Clean Up.

Tomorrow the cleaning crew comes to the house for the first time. We haven’t had a housekeeper since the days of the old house back in 2003. I guess there’s four of them coming tomorrow to do the big initial cleaning. Naturally we are busy picking up the house tonight and making it less cluttered so that the cleaners don’t think we’re the slobs we are.

I was suppose to be working this week but I haven’t heard back on the job interview yet, so I’ll just have to make myself scarce tomorrow. I’m good at that.

27 May 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Look Ma, No Doors.


Flickr Link.

Earl’s Jeep Wrangler has been part of the family for four years. Every year we take advantage of the nice weather and take the sides and back off and put the top down. It’s a glorious way to bask in the sunshine. Today we decided to take it a step further and take the doors off as well.

We decided to go for a ride but stay rather close to home in the process, so we opted to drive through the various gorges and through the hills nearby. There is a particular road that winds through rural farmland and open fields; a similar road exists where I used to live in the western part of the state and that road is called the “Open Meadows Road”. This is the “Cedarville-Jordanville Road” but I like to think of it as an eastern version of the Open Meadows Road. It’s a beautiful drive, especially when you’re basking in the sun, the temperatures are mild and there’s no doors on the Jeep.

From there we headed into the Ilion Gorge, one of several gorges in the area. I think our gorges are related to the Finger Lakes but the Universe just didn’t put as much water into them. The windy roads and the isolated homes dotting the gorge are nice; I have to admit I like the feeling of solitude.

After our ride we ended up at the Park-Side Drive In in St. Johnsville, one of the many villages along the historic Erie Canal. The food was your standard local restaurant fare and quite good.

It has been an absolutely gorgeous day.

25 May 2008 by Fun and Games Dept 3

The Road Trip to Rochester Thing.

I don’t know why I’ve decided to add “thing” to my blog title entries lately. I don’t even know if the trend will continue. It’s kind of like the title of episodes from “Friends”, they all started with “The One About…”

Anyway, Earl and I headed west on the New York State Thruway today and went exploring in the Rochester area. We have several friends and some family in Rochester but we didn’t see any of them. No, we went to Rochester because they have a really good cinema megaplex called “Tinseltown”. On the big screen was “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. The Indiana Jones series is Earl’s favorite cinematic adventure, and I enjoy the movies as well, so it was an adventure to look forward to. The audience was well behaved and the movie was good. I wouldn’t say it was great, but it was good. The geek in me noted a glaring technology-related error near the beginning of the movie. E-mail me if you want the details, as I don’t want to drop any spoilers on my blog.

One of the greatest things about movie theatres these days is that they’re finally getting that attendees are REALLY fed up with the presence of cell phones in the auditoriums. The reminders to turn off your cell phones are relentless and numerous. I’d even say they’ve become obnoxious with the final reminder announcement, leaving it on the screen for nearly 90 seconds before rolling the previews. If you’re seated in the theatre and your cell phone rings now, you’re really an asshole or a dipshit. There’s no excuse.

We also made a stop at the Dinosaur BBQ near downtown Rochester. The waitress sat down in the booth with us and chatted whilst she counted the cash in her pocket. We’d never met her before but she was very nice. The honky-tonk bluesy music was good too. So was the food.

Being a civil engineering student and all, I had to drive us through all the construction projects in the Rochester area to see how they were progressing. In case you’re wondering, they’re progressing nicely. I tend to take photos of signs too:

Interstate 490

Notice Route 33 West doesn’t go anywhere according to the sign. It really goes to several places such as Chili, Batavia and Buffalo. Extra points to the first person that can tell me the proper pronunciation of “Chili”.

25 May 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Geek 3

The Furry iPod Thing.

So last night was one of my regular DJ SuperCub nights at the solo, local gay bar. As I write that previous sentence, the use of “solo” and “gay bar” together like that brings up an interesting image in my mind, but I digress. Anyway, last night it was just a regular night at the bar; no special theme nights, no dance contests highlighting music older than the average age of the customers, no video accompaniment necessary. Since I had some Vicodin in my system, I was feeling a little loopy and looking back at the playlist, it’s a little obvious. After all, how many mixes of Donna Summer’s “Stamp Your Feet” can a DJ play in three hours? Apparently four.

You see, I’ve got this thing about taking requests. I don’t like to. I think my aversion to requests hearkens back to my radio days when young rugrats would figure out how to let their fingers do the walking and they would call and request the Beavis and Butthead duet with Cher while the song was playing on the radio, whilst doing their best to imitate said lead singers (not referring to Cher, there). I know that the DJ is there to entertain the crowd and set the tempo for a good time but speaking as a professional audiologist, you can rest assured that I’m going to play some really good music that’s going to, at the very least, give you something to tap your foot to. If I’m doing really well you can bust a move on the dance floor to your favorite track and seal the deal of not getting laid when you do it alone and your moves involve thumbs swinging in a myriad of directions with googly eyes on your face and your mouth agape.

How I love drunk lesbians.1

So last night I was in the middle of mixing excellent song A to excellent song B (which, by the way, doesn’t involve just pressing ‘PLAY’) when this rather large woman came bursting into my rather small DJ booth and immediately started yammering about a song she wanted to hear. Then she committed a mortal sin; she ignored my “one moment please” finger.

You must hold when you’re told to “please hold”. Strike One.

After I slid from the second Donna Summer mix of “Stamp Your Feet” to Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” I turned to her, herded her out of the DJ booth and back down among the commoners and said, “now what did you want to hear?”

“What are you playing? What is this song?”, she asked as if I had asked her to lick a dead minnow. I think she had just dissed LaDonna. Strike Two.

“It’s Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love'”, I replied. Sidenote: it’s a really good remix that hasn’t killed the sound of the original track while keeping it very danceable.

“You need to play Mariah Carey’s ‘Touch My Body’ right now. I want to hear it tonight and I need to leave.”

Strike Three.

Now if she had some sort of whimsy in her voice I would have considered what she was saying to me. But there wasn’t a bit of whimsy to be found. She had a demanding tone in her voice. She sounded huffy. Plus, she had dissed LaDonna. Now, let’s stop the story for a moment and consider what is happening.

1. I’m a little loopy on Vicodin. My mood is swinging from giddy to growly with a prescription assist.
2. The tempo is currently moving along around the center of a gay man’s midnight tempo. It’s not racing with said man’s heart yet (from drugs or the latest bit of hotness that he has spotted, your choice) but he’s moving quickly and starting to get sweaty.
2. My leather wrist band is on my left wrist.
3. She did not have a drink in her hand nor had I seen her anywhere near the bar the entire night.
4. She wanted to hear the song so she could leave the bar afterward.

Perhaps I’m just a cranky ol’ club DJ but part of the gig is making sure people are staying at the bar and consuming drinks. No people+no drink(*a few nights)=no gig. Asking me to go from twinky time music to bump and grind music immediately so you can leave the bar is not going to get your song played. Ever. It’s also going to deflate the tempo of the aforementioned typical gay man that is sweaty. So I responded reasonably well.

I slammed the door shut in her face.

She didn’t come back for Round 2. Instead, she sent one of her friends up. With a LIST. That’s when the door remained closed for the next hour or so.

The dance floor was populated. People at the bar were bopping their heads. The vibe of the crowd was good. As her minion banged on the door wanting access I slid from a Pussycat Dolls remix to my personal favorite track, “10.000 Nights of Thunder” by Alphabeat.

It’s good to have the power.

I am a DJ. I am not a furry iPod.

1This twitter entry from last night should give you an idea of what else was occurring in the bar.

24 May 2008 by DJ 1

Teething.

Today’s big adventure was a trip to the dentist. Yesterday morning I woke up with incredible pain in one of my bottom teeth (which I now know to be #19) and it wasn’t a momentary stab of pain, it was a long, continuous lightning bolt through my mouth. Now, I have a very high tolerance for pain and can just about withstand anything but this pain in my tooth was nearly blinding me.

After swishing some salt water, spreading Oral-Gel over the tooth, hoping and praying, brushing my teeth ten times and swishing more salt water, I got the pain down to something manageable. I was able to make it through Thursday without the blinding sensation again.

The pain returned for an encore this morning.

I did the whole routine again and called the dentist. They were able to squeeze me in this afternoon. After sitting in the chair waiting for the dentist, and watching an entire episode of “The People’s Court” and “Montel” in the process, the dentist shot into the exam area for a total of six minutes to let me know that my teeth are generally in good condition aside from that one tooth that needs a root canal. I have another tooth that’s a little cranky and will need it’s filling freshened up, but the most important matter is the need for the root canal. This would be my first root canal. My other fillings, nearly 30 years old, are holding up quite well. I guess my manic teeth brushing is doing what it’s suppose to do.

The dentist gave me some prescriptions for some wonderful drugs, including some antibiotic that doesn’t end in “cillin” since I’m allergic to those and a pain killer. The pain is gone and the antibiotic seems to be doing the trick. He advised to not call the root canal guy until after the holiday weekend so that the antibiotic could do it’s trick first.

So I’ll be a little loopy for Memorial Day.

The big problem with this whole scenario is that I am a college student that doesn’t have dental insurance at the moment. Root canals aren’t cheap. I’m looking forward to getting the problem taken care of but I’m not looking forward to the actual procedure. Then again, does anyone really enjoy a root canal?

Thank the universe for my high tolerance of pain.

24 May 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

A Girl Crush?

I haven’t talked about American Idol much during these final weeks of the competition, but Earl and I have been watching the performances and the results shows. Wednesday night we sat down and watched the finale, which I found to be quite entertaining. I was originally going to write a blog entry during the event but lost interest about a third of a way into the show. The entry just wasn’t coming together the way I wanted it to. However, here are a couple of thoughts from watching the show:

1. Donna Summer was amazing. I was a little shocked to see her being escorted down the stairs (because it looked like she needed the help), but Earl said that was just Donna’s way of being a diva and making an entrance. Either way, I thought she looked amazing and sounded fantastic. And am I right, or what: “Stamp Your Feet” is going to be a big summer hit.

2. Could Amanda Overmyer look anymore uncomfortable with singing pop songs? I know that’s not her genre, but it’s the gig she signed onto when she auditioned for American Idol. Maybe the angry rocker chick is her shtick.

3. David Archuleta has the voice of an angel and will be soaring up Clay Aiken Boulevard in the career department without an issue.

4. David Cook has a promising career ahead of him and I found his performances genuine and enjoyable. I think America got it right with the voting of the finale. Both have promising careers, Cookie is more prepared for it than Archie is.

5. I think I have a crush on Carly Smithson. Not only did she give her best in all of her performances during the finale, she looked wicked hot in her “Hot Stuff” outfit. I don’t usually notice these things, but I certainly noticed Carly Wednesday night. And, her duet with Michael Johns was one of the highlights of the evening. They both nailed the performance and were thoroughly entertaining.

23 May 2008 by Everyone's A Critic. 0

The Locked Thing.

Many have noticed that there are a couple of “locked” entries on my blog. I have received e-mails asking what these entries are and the reason that they can’t see them. So here’s the deal.

While I don’t track statistics all that much, I know that there are many, many readers of my blog and for the most part my blog is PG rated. I might drop a few f-bombs here and there but usually I talk about everyday observations of a myriad of topics in a candid, conversational way. It is something that I enjoy doing and in a way it allows me to process random thoughts that are zinging about my head. However, once in a while I feel the need to write about more controversial topics (read “sex”). Always cognizant of my surroundings (in this case, a general idea of who is reading the blog), I find myself without an outlet for some of my seedier discussions. Hence, the locked blog entries. They allow me to write about things I have seen, thought about or experienced over the years AND have some sort of control as to who is reading the content of these entries. I’m not ashamed of what I write in these blog entries in any way, but I’m not ready to discuss the contents of them at the next family reunion or over the water cooler at work.

If you’re interested in the content of the locked entries, drop me an e-mail and we’ll chat a bit and I’ll get you set up for access.

23 May 2008 by Geek 0

Wet.

This morning the camper dealership called to let us know that the camper was ready for pickup. It’s pumped and primed and ready for camping season, which usually starts Memorial Day weekend in these parts. Eager to get the camper and Jeep back into our hands, I decided to walk to the dealership. Yesterday’s walk was quite enjoyable; I was sure the reverse direction would be equally as fun.

Mother Nature likes to play games. As I made my way up the driveway I noticed that it was quite chilly but the sun was peeking out here and there behind the clouds. It had been raining earlier, but it appeared to have stopped for a while. A brisk walk would help keep the chill under control.

I had walked about a mile (out of 2 1/2) when Mother Nature decided that the butter was really Chiffon and therefore she decided to pull a whammy: lots of wind and a downpour. Since I was nearly halfway between home and my intended destination and had little choice but to get wet.

And wet I got.

Luckily, there’s a shopping plaza along the walk so I was able to stop and dry off for a bit. Soaked to the skin, I watched the rain fall and subsequently stop. The sun peeked out once again.

After a few moments I resumed my walk, leaving the safety of the plaza’s roof behind. That’s when Mother Nature decided to wave her hands again and introduce round two of her little hissy fit.

Undeterred, I continued the walk to the camper dealership, very wet and very irritable. The man at the counter barked the amount due at me, I wrote him a soggy check and off I went. Naturally, it stopped raining once I hopped into the Jeep.

22 May 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Walking In The Rain.

So as I wait for the results of yesterday’s job interview I sit at home doing the waiting game thing. I briefly thought about immersing myself into soap operas but then decided against it; the last time I watched a soap opera, Iris1 was trying to break up Mac and Rachel on one channel and Luke and Laura were on an island on another.

It’s been a while.

Speaking of soap operas, I remember Grandma Country absolutely loving “The Edge of Night”. Mom was a fan of “Another World”. My sister loved “General Hospital”. I always waited for the 4:00 shows – “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Bewitched”.

Anyways, I decided to work on a few projects instead. One of them was getting the camper ready for our upcoming camping trips. I opened it up a couple of weeks ago, but it needed it’s vehicle inspection and some other maintenance type things done to it so I took it down to the place where we bought it. It’s 2 1/2 miles from the house. Since I had to leave the Jeep as well, I just walked home. I took a shot of River Road, our main street, as I was walking back.


Flickr Link.

The exercise did me some good. It was sprinkling a bit as I walked home but I didn’t really mind. I thoughtfully brought my raincoat along so I hardly got wet.

As I was walking along I took notice of the flowers popping up here and there and of the progress of the new Dunkin’ Donuts on a nearby corner. There is no sign indicating that it’s a Dunkin’ Donuts but you can just tell what it’s going to be by the look of the building. The orange drive thru canopy is a dead giveaway. I was hoping for Tim Horton’s to venture into this neck of the woods but no such luck.

After the walk in the rain I did a few chores around the house and made a couple of DJ SuperCub mixes for the bar. They play my CDs on nights without a DJ. Perhaps I should cheat and play CDs the night I am the DJ.

Last night was my first night at Physics II. There’s only 10 students in the class. Summer courses feel so laid back, even though we’re moving through the material at twice the speed. The professor looks old enough to have invented physics, but he knows his stuff, seems to be young at heart and makes it easy to understand. I think I’m going to enjoy the class.

1 The actress that played Iris on “Another World”, Beverlee McKinsey, passed away earlier this month. She was 73 years old.

21 May 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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