| Ka-POW |
[Jul. 1st, 2007|05:26 pm] |
On Thursday, June 28th, at approximately 4pm, Rachael, Matt, and myself were in an automobile accident. We were coming down 5th street hill, leaving a place called PRC, another call center in the Huntington area, where we were seeing about getting new jobs.
We had a redlight, and sat there, waiting, until it turned green. We were preceeded by another vehicle, who went through fine, and then we took our turn. About halfway into making our turn, a gray Ford Mustang (as if my opinion of Ford products wasn't bad enough to begin with) shot through, running the red light, and clipping us.
Matt was completely unhurt, as he was in the back. I took some damage to my knees and exacerbated my back, but the worst of it went to Rachael. When the airbag deployed, her arm was completely locked out, and when it impacted, the pressure caused a 7 point spiral fracture, which caused fragments to break off as well.
She spent a considerable amount of time at St. Mary's Hospital in their emergency room before being moved to a bed upstairs. It was determined that surgery was going to be necessary to correct her injury, and because she hadn't eaten at all that day, it was going to be performed that night. The surgeon took one look at the X-Rays and basically said he was too busy, and referred her to another member of his practice.
Then, the retarded occured. She was released to go home for the weekend with a splint and a wrap, and a prescription of Percocet. Initally it was to be hydrocodone, which she'd been taking for another pain, and thus had her tolerance up. We informed the nurse, who told us that hydrocodone and codiene were totally seperate things... seriously, tell me another, I need a laugh. She was then railroaded into signing her discharge forms, and not even informed of being placed on dietary restriction. Needless to say, we are NOT pleased with St. Mary's.
Anyway, she took the brunt of it all, which has me pretty unhappy. She's hurting and I can't make it go away, I just kinda sit here limp, hobbling on two sore knees and hunched thanks to an aching back.
But, we're alive, that's all that matters, and her insurance company has pretty much promised her that they're going to go for the jugular on the woman who hit us. I can't be certain, but I imagine she was yammering on her cell phone, and when she approached us, for the short moment she was within reach, she looked kinda tore up, but of course, that could be shock. who knows? We get the police report soon.
Work isn't being helpful, though certain of the employees are. Because we haven't been there a year, we aren't eligible for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) provisions, though a temporary leave of absence is avalible. She's pretty mcuh guaranteed to get hers (as it's a computer job and she'll be one hand shy for a while) though I'll most certainly be fired.
All kinds of a bad day, but hey, we're still alive, with some Lucca and Franco type kneebreakers for an insurance company. We'll see how it plays. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 4th, 2007|05:26 pm] |
I know, I know, it's been a rather long time since I've said or done anything, but that's because a lot of things have been happening in my life, some bad, but mostly very good, all of which I'll explain.
The beginning of January, I came down with what I can only call the Creeping Death, which was likely a pretty severe sinus infection. During this bout of Creeping Death, I also came due for a dentist appointment, where a molar extraction was handled by a Bone Saw of a dentist, who apparently didn't know the meaning of full local anesthesia. Likely one of the more painful things I've experienced, Rachael heard me all the way out in the waiting room, and was apparently prepped and ready to knife the good Herr Doktor.
The only other negative thing involved work, and this was a struggle that was only recently resolved. We were told during our training and orientation that we would be eligible to sign up for our health and life benefits after 60 days of our hire date. At that time, we'd have a 10 day window in which to enroll as per Aetna's open enrollment. Well, our hire date was 11-20-06, so, on 01-20-06, we began the process of signing up for our benefit package. The first hurdle was that we didn't have our login ID or the password. We asked several times, and at the end of the 10 day window, we finally got the information, and proceeded to sign in. Rachael's ID worked, but mine didn't, so, on our own time, we stayed, called corporate, and went through the process of resolving this. Three times I had to deal with "We'll get back to you in a couple of days." or "This won't be resolved today." Issues, and each time, all I could do was inform them that this was unacceptable, and to expedite the situation. Well, it all worked out, after 10 days and some of my free time spent stressing. Or, so I thought. The next day, we were informed that Human Resources were still trying to deny us our benefit packages because the time frame we were supposed to have was 10 days from our hire date.
So, this was a huge bunch of headache we had to deal with, and only recently did it all resolve. Fortunately, Rachael had taken some really clear and accurate notes, which we showed to HR and basically told them to blow us. Fundamentally, it seems like our local HR department is some kind of Cthulhoid and malevolent entity Hell-bent on the misery and ruination of their own employees. Apparently, we had just the right weapon. Incidentally, the person responsible for almost screwing us for a full year on our benefits, well, he's still training new employees. I've wanted, a time or two, to go visit the training section and ask him how it feels to make new hire's lives miserable. No matter, my coverage activates in 16 days, so why should I care?
The good news, ahh, the good news. Rachael and I got ourselves a place finally! It's a two story, two bedroom, with a back deck, built into basically the side of a large hill, and built actually on top of a very large limestone formation. I've taken to referring to the house as Blackrock, or the Imperial Citadel. We're still moving in, a bit at a time, but all of her stuff is in from her storage shed. I've got some pics I'll share.
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| Well, this is interesting |
[Nov. 15th, 2006|03:33 pm] |
Hey all. It's been a VERY long time since I've posted, I realize that. Things have been good though, really good. I bought Rachael her diamond ring, and you should have seen her face, it was absolutely priceless. Made it worth every dime I spent on her rock. Work blows, but I'm looking to almost double my wage and get some benefits, something I've been lacking. I well and full and totally quit smoking too, go me. That was MAD hard to do.
Anyways, the sole reason I pen this is because Rachael and I got ourselves in the paper. Observe.
( Aren't I considerate? ) |
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| Y'all ain't gonna believe this shit... |
[Sep. 6th, 2006|03:03 am] |
I think it's time for an update.
I've known Rachael about two years or so, probably getting closer to three. In that time, it was apparently pretty clear to some parties with a vested interest, that we were both fond of one another, and thanks to a healthy dose of fidelity on her part, nothing came of it for a while.
But of course, as stated previous, things changed, and so we followed a natural progression, friends to lovers. It was, interestingly enough, on American Independence day that this occurred. It was a good night.
And so, the past couple months (which feel to me much longer a time) we've been together, and really very happy. This hasn't changed, which frankly, surprises me, but of course, I'm in no way complaining. Of course, the sex is phenomenal, but the quiet, dull times are too, which I guess makes them better than dull.
So tonight, having finally decided that the stars were in proper alignment, I grabbed the only ring I've got, told her how much I loved her, and offered her the ring. I did this in the same spot where we'd actually gotten together. I was considering popping it where we'd first really and truly met, and I'd also considered asking her in the place where we had sex the first time, but in the end, I think I made a pretty good decision. Anyways...
She accepted!
Now, to be more clear, we'd been discussing marriage for a while now. Knowing each other for so long really helped here. I was looking at a ring (I won't say what or for how much) for her, but really, since we'd both been talking about it so much, I'd been calling her my fiancé anyways, and it was bothering me to refer to her as such without the ring itself.
Yeah, timing and placement is odd, but I think it came out alright. So, completely contrary to every prediction I've ever had... I am now an engaged man. |
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| Ramble on, Ramble on... |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|04:49 am] |
What a long, strange trip (all of a few days, I know, I know) it's been. Where to begin? Where to begin? I hear the peanut gallery, and really, the next time I hear "How about the beginning?" I'll kick the offender in the taint.
So, life is balanced oddly at the moment, and full of thought, but not as much substance as I would prefer. Rachael and I are doing wonderfully. As a matter of fact, I just left her house a couple hours ago, where we watched HGTV before and after some pretty good sex.
This leads me to a point, and that point being, HGTV isn't just for women and gay men, seriously, try the show "I Want That" it's pretty awesome.
Back to the relationship things however; It's good, first of all. I'm very happy with her, as she's got this style about her that's just instinct, to be this really sweet and dear woman. I think it has to do with her being a Cancer, but I'm not sure is that hypothesis is totally correct. Not that it matters. There's a love there, no doubt about it, and it's a very warm and comfortable kind of fire. It doesn't feel like it's about to burn out, which is something I'd been experiencing a lot in the past few years. I'm famously open-mouthed about my relationships, but I think I'll be a bit more conservative from here on out, for a couple of reasons. One reason being that I don't want to run out of good stuff to write about for a while, the other because I feel like maybe I jinxed the rest by being so puppy about it.
Work is a different story though. As you probably read previous, I lost my job at the Dragon's Den. I've had time to reflect upon things as well, and I've distilled my initial fury into something much more manageable and much less combustible. The initial anger stems from the situation. It's very hard to find a decent job in this town, which doesn't involve food service or a call center. The feelings of betrayal, observed at a distance, stem from feeling like I didn't get a chance to fix what was wrong in what I was doing. However, information being at times limited can restrict that. At the moment, I wait only for my last two weeks paycheck, which should be in relatively soon.
This actually brings me to another thought. Rachael and I have been discussing getting a place together, for a number of reasons. The biggest reason for this is that we have absolutely NO privacy about 88% of the time. Speaking frankly, we'd both be happier having sex in our own bed (shower, kitchen, living room, garage, etc) instead of wherever we get the time and quiet. There are other reasons, which I'll talk about later.
However, to catch back up with things, the big factor about the job issue was, in looking at it in retrospect; I would have HAD to have quit working at the Dragon's Den. If Rachael and I are going to get ourselves a place, I need to make more money than the store could feasibly offer. That is, what we like to call in some circles, some shit.
I do have an employment prospect or two, one of which is much better paying and for better hours. (This is obviously the more favorable choice.). The lesser pay of the two is Office Max, where, after some calculation, will net me somewhere in the neighborhood of $225 a month more than my previous employment. The other option is at King's Daughters Medical Center, which will, after more math, net me somewhere in the neighborhood of $550 more a month than previous employment, as well as medical after 90 days. That's more than enough for us at the moment, though of course, I'll always want more.
Dad baked a ham today, and anyone who's had the joy of eating some of this magnificent pork product should know what kind of a wonderful meal I had today. It also marked the first time Rachael got to really sit down with my local family members (and eat some of Dad's ham, just as important IMO) so it was, all in all, a rather good day.
Speaking of Ham, I think I might go snack on some.
Eat up everyone, there are starving children everywhere. They taste good with a nice Hollandaise sauce though. |
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| Shitcanned |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|05:05 am] |
Dear Journal;
After an 8 month tenure at the Dragon's Den, I have determined what it feels like to be fucked in the ass sideways.
After putting in my time there, doing everything I can to keep the business going, I was given two weeks to work before my job would be taken over by another person so as to "make more money"
I think the worst part about all this is the betrayal. I put in 70+ hours a week in the place, only occasionally taking some time for myself, and this is the thanks which I recieve? To be perfectly honest, it's like I've been stabbed squarely between the shoulder blades, with the knife still embedded.
I was told that certain parties didn't come to the shop because they didn't care for how I ran the place. I find this hard to believe, as the owner of the store himself said he was quite certain that we weren't getting business because it was summer, and all of our customers were on vacation.
The worst of it is, jobs here aren't just scarce, they're nonexistent, and finding one which I could excel in is going to be a positive bitch, and with only $300 to last me until which time as I aquire a new job, I'm not feeling too confident.
So, today is the first day of my last two weeks of work. It feels like colgate for the Juggernaut. It's a bitch.
There's still no reason for total emotional failure though, as Rachael and I are still together, a feat which amazes me as I tend to bore women quickly. It's been generally agreed upon by those with an objective viewpoint that we function well together too. The Sex is great, though we rarely have privacy in which to engage in it. I may be a deadbeat, but I'm a deadbeat who's loved at least. |
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| Stuff |
[Jul. 9th, 2006|03:08 am] |
It's been a long, long time since I've updated. I know, I've been remiss, but, there wasn't much going on in my life. I mean, it was mostly just a bunch of little stuff, but I suppose I can mash it all together into one cohesive post.
First things. I've not been to Karate for about a month, primarily due to a leg injury I sustained while sparring. Nice wicked bruising, but I got hooked up with some White Tiger Extract (and I'm still not sure what part of the tiger was extracted) and it cleared up in about two or three weeks.
I also went to Omaha NE for my Uncle Talmadge's wedding. I'll wait till the professional photos come around to us before I post any, because the quality of the one's we took SUCK. Dad was the best man, and I must say, looked positively fucking PIMP in the tux. Honestly, I was proud of the old man. He just needed a mighty mane of hair to complete the image. Heh heh heh.
The Nebraska trip was fun actually. I'd not seen some of my family there for many many years, so it was good to spend time with them. Last time, I was little Tim 2, couldn't drink and party with anyone, but not anymore. I'm not the annoying little kid running around (I'm the annoying Big Kid, thank you) anymore. Actually, funny story here...
The caterer lost the order for the rehearsal dinner, so Uncle Tal called Macaroni Grill. The Manager seated a 24 top at 7:30pm on a Friday, with 10 minutes of notice. We were all VERY impressed. Anyways, the waiter mixed up my beer, and the beer of one of my cousins. When he noticed the mix up, he asked me about it. I hadn't been paying attention, and another of my cousins made the statement "Hell, he's just happy he's old enough to drink now."
So yeah, that was funny, and moreso when he asked me "So, how old are you again?" and the look on his face when I said "27." Was priceless. His reply was the best though. "You know, that was nowhere near as funny as I planned it to be, was it?"
So yeah, there's a TON of hot women in Omaha, and everyone there is almost freakishly nice. You'd think it'd be a dull place to visit, but it's not.
Also, I got to see where what used to be USSAC is based. It's no longer Strategic Air Command, it's something else I can't recall, but that was kinda neat.
Upon my return, which was a week ago, some other interesting things happened. An acquaintance of mine who was supposed to be moving to NC, didn't, in fact, move to NC, which left her here, in town. On the 4th, she decided to come down to my store with Dino and Tabbatha, and we spent quite a while together that night.
Last night, I took her to dinner, we talked, we were up all night. (Giggidy giggidy giggidy) and we've come to the conclusion that we're both comfortable with being hooked up.
So, maybe last year was the test run. I'm feeling hopeful. |
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| More Karate |
[May. 14th, 2006|04:10 am] |
Today has been a Good Day.
Allow me to elaborate.
Had a party to attend this evening, thrown by one of the brown belts in my Karate class. Everyone was there, including the man himself, head of the school, all the way down to our newest white belt.
The plan, you see, was to invest in a massive amount of lumber and concrete, and break every piece of it.
Before I go further, I should mention I've only done breaking ONCE before tonight, during a demo I did when I was twelve.
But, back to this evening…
Everyone broke stuff, but I'll spare about 90% of the details, besides mine. (This is MY journal, after all, damnit)
I tried something tricky first, owing to being called Kung Fu in class. This is due to my previously taking Kung Fu before coming to this school. Due to this, I broke my first board with an exploding palm technique. This is where the fist is clenched till JUST before impact, and the body is kept loose. At the moment of impact, however, you open your hand and tense, and while this sounds inefficient, it really does work. The best part about that was some of the other students going "He's gonna fuck up his hand doing that."
Only thing I fucked up was that board.
Next thing… well, the next thing I broke was the highlight of my evening. Two inch concrete cap blocks. There's nothing more intimidating than a concrete block. Wood isn't as thick, or as hard, after all.
Now, before I took after this poor defenseless piece of concrete, the only black belt student in the class still owed a concrete block to finish his test. He broke it, admirably. Sensei, in a gregarious mood said "Put another one on boys, he's goin' for two!"
Next thing I know… two busted concrete blocks. Sensei wasn't done though, he says "Hell yeah! We're going for three!"
Boom, three of them. Then Sensei's son broke one, and then Dino broke one with a BEAUTIFUL Iron Palm. Sensei's daughter (hostess of the party) couldn't get past the mind block, though, and wound up splitting her jeans. Strong Chi, we said, but misguided in it's intent to break something.
But, Sensei said, "Who else wants to do this?"
So, I says "I wanna try this."
So, another block is brought forward, I line up just like I was told to, I aimed for the ground under the block (it was sitting on two cinder blocks for support), and just drove my hand through it with a palm heel. Never before have I felt like such a bad motherfucker.
Next thing was speed breaking. To be perfectly honest, I apparently am NOT fast enough to speed break. I only succeeded in hurting myself on that one, trying both a simple reverse punch and a ridgehand. Now, I DID succeed in knocking the board clean across the road with that ridgehand, which would have fucked someone up had it been a live target. However, the purpose of speed breaking is to help a student learn how to 'Kill in Place' Which is the simple (sounding) task of hitting someone and making them crumple where they stand.
I apparently drive too hard.
Earlier in the evening, Dino had broken two boards with a forearm shot, and looked at me and said "If I broke two, you're breaking two."
So… I went for one first, to see if I had the technique down. To better explain this, the boards were being held by actual people. I had to throw the forearm shot across, not up and down.
I busted this one, and then I said I'd try two. Sensei, however, was not content. He realized I'm a power striker/breaker, so he made me use finesse. I had to stand almost against the board being held for me, and had only three inches of room to generate the speed and power to demolish both boards.
So, I wound up 'Dim Mak'-ing the two boards. When I struck, I blew the back board out, leaving the first one pristine. Had to hit twice to achieve the proper result.
Sensei, by the way, was in RARE form.
He then called for a few of us to try and break three, which took all of the finesse of a gorilla. It was simply walk up, and crush them. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that.
After a little while, Dino, Jared, Ryan (the guy who broke the three blocks) and myself were called back to try something a little different.
Putting the board on the cinder blocks, we had to use a three inch downward strike. Ryan had a hard time with this, but once again, Dino just put his hand through it. Damn Iron Palm. I tried it next, and played absolute HELL. I have to give Dino credit though, he knew exactly what to tell me. (he was, in fact, more frustrated than I was, since he couldn't think of how to put it so I'd catch on)
Until he slapped himself on the forehead and said "Wing Strike"
That's all it took. One simple Crane Wing Strike, and split.
It was a good night. |
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| Stuff, and more stuff |
[Apr. 13th, 2006|05:25 am] |
Welcome to more news from the home front, coming to you live and in color.
First things first, I've got some good news. I took, and passed my gold belt test. Now, being gold belt, I'm sure some of you are going "Heh, like that should be that difficult." But here's the thing about it all. My partner, as I've mentioned before, had twice the training time I did. Basically, I had about 22 hours of total instruction before I tested. It kind of puts that into perspective doesn't it?
All in all, I did pretty well. The Black Belt that was testing me made me improvise some holds and evasions. I came up with an amusing one on a cross-body wrist grab which ends in a hip toss. Don't ask me how, I went on automatic pilot. I ran a kata, and was finished before I realized that I'd begun executing it. My terminology was off, but I've got some Spanish, Russian, and a smattering of Italian running through my head at any given time, adding Japanese wasn't going to happen quickly. Hell, I'm amazed I can count to 10, let alone keep some of the names of my techniques in my head. Eh, I'll learn in time.
Anyways, the amusing part came when I asked permission to run a Bo Staff kata for additional points. By that time, the Instructor had wandered outside to shark me (wander around in circles, watching, waiting, that kinda thing) and once I'd finished up everything, I asked. The instructor and the black belt testing me looked over my sheet and I was told "Don't worry, you don't need it."
Now, I want you to bear in mind something. I wasn't sure if that statement meant "You've got enough points, don't bother wearing yourself out further." OR, what I was worried about "Don't bother; your score is so low that the bonus points wouldn't do you any good."
Fortunately, it was the former. I sincerely don't know what my percentage was. I'll pester about that one later, just, I passed.
Now, I've got a rant.
There's something that troubles me greatly. It's when Americans, educated in America, spell Color, Neighbor, Honor, Armor, words like that, with the letter U, which gets you Colour, Neighbour, Honour, and Armour.
Ok, we weren't taught to spell like that, and if someone were a complete dip-shit, the spelling would be more off, more than likely. No, this is the act of a pretentious ass trying to be all European and cool and shit, and you can tell, because they know at least enough to use the letter U.
This kinda goes along with my Louisville rant, actually. It's like so. That letter U in those words doesn't belong to us, it's not ours. It is, in fact, someone else's thing, so stop trying to Bogart someone else's thing. If you're an American, educated in your own country, then use the spelling we're meant to use, not someone else's.
Obviously, I make concessions for education outside of the US, otherwise, it wouldn't be all that fair of me, and while I am being a prick, I'm going to be a fair one. It just drives me up the wall to see people trying to be pompous, pretentious asses. It seems like such put-on airs, in my opinion.
By the way, I think we've all heard the Louisville rant, so I'll spare that one.
So, end of rant, end of good news.
Have a good one, we work hard for them. |
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| With Karate I'll Kick Your Ass |
[Mar. 25th, 2006|06:17 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sore | ] |
Finally, a real journal entry. As could be read by my last, I was pretty much crocked on St. Paddy's day, as well I should be. But, there's always something not-exciting in my life.
Work, we'll address that first. A month ago or so, I wrote the commercial we were going to use for my business. It's a cheesy kung-fu movie style, with horrible overdubbing. Promises to be amusing. I would have rather done the Mafia style one, but the owner wasn't too keen on it.
Anyways, had dinner with our rather cute WCHP TV Representative, and dude, she's got it all, looks and personality both. Wouldn't mind getting to know her better. We talked more about the Sopranos and Nip/Tuck than anything else.
Did get told the commercial should be a smashing success though. We begin filming on April 3rd. I'm excited. Also, she told me that their man cinematographer (or whatever he is) is shooting his own movie, and mentioned that I might be able to land a role in that. Also, muy stoked about this.
But, the more interesting part of life right now, Karate.
As I've mentioned before, I'm taking Kokyuto Bujutsu. It's a LOT of fun, and I'm making excellent progress, so I thought.
Last Wednesday, Sensei Gillam (7th Dan Black Belt, head honcho) comes in to test the two 2nd Dan Brown Belts for their First Dan. He also calls out to test my partner, Sensei Reffitt's wife Trish. We've been working together since day one, and were supposed to test at the same time, but that got shot down in one fell swoop.
I should mention, also, that while doing wall stretches, during sidekick stretching, I was able to bring my upper body completely to the floor. I can't do a split yet, that's actually a ways off, but it was still encouraging. There's some much higher belts that can't accomplish that. (Of course, I'm pretty flexible for a man my size, but still)
Anyway, while Trish was testing, Sensei Reffitt began instructing the rest of us in a Bo Staff kata called (sp?) Solubostan. Couldn't begin to tell you what that means, but it's a 22 movement kata meant to beat the shit out of four attackers using a Bo staff.
I was told that a White Belt was expected to perform this kata in less than 13 seconds for a test. Now, I know the kata, I can run it about 89% flawlessly, but not that fast yet. Of course, muscle memory is kicking in, which is useful.
Regardless, I ask if I'm to be responsible for knowing this kata on my test, and was told, yes, yes I would be responsible.
I'm also under the impression I'm to test next week.
Now, I've been busting my ass, and HARD in this class. I've got a lot to show for it too. My flexibility has increased, my technique has improved, I can lock a motherfucker all kinds of up… it's great. But, I didn't expect this sudden cram.
Of course, I was told that this is a common teaching technique in teaching. To overload the student to see what they retain. I'm not going to believe a word of it, showing the better part of valor here. This kind of goes along with a philosophy of the Style too. Kokyuto Bujutsu doesn't fit the student to the style, Kokyuto Bujutsu fits itself to the Student. It's adaptable like that.
But, I've rambled long enough. Would have posted more, but honestly, couldn't think of shit else to say. |
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