was a bowl of broth with one decent piece of chicken it and some slimy noodles. But you ate anyway because it hit the spot.

Well, the weather is changing and fall is once more upon us. That bitter cold just slicing through your bones. With the unruly cold bellowing at your innards, comes the sniffles and a bulbous red nose swollen from the overuse of cheap tissues and napkins that are readily available. Yes, cold season is here again! Hooray for persistent bacteria! So what does this all have to do with Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup you ask? Excellent question!

To start with, let's look at the consistency of this marvelous creation. Grandma's chicken noodle soup is overwhelmingly stocked full of home made noodles. I am not talking the slimy skinny tidbits from your average condensed can. These are whoppers reminiscent of lasagna pasta 1/8th'ed. Thick slices of yummy noodle. Oh it gets better! Next, Grandma so intricately chooses her carrots! Again, not store boughten pre-packed or frozen processed garbage here. These are real carrots that have been skinned, and hand sliced by this delightful elderly woman after being hand selected from the local grocery produce section. The next wonderous ingredient is salt. Not because of what it is, but how it is added to this arrangement of delectable morsels. She salts to taste. No measuring cup. I often ask her how much is too much, or , how do you know how much to put it? She always smiles and just shrugs her shoulders. She would then proceed to elaborate on how they used to cook in the old days with a 'pinch of this' and a 'pinch of that'. "We never used measuring cups..." Finally, she creates the stock. The chicken broth is the heart and soul of chicken noodle soup. The broth is actually created from the whole breasts of chicken that Grandma boils. She doesn't skimp on the chicken either. Whole breast, all white meat, is all she uses. No discolored 'what the heck is that black thing?' here. After boiling the chicken, she strains off most of the unpleasantries that come from the breasts themselves and pours the stock to the noodles and carrots and salt melody. Now, for the piece de resistance, the chicken! After the chicken has been slow boiled for hours and the broth poured off, the whole chicken breasts are taken from the cauldron and selectively chunked apart by Grandma's arthritis ridden hands. She stops from time to time to rub her sore joints, but muscles on to the finished product. After the chicken has been marauded by hands from yesteryear, the plump hunks of white meat are generously added to the savory selection. After all the ingredients have been lumped together, stirred not shaken, they are then cooked again in that same cauldron for some time.

By this time, that amazing smell that reminds you of making snow angels 20 years ago is beating you in the face screaming "Smell and know that I am all that is Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup!". After the first waft of goodness tickles your nostrils, you are salivating beyond control. You rush downstairs to see where this delicious smell is emanating from. And there it is, in all its holy glory, Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup slowly simmering on the stove tempting you. It is so powerful, you become weak in the knees at it's awesomeness. You clamber to the cupboard for a bowl; any bowl! Must....have....chicken noodle soup! It makes no difference if you just got done eating a salami and cheese sandwich with mustard and swiss cheese. It does not care if you are stuffed to brim with chocolate chip cookies and Snicker's bars....no. You are powerless to this magical artifact.

In one fail swoop, Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup wins again! "You shall rue the day chicken noodle soup!" I shout in my mind as the dribblings of this salty nectar hangs in my goatee. Man I love that stuff....

Borderlands PS3! You know you want it!

2010-11-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

So, I am excited to announce that I have recently earned a platinum trophy for one of my PS3 titles. That title being Borderlands. I must say that this game is just beyond cool. It reminds me of the days when crawling through dungeons in Diablo II was THE thing to do. Many of you may remember (and maybe even are still playing) Diablo II. The random loot drop mechanism was a phenomenal idea to keep you scrounging around through the same dungeons over and over again for better loot! Well, as modern day would have it. . . now have a modern day equivalent with GearBox's Borderlands. The twist here being it is set up like a first person shooter in an open world environment. The 3/4 person perspective is a thing of the past. This game offers four classes. Hunter, Soldier, Siren and Berserker. In order to gain some of the bronze level trophies, you will have to play all of the afore mentioned classes. My personal choice was the hunter. Just because it had an absurd pet ability. Bloodwing, the name of your pet in game , is able to fly over obstacles and hit enemies to produce loot. The second reason I chose this class is the specialality in sniper based rifles. Woo hoo! Head shot!

Ok, so on to the important stuff...my platinum trophy! Some of the missions you have to accomplish in order to advance are quite tedious, and some were down right phenomenal. I personally like a good challenge and not some mundane ' run over here, pick up item A, deliver to person B'. That is why I tended to favor the 'Boss Missions' or the 'Mini-Boss' missions. Running around with a combat rifle dodging enemy fire tossing grenades and hiding behind cover certainly strikes a positive note with me. I will have you all know as well, that there are illegal mods out there that can acquire a with a little digging, but I LEGITAMATELY earned my "Ding! Overleveled +11" trophy. It was no easy task and my girlfriend is about sick and tired of hearing the rattling sound of my Patrol SMG going off. It was worth it though. If you care to look at my trophies, my gamer ID is IAmTheUncleBug on the Playstation Network. Or hit me up sometime to play Borderlands! Love that game!

This title also features some add-ons as well like Mad Moxxi's Underdome and General Knoxx. Both of which I would highly recommend. Mad Moxxi's Underdome is nothing more than a survival of the fittest with insane level bandits. It is a challenge. The trophies for the Underdome however are not a pre-requisite (thank God), to achieving the Platinum trophy. Same goes for General Knoxx. There are some exceptional missions in here that are definately worth a gander. Make sure you are packing some Elemental damage of the corrosive variety in General Knoxx. Lot's of Armor!

And the Coup De' Grace for General Knoxx, Crawmerax the invincible. I LOVED this fight. Will undoubtedly reward you for your efforts! If you are going 'Pearl Hunting', this would be the place for it. PROTIP If you have playthrough 2.5 unlocked, Crawmerax keeps respawning to drop his delectable goodies. PROTIP

Overall, I would give this game a 8/10 on the Clay's Collectible Games List. Get it! Play it! Level it! Come challenge me in a duel hombre!

Hereafter

2010-11-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we went to go see the new movie staring Matt Damon called Hearafter. Very unique concept for a movie plot, however the uniqueness is wore off easily with the age old motif: Life After Death. It's cool in a sense that Matt Damon has the ability to legitimately connect with his fellow man on a level that allows him to communicate with past and present deceased loved ones. It is not so cool on a level where Matt Damon cannot lead a normal life because of this. The character could have been better. . . In one scene, he is just fresh out of a cooking class and is very interested emotionally / physically in his cooking partner. They proceed to flirt and mosey on back to his apartment to cook a meal for themselves in a romantic setting. Without giving it away, the encounter is cut short because of an emotional pain that was brought to light by the female persisting a 'reading' from Matt Damon after learning what his abilities are. Small cut scene and a focus on Matt eating alone and then showing exaggerated dismay only to be emphasized by him throwing his plate in the sink with a sincerely faked toss....and he is alone again. No more cooking partner. Cliche emotional pain that creates a void / rift in protagonists life. We have seen this type of isolation tactic to add emotional depth to characters waaaaaaaaaaay too many times. 'Luke, I AM your father....' It just didn't fit. I was expecting Jason Bourne to grudgingly back hand the cooking instructor with a round-house sweep to finish off the cooking maestro to exemplify his 'emotional pain'. I dunno. Maybe because I am a guy and think action flicks are cool and bad-assery is THE solution to emotional strife. Yes. The formula is simple: Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, obstacle in way of guy and girl. Girl leaves, guy gets mad. Guy pulls out nun-chukas, halberds and pole-swords and about a pound of C4 with a fifth of Tequila and a wedge of lime. Guy single handedly renovates kitchen in less then ten minutes. Guy feels better. Audience gratified by senseless violence and the destruction of 'The Good China' while our protagonist humorously bumbles around in an alcoholic haze nearly cutting himself on a pole-sword. Yea. That works waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better! The only thing cooler would be if light sabers were real and Tequila didn't give you one hell of a hangover.

Unemployment

2010-07-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok. Ok. Ok. So I am all for bailing out the little man in a time of need, but I think this is a problem. Source: (http://politics.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/07/22/unemployment-extension-a-win-for-obama-democrats.html). Here we have congress accepting a new bail out for the little guy to the tune of 34 billion dollars. I just have a couple of questions here....

1) If we are so broke as a nation, where is the $34 billion dollars coming from? Are they borrowing more from foreign countries again? Aren't foreign countries eventually going to cash in that debt? Or are we just going to keep paying interest on that debt like a credit card? Indentured servitude.... OR is the Federal Reserve just going to create more money from nothing and set us up for a round of hyper inflation?

2) How is extending unemployment "...up to 99 weeks" going to solve the problem of jobless people in the long run? Wouldn't that just create more people sitting around for another 99 weeks? Then what?

I wonder if they even read this bill again before it was passed. Better yet, what else was tacked on the bill as a pork belly? Another 2 Trillion dollars to some weird-0 obscure cause that no one has ever heard of ? Enough with the band-aides. I want a REAL fix. T.E.A. Parties may be the solution but I doubt it. With the government labeling it's citizens as local / domestic terrorists for forming a milita. Ok the actual phrase is seditious conspiracy. ( http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/28/arrests-alleged-militia-activity-midwest/) Um, I thought it was our right and duty to create a well regulated militia against what we deem wrong as a people. (Source: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." | http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/billofrights) However, according to United States Code: Title 12,2384 "...conspire to overthrow, put down by force..." you can get imprisoned for no more then 20 years or fined, or both. What!?!? How are you supposed to form a militia then? I will let the scholars dispute that. Beyond the scope of my opinion.
Back to the question at hand. What is borrowing / creating $34 billion dollars for the little man going to solve in the long run? We shall see won't we. Fortunately I have the advantage of not being a policy maker and therefore NOT subject to ridicule from the peanut gallery. :) Wait, I better stop posting political innuendo. I might get slapped with "...inciting a riot." (Source: "Inciting a riot applies to a person who organizes, encourages, or participates in a riot." | http://www.lawyers.com/ask_a_lawyer/q_and_a_archive/view_archive/index.php?QID=12-MAY-03&)

Hooray for democracy!

The Weekend

2010-07-19T12:00:00.001-07:00

Ah yes. The weekend. That time when you look at your paycheck and say "You know what, I deserve it." After, you look at your mounting bills, depleted bank account, and long standing goals you had for your self and go, "Dammit." -AClay

Weekend was good. Did a whole lot of nothing which was fine by me. Went to go see the new Sorcerer's Apprentice and Twilight: Eclipse. I like the Sorcerer's Apprentice but disliked Eclipse. I mean, really. We have a TV show called True Blood, Underworld, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Underworld 3 (Can't remember name)... and many more I care not to name. The point is, how much of this garbage are they going to keep producing? Little 15 year old goth girls that think being in love with vampires is cool should not sway the movie industry so much as to make a plethora of horrible movies about it. Not only that, the whole movie reeks of a Soap Opera. Plot: She is in love with guy one, mixed feelings for guy 2, guy 2 dislikes guy 1 and forces girl to show affection toward him, guy 1 gets mad. We needed 3 movies to see this? Or better yet, "I PAID to see this!?!?" Come on! Douse it with kerosene, toss a match at it, and proceed to kill it with fire in a manner slightly less than prejudiced. (I said SLIGHTLY.)
Sorcerer's Apprentice was very cool. Had a modern day twist on the blurb/sketch from Fantasia. If you have seen the original Fantasia with Mickey and the mop's, you will appreciate some scenes in the movie. The Music during the scenes added the icing on the cake. You'll know what I am talking about when you see it. The graphics were cool and the special effects were nice. Not Transformers or District 9 special effects, but enough to keep you interested.
And now... It's back to the work week. Which, ironically enough in comparison to my last post, I actually enjoy now. My new job is waaaaaay different than all my old jobs. It has a sense of urgency, yet no production whips. I get to see the world, and yet provide a great service to the community. If only it was full time with better pay and benefits. Well, I hope to resolve that in the up and coming future. I just hope and I am not disqualified and 'wasting effort.' Eh, history will crucify me later for whatever decision(s) I make. :) And here again is where the middle finger at the clouds and everyone within seeing range comes into play! And for the record: DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT GO SEE ECLIPSE. Punch yourself in the leg every time you even CONSIDER it to condition yourself like Pavlov's Dog. You will thank me in the long run for saving 2 hours of your life. Your welcome.

Outlook

2010-07-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you just gotta smack your self in the head and say "Wake Up!". How long can a person endure, or be faced with their own inadequacies and short comings before they break? Is there a magical point in time when you suddenly "you just get it?" Or is it continual and the magical time is a farce, or a dangling carrot? You know what pisses me off the most? We have a Bible and other new age religions that state we are "really smart" or have "infinite wisdom". Hell, pick a cliche. You get the idea. If we are so smart, hows come we are so stupid? It's like the biggest paradox ever. Einstein in all his brilliance was still subjected to the "rules of life" and I guarantee that even he had self doubt at some point or another. Or when he saw the woman of his dreams he still stammered and felt like less of a person in her presence. I look at myself as being reasonably smart. I'm not a genius or an over achiever (any more). I used to be the guy that would work 60 hours a week, have a strict routine of coffee and reading email and show up to work 30 minutes to an hour early just to try to put extra effort into the job at hand. And then one day, my confidence was 'shot' and I haven't bounced back yet, or even know if I WANT to bounce back. Now, I am a lame douche bag that plays video games, gets drunk all the time and partakes in adult entertainment frequently enough to know their REAL names and how many kids they each have. I stopped trying. Plain and simple. My life sucked balls when I worked all the time. I had money enough for whatever and everything was taken care of. Albeit my mental health declined but, like I said everything else was taken care of. Now, my mental health is fairly good, aside from being a non-productive member of society and everything around me is falling to shit. Bags of Awesomeness. I still haven't found that ONE thing I am willing to put my effort into again and that's the saddest part about it. I walk around aimlessly like Cain. So internet / universe / whatever higher power / God, is there a magical point in time or answer out there? Or is the self inflicted torture never ending? You know what, I don't care. How about I just give you the middle finger and keep fumbling ahead like everyone else pretending everything is alright. I feel better now.

The Dentist

2010-07-15T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I got back from the dentist and the news was less than uplifting. I just found out that I have 3 wisdom teeth that need to be 'cut out'. Not extracted but cut out. They are going to send me to an oral surgeon. Apparently, two of the teeth are infected and one is abscessed. The third tooth that needs to be removed is growing perpendicular to the other teeth. Think of a sideways 'T'. Normal teeth grow up and down, this one would be growing left to right pushing on the other molar in my mouth. The doctor stated that if it was not removed, it would wear away the bone and cause for removal of both teeth and some of my jaw. Hooray for dentistry!!! So, now, they have put me on Amoxicillin and Vicodin ES. I am thoroughly disgusted. One with the prognosis and two with my self. More with my self then with the prognosis. I have reached that point in my life when I realized just how right my parents were and how delusional I am. You know what I mean. You grow up thinking that your parents are just telling you stuff to keep you in line. You think, " this could never happen in real life!", and then one day. SMACK! Reality sets in. It does happen to you. So, one more time to reiterate the point. Listen to your parents when they tell you not to procrastinate and get stuff taken care of. Otherwise, you will wake up one day with severe pain in your mouth and a dentist bill for $1500.oo to get it taken care of. I think I would gladly trade brushing my teeth and bi-annual dentist visits for this pain and a hefty bill now!

Today Is The Greatest Day

2010-07-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. I finally can't take it anymore and have to go see the dentist. I am not really looking forward to it but I know it is for the best. If anything, just to relieve the pain that is domineering my psyche right now. Fighting pain is like an endurance match. I can take a punch with the best of them, but the slow and dull aching gets me every time. Ok, so that's a lie. It was almost 2 years of a dull pain in my side with bouts of sharp pains and constant heart burn before I had my gall bladder removed. A tooth ache really hurts, but still doesn't hold a candle to passing a gall stone. One of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. Passing gall stones led me to the emergency room more then once and the most severe being there for 6 and half hours before being seen by a physician. I was doubled over and prayed for death. It hurt soooo bad. At one point I thought I was going to 'break' on the inside. Made me look at pain in a WHOLE new light. Suddenly a stubbed toe seems so trivial. It definately makes me empathize with others in pain now.
However, back to the tooth ache. I has been some time since going to the dentist. I have been warned numerous times by my girlfriend to '..just go see the dentist already!' and like any aspiring man would do, denied and fought her every step of the way out of spite. Well, here comes the crux of the problem and such led me to going to see the dentist. Her nagging finally got to me. Enduring that kind of pain just isn't in my repetoire! And without further adeu, 'Nicole, you were right, I am going to the dentist!'. Wish me luck!

A Talk With My Intuition

2010-07-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Out and about tonight, nothing too exciting. Drama on the home front and the typical he said she said. Wading through it all I am sure there is a silver lining. I haven't yet discovered what it is but sure it will become self evident. Life has a weird-o way of working out like that... When you least expect an answer one reveals itself. When you DEMAND an answer none is so forth coming. Is there a rule to that? "If I want it, it doesn't come, If I don't want it; answers aplenty." You shall rue the day life!!! :)
It's a challenge. I guess that is what makes it so worth while. I was talking to my intuition (self) and I don't remember exactly how the questions came about, but that is not so important. The question was about giving and receiving. In a way. I remember asking, and I am paraphrasing here, "... why don't we just get what we want?" Long pause here then a ::smack:: and a feeling like 'Duh!'. What would you learn if you just got everything you wanted? When looking / learning if the answer was evident the moment a question was asked it would be worth very little. This in turn led me back to my favorite little people in the world: my nephews.
My nephews continuously ask for stuff. I don't care if it's a 'pop', 'cookie cake', 'chips', or just to watch tv. And God bless him, my brother, extends and infinite patience toward them. Yea right. Let's be real here. He gets short tempered just like the rest of us and starts giving out free back hands. [Yes there is a point in all this rambling.] What would my nephews learn if they were to receive everything they asked for? Certainly not the value of a dollar. :) You get the point. There is a underlying intelligence that governs our desires. It's so subtle a stripper trying to con you out of your last dollar would be jealous. Just because I can't see the point yet, or at all, doesn't mean there isn't one. And the one that finally comes when I least expect it, will be the one I am looking for. I hate the non linear paths that the universe takes. Actually, I am jealous. I need to start thinking like that. Now where is the damn manual on 'How to use non linear paths when making decisions in the universe?' Um, the abridged version please. I still have a lot of beer to drink.

Ten Reasons Why Not To Exercise

2010-07-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

1
Because the couch doesn't like it when you leave your dirty sweat stains all over its comfy cushions.

2
Smoking is a waaaay better alternative to get a pulminary system workout.

3
I don't know about you, but I like not constantly staring at myself in the mirror and being able to walk through normal sized doorways without having to 'go sideways'.

4
I for one LIKE my man-boobs. I get to see them everyday and I don't get mad when people point and stare at them.

5
Double quarter pounders with cheese wouldn't taste that great without the extra 2000 un-needed daily calories from fat.

6
Who wants to live forever? Ever see those Tibetan monks? They live to be like 100 years old consistently. All they do is eat rice, drink some kind of tea, and household chores all day. Oh yea, and they sit still for HOURS and DAYS on end. Sign me up.

7
Because being in debt IS the American way. Need another $130,000 tacked on to your total debt? Have a heart attack and be uninsured!

8
Doctor's aren't always right you know. I was diagnosed with high anxiety and ended up having to have my gall bladder removed. Way to hit the nail on the head Doc.

9
Big and tall clothes are cheap.

10
And the tenth reason to NOT exercise: I can't stand the sight of my toes anyways.

Trying this out

2010-07-12T08:53:00.001-07:00

Ok, so i signed up for adsense and a pay per post and they asked me to test it. Heh. We shall see if this really works.

Underneath a libel washes the motorway.

That was the sentence that they gave me to post. Utter nonsense but, for a worthy cause. :) My pocket book!