New blog

Go here:

http://gunsandpoker.wordpress.com/

for anything I might be updating in the future.

A long day 3

Friday, 1:06 PM

Well, the second load of conduit is on it’s way. The driver is still going to have to come back for the two reels of fiber. I guess there wasn’t really a good way to secure those on a flatbed. I ended up ordering a pizza and having it delivered. I just didn’t wanna leave when I have no idea who is gonna maybe show up or when. So…. still watching a lot of TV waiting, about to exhaust the supply of Seinfeld’s on the DVR. 2 hours and 45 minutes until I can clock out. This has certainly been a long day so far.

A long day 2

Friday, 10:07 AM

Well, the first flat-bed truck load of conduit is loaded and on it’s way. The driver should be back in a couple of hours for the rest. The guy stopped by to look at the non-functional forklifts, which only took a couple of minutes. Nothing else has happened so far. Just watching television, mostly. I was going to bring my laptop from home. I could have maybe hooked up to a non-used network line, and had more freedom with web-surfing. Or if not, I could have at least played a game or something. Only so much TV I can watch before I get bored with it. Don’t know if I should leave to go grab something at lunch time or not, but maybe if I make it quick, it should be all right. 5 hours and 43 minutes until I can clock out.

A long day 1

Friday, 8:10 AM

Well, I had to come back to the old warehouse today, since Kenny starts vacation today. I am the only one here. I have been here for a little over an hour now, and already I am bored enough to be ready to leave. Sometime during the day, a truck is supposed to come for the remaining reels of conduit in the yard area. Sometime, somebody is supposed to be coming to box up some largely disused stuff in one of the office rooms. Sometime, somebody is supposed to be coming to take a look at our broken forklifts. I think that is about all that is supposed to happen today. Nothing else to do but wait. 7 hours and 41 minutes until I can clock out. Allll right.

Second amendment

“Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”

An excerpt from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the majority in a Supreme Court ruling on the un-constitutional ban on self-defense weapons in D.C. I got it from an article written by Boge Quinn on a site I frequent, which can be read here. It’s a good read and not too long, so I recommend it for those who are in favor of our inherent constitutional rights.

I just don’t know

Ahhhhh first full day at the new place. What fun. Justin and Michael worked out a plan to try a carpooling thing to save us all a little money. We’re gonna start it tomorrow. I’m not sure yet how it’s going to work out for me. Seems like I’ll be leaving earlier and getting home later, and only saving a small amount of actual gas. Depends on just how much I end up saving, it may not be worth the extra time, losing sleep in the morning and losing resting/leisure/whatever time in the evening. I’ll at least try it for a few weeks and see.

If they leave Calvin as the Garland supe, or let him go, since they’re not moving him to the new test center once it’s moved over with us, then I think I’ll apply for the Arlington supe position, assuming Charlie gets the test center position, which seems pretty likely. If that doesn’t happen where that’s available, or if I apply and don’t get it, I guess it may be time to start looking elsewhere. The carpooling thing is gonna cost me time at the very least if I do it, and money in gas if I don’t, and I am just not liking that building or being there with all the managers and some people I don’t care for. My biggest reason for not moving on before this has been the fact that I’ve been there so long, and have the extra vacation and seniority and so on, but if the negatives start to outweigh the positives, then what’s the point of staying any longer? Might as well try to get out while I can. But, at least until I see what happens with the Arlington supe spot, and see how things are working out, I’ll give it a while.

I’ve been only doing spotty updates for a while, so until something of note that’s worth writing about happens, don’t expect anything else for a while, assuming anyone is still reading this at all.

blarfh

Yup yup, forgetting to update last couple of weeks. Oh well, not too awfully much going on. Work is getting very annoying with all the stuff for the move. The amount of OT we’re supposed to be working keeps changing, the days we’re working it keeps changing, and even when the actual move is supposed to be got possibly pushed back today, even though that’s going to cause massive chaos and stupidity all around. Had an audit today, which in the middle of a move is a bad time for that to say the least. I don’t know, as much as I don’t even want to make the move, I am so ready to just get it over with and be in the new place so we can at least get back to normal.

Haven’t been shooting in a few weeks. I think Blain’s been busy, but even if not, it is just sort of generally hard to get up motivation for doing things outdoors during the afternoon when it’s so hot this time of year. Summer’s really are just short of unbearable in N TX for someone like me who prefers the cool.

Here’s a theoretical wishlist of all the guns I would like to someday own, in addition to what I’ve got now.
Ruger MKIII Hunter .22LR target pistol, and yeah I’ve already got one of those, but I’d really like the Ruger as well, and the hunter is the one I think I like best out of the MKIII’s, but I’d probably settle for anything from that line.
Ruger Mini-14 Target .223/5.56 semi-auto rifle, target version is a heavier-barreled and slightly different style of stock and such from the standard Mini-14. Since I guess target shooting is mostly all I’ll be likely to do, that would be the way to go.
Beretta CX4 Pistol caliber semi-auto small rifle, in several different calibers, I’d probably go with the .45 for variety, since I don’t have a handgun that shoots that.
Glock 34 The world’s most popular 9mm handgun, with a longer barrel/slide for better accuracy.
Marlin 1894 Cowboy Lever action rifle in .357 and .44 magnum. Gotta like that.

That’s it for now. There’s tons of stuff I like out there, but that’s sort of an assortment of things I would like to have a well-rounded collection, although I don’t really have anything on there in a real high-power rifle. I’ll have to look into that.

slightly sleep-deprived

I woke up at 3:30 this morning, and after tossing and turning for a bit to go back to sleep, decided to go ahead and get up, shower, dress, and so on. The I realized I still had over 2 hours before I had to leave for work, so I baked some chicken and cooked some pasta to take for lunch, which I figured would be better than hot dogs or a sandwich or something. Then, when it finally came time to head to work, I left it all in the refrigerator and forgot all about it. Oh well, at least supper was already ready when I got home.

Conversations… part XLI (from May 06)
Ryan: Hey homeboy! Sorry I haven’t returned your call yet but I’ve been busy and a little down and out. What’s up with you?
Me: Not too much man. It’s all good, it wasn’t nothing important, I was just bored. It’s raining alligators and zebras here right now. Looks like night time outside.
Ryan: Dark over here too but no rain yet. Man I am getting tired of this life over here. Job sucks, women are just a let down in general and…well…that alone is enough to get me down. Man I got to get out your way. Any suggestions?
Me: I thought that your company was supposed to be expanding into this area, and you were just gonna move when it did. Is that not gonna happen now? Beyond that, I don’t have a lot of bright ideas. If I did, I wouldn’t still be here, getting ready to get moved up into Dallas in a few more weeks. I know what you mean, though. I was feeling rather down and out yesterday myself.
Ryan: Yeah the expansion may still happen but I am so down that I’m ready for it to happen now.
Me: Well, I hope it does. It’d probably work out good for you. I’m sorta/kinda looking around at some other jobs. I just really, really do not want to have to drive back and forth to Dallas every day and be in the same building as all the prick upper managers and stuff, but I don’t want to give up all the extras like the free cable and internet and having the extra vacation time from being here so long and all. One of the guys I work with is putting in apps and resumes all over the place. He’s said he’s definitely quitting as soon as he can find something else. I just tend to get comfortable where I am and don’t want to have to go interview and stuff. You get your tax rebate yet? I got mine in my account. I think I’m gonna buy a new recliner with mine. The back on that one I’ve got is completely shot now, so that kinda sucks.
Ryan: Haven’t got my rebate yet but when I do I’m gonna pay off my washer and dryer. Yeah I’m with ya on the whole being comfortable thing but I’m getting fed up. I think.
Me: Yup. Target distribution center in Midlothian is hiring for warehouse workers on a 6p to 6a shift Saturday through Monday at $13.10/hour. I don’t know. I’ll most likely just end up staying where I am. It’s gonna be hard to start out making what I am now somewhere new, and I’m too much of a little b—- to cut back on my expenses and comforts too much.
Ryan: Gotta be honest I don’t think your a little b—- for not starting over but you may find that with gas prices as high as they are that you would be making about the same hourly rate. Therefore having to cut back on your luxuries anyway.
Me: Well yeah, gas prices keep going up. I don’t know, I’ll most likely have to cut back on stuff anyway. Maybe I will just go become a professional poker player.
Ryan: Come on man. Lets keep it real. In order to make money you gotta bet. Not check then fold.
Me: Hey hey now. When you win a game you can talk smack about how I play, foo. I’m gonna go eat lunch. I’ll get back to ya later.
Ryan: Ite. Later homey.
Me: Mmmmmmm hot dogs and oreos. That’s a danged good ole lunch right there.
Ryan: Man people who live well like you piss me off!
Me: Really? It pisses you off? What are you having for lunch today?
Ryan: Can of tuna and an orange.
Me: Hmmm… I’d say our lunches probably cost about the same. I got a couple of cans of tuna at home, oddly enough, so that’s probably what my lunch will be tomorrow. I’m trying to go slow on ship confirming this order, cause once I’m done, I won’t really have anything to do the rest of the day, unless some more orders come in.
Ryan: Telling you my little joke about thanking others for doing the work that you have done will be classic. Then try it at poker by thanking people for betting after they have folded. Awesome!
Me: Yesterday we got this e-mail that went from the CEO to every person in the company about not having extraneous and wasteful e-mails, and not doing things like using the “reply to all” when you really only need to reply to one person. I was so tempted to do a reply to all on that and just say “Okay” and send it to everyone in the company. I figured some uptight corporate person would get mad, though, and probably call our boss.
Ryan: Okay.
Me: All right, then.
Ryan: I did your prank. Awesome! Wonder if anyone will notice. Did you reply to all?
Me: It only does something if the original e-mail was sent to lots of people. Since this is only going back and forth between us, nobody else is gonna get it when you do reply to all.
Ryan: Then your joke sucks!
Me: I suppose it does.

Consequently, I have no gotten that recliner yet. I’ve been meaning to, but I want an off day on a weekday, so I don’t have to deal with the crowds at places, and can hopefully arrange a good delivery day. Since we’re still on “no vacation time allowed for any reason” until after the move is done in a few weeks, it’ll probably be a while.

crack it up

I was reading an article on Cracked by Daniel O’Brien about how funny Carlos Mencia is. It was a primer of sorts for all of us who find him pretty much entirely unfunny in every way. Written very tongue in cheek, by a man, DOB, who recognizes just how monumentally non-comedic Carlos is. Anyway, it had one of the best quote I’ve read in a long time on there:

“Bill Shakespeare was a pioneer in the field of cruelly mocking retarded people, and you can put that shit on a t-shirt.”

Man, that is a great quote. I would like to get that put on a t-shirt. Not just the part about Bill S., but the whole thing.

some more random thoughts

So, I quickly find myself getting bored of the on-line poker thing. Here’s why: 99% of the people on there seem to be generally poor players. They call too much, go all in too easy, play too many hands, don’t recognize the possibilities of what’s on the board, and so on and so forth. Basically, I’ve won so far about half the tourneys I’ve entered on there (which is a pretty good win %, I would think), and so far, the half I didn’t win, every single one has been the result of a bad beat, where somebody draws out on me with lesser cards. The site I’m playing on in particular seems specifically to reward idiots for their stupid play. It changes the fundamental strategy. Going all in with pocket aces or kings and getting called by some idiot with off-suit 3-6 or something, doesn’t give you the 80-85% chance to win you’d get in a real game, more often than not, you’ll lose after the idiot hits two pair or a straight or something. I played a game earlier in which I saw three straight hands, all with at least two players all in, won by the same guy all three times, and he started out with worst hand of anyone who didn’t fold all three times. Wow. He’s either the luckiest guy in the world, or yeah, getting rewarded for stupid play. Anyway… So, since I don’t want to play for money on-line, and the people who play for free are (mostly) idiots, there’s not really a whole lot of point to it. I would still like to make it to Winstar and play in one or two of the little tournaments they do on weekdays just to see how I do. I think it’d be fun. But, since I can’t get any days off of work during the week any time soon, it’ll just have to wait for now.

Hmmmm.. Had something else I was going to talk about also, but I cannot remember now what it was. Maybe something about fishing, but I’m not sure. Oh well….

flying an F-15 at 2x the speed of sound

Tomorrow is my birthday. Yay. Let’s see. Yesterday after work, went over to Larry’s and we and Beth went out on the lake, then Rob joined later. Just hanging out in a boat after dark when the water is so still and calm and it’s really quiet is pretty cool. Caught a few fish, but nothing really worth keeping.

Met the fam for lunch at P.F. Chang’s. Good lunch. Going back over to my parents’ tomorrow afternoon for a while. Other than that, no b-day celebration or anything to speak of really. Which is fine, I’m not really looking to do too much.

Did get Monday off work, but only that day, not the three I asked for. Better than nothing, I guess, but since that is the one day of the three that I didn’t have any real plans for, it’s not much. Oh well, more time off to use later. All for now.

yuppers

“That’s what she said”

So, yeah, I did get a new .22 pistol to shoot at the range. It wouldn’t be very practical as a self-defense type weapon, but it’s loads of fun to shoot, accurate, pretty cool-looking, and affordable. I figure at the cost on 9mm ammo, shooting .22 instead, it should pay for itself after 6 or 7 trips out there to shoot. Beretta U22 in stainless with the longer barrel. Sweet. It’s already really accurate, but I would like to maybe mount a red dot little scope on it, but I don’t know yet if I will.

So, Kenny at work gor me to start playing some free on-line poker at this one site, Pure Play. I gotta say, it’s hard for me to tell whether I’m getting a lot better, or if the people who play free games on-line are just incredibly bad for the most part. I played for little mini-tournaments yesterday, and I won 2, finished 2nd in another, and only got knocked out of the 4th on a ridiculous draw-out by someone who was calling big bets with a hand they shouldn’t have been playing at all. So… either I am pretty good, or lots of these people just really suck. I don’t know, it just seems so easy to do. I have yet to make a bad call on there, the only time I’ve lost was on a bad beat. Maybe I should use the points I’ve won to play in higher level tournaments to see if the competition gets harder. We’re supposed to have a game after work on Friday, I think, so I’ll see then if I’ve improved so much or not when there’s money on the line. I’m even so far in those games, so I’m looking for a win to go up in money.

Got more conversations of the bored to post between Ryan and I, but I just don’t feel much like doing it right now.

blah blah blah

I am feeling none to great today. Bored, lonely, and slightly depressed. No reason for any of it, but there you go. On a positive note, however, my scope for my 10/22 came in, and I got that successfully mounted. So, if I head to the range tomorrow, which I most likely will, I can work on getting that dialed in. It’s a little odd that I have to really lean my head forward to focus through it, but maybe that won’t be the case sitting down with it propped on a block.

Haaaaaad something else to add, but I just don’t feel like typing it right now, so later.

more shooting

I actually seem to be getting worse with the 9mm. Not sure why, but I’ve gone from putting mostly in or near the middle of the target, to mostly hitting the target all over, to only barely hitting the target at all. Odd. Maybe I’m just not sleeping enough or something, and have trouble holding my hands steady to take a shot.

Also picked up a new .22LR Ruger the other day. Took that to the range for the first time today. That was a ton of fun to shoot. Very smooth, very accurate. I put so many .22 through the middle of the target, the whole bulls-eye was gone and I was shooting through the hole. I also picked off an empty shotgun shell casing that Blain had put on top of the rail above the targets, and it was on it’s side at the time. Very nice shot.

Back to work as usual tomorrow. Tired of that place, but it’s not so bad. Still really not wanting to do the move up into Dallas traffic in a few more weeks, but since I have no choice, I’d like for it to just be done with and get the move over and finished.

a dream of mine

Whilst pulling an order today at work, I had a dream. A vision if you will. That I could fit Plano’s entire order onto a single pallet. Well, all of it except the cable. I’m not completely mad. I just thought, if I can only find a big enough pallet, and stack it full and high enough, it will work. So, I pulled the order with this goal in mind. At one point as I tried to move it, the front board of the pallet cracked, the lengthwise support boards snapped like twigs, and as the front half of the load went teetering forward, it pulled the whole thing down, and I was left with a huge messy pile of material amidst the remains of a once good pallet. I looked sadly at it for a moment, contemplating the sheer futility and hopelessness of it all, realizing how my dream would never see fruition. Then, I went in search of a slightly larger pallet.

Live and don’t learn, just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over, that’s my motto. Consequently, it ended up being four pallets of material plus two of cable, to put into perspective what I was trying to accomplish.