Empty

I'm sitting in my room which seems 98% empty.  And as soon as I wrote that sentence, the song I'm listening to had the words, "seems like I'm running on empty."  Funny.

Yeah, today I got up early and started the long day:  Take the biggest load to Oly, go to the goodwill, sell my bed, and drop a couple of things off at friend's houses.  And glue all my tassels on my costume.

As Morgue suggested, tomorrow I  become a full time Macho Man!

And clean.

Last Day.

I get to go into my last day at work in a few moments.  I am excited, to be sure.  Tomorrow:  Unemployment!

Went to a great dinner on Monday, but  was be blown away at how much it cost.  And I didn't even have to pay a dime- I was taken out by the chef of the club, and it got expensed...but seriously, what's the deal with chefs just over-charging by so much?  I would never take someone there, if I was going to be the one to pay.

Going back.....to the future!

I've been long over due in mentioning this here, but to some they know already:

This will be the condensed version of my tale.

I am selling my ice cream company.  I decided this a long time ago.  My life had some changes in it, that made me put everything under the microscope, and I realized that I'm the kind of person who needs to have all my successes mine, and all my failures mine too.  I cannot deal well with people who don't live up to my expectations.  So I knew then that I had to start on a solo project.

I also grew tired of my pay job, and realized I was going stagnant there.  I gave notice that I was leaving, and have 3 days left on my tenure.  They are losing the best sous chef that they ever had, as they claim, but my contention is this:  I just did the job.

For the month of November I am camping, traveling to visit family on the East Coast, and hanging out with my family in Olympia.  The day after Thanksgiving, I get on a plane to New Zealand.  I will be there at least until February.  I have little in the terms of definite plans for NZ; mostly I am going because I feel like arriving there will end "the current chapter" of my life (which has seen tremendous highs and crappy lows...).

So I look to the future!

Undecided

David Sedaris in the New Yorker on undecided voters:

"To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

Yes.

So my friend CP tipped me off on this:

A guy who is a baseball statistician of the highest caliber- Baseball Prospectus*, has been blogging about the election using algorithms he's created.  Obama has a 96.3% chance of winning, based on simulations in conjunction with polls and looking at the electoral college!

*Baseball Prospectus, sometimes abbreviated as BP, is a think tank focusing on sabermetrics, the statistical analysis of the sport of baseball. Baseball Prospectus has fathered several popular new statistical tools which have become hallmarks of baseball analysis. 

And that's why you're just visiting!

See what boredom finds you at work!

I may have to admit I have a problem if I'm still posting Macho Man clips in another month.

3.14159265..........

I'm eatin' ma pie that I made last night for breakfast. Is there really anything finer than a cup of joe and a slice of pie for breakfast? Well, sure, there probably is, but it's simplicity is brilliant!
I made an apple pie after I devoured my crunchy tacos for dinner. Man, those take me back to the day!
Back to the pie!

Free Time? What is this??!?!

This was such a strange weekend for me- there was no ice cream work to do. With the season being over, I had Saturday completely free, and the morning of Sunday open. I was overwhelmed with "free time." What does one do with this stuff? It made me almost uncomfortable, I've become so unaccustomed to it...
Friday night I went out with some friends to a reggae/hip-hop show, and that was pretty fun. The whole crowd was different than the other shows I usually go to, but it was super positive, and everyone I met through my friend who brought me out there was cool.
Saturday was college football/working on my costume/dinner party. Lazily paced for sure.
Yesterday, after some morning laze, I worked at the pay-job, then left to have beers with a friend from work at the pub across the street. After seeing the Hawks get smoked (they truly are pathetic this year), and the Red Sox lose to the Rays in the ALCS, we were depressed (by the way, setting up the least exciting World Series Ever, Philly vs Tampa Bay).
So, Mike called his friend thats the chef de cuisine at Tilth, a fine dining establishment, and we closed that place down over the best meal I've probably had this year.
I capped off the meal with an AMAZING '68 Madeira, that was so sexy, I proclaimed "I want a cologne that smells like this."
And then I had some bourbon too....(for a total of 2 digestifs)
It was a grand Sunday night, and this post will not do it justice now!

From the top rope.

OK. I was REALLY bored at work today, and started watching old videos of Macho Man matches....
This one is FANTASTIC!


Seriously, the ending is incredible.
I just add to my Macho Man costume each day.

I've decided I will be jumping off of lots of things.

Also, I've discovered the kids show I wish I had cable to watch:

Searched.

The local DJ suggested searching this one out. So I did.

MACHO MADNESS!

Had to work today, which was supposed to be my day off.

I hate working for other people- the whole "subservient" thing of the clubs kills me....

Anyways, I've been working on my Macho Man voice, which has been racking my throat something fierce.  But slowly, it's handling it better...soon, I'll sound like the real thing.

I probably need to just drink a massive amount of whiskey that night to "relax" my throat...

SUPRISE!
I'm working on my costume tomorrow....

I can't sing, and I can't dance, but I can make romance!

WHAT!?!?

ask me again.

WHAT?!?

I figured out what my Halloween costume is going to be.  (And its not Lil' John from all the "whats?!"

I should say, OH YEAH!!

You ready for a little Macho Madness!?!?

If you really want to be entertained, just watch a few of the Macho Man's interviews with Mean Gene....

180 degrees!  Sugar is sweet and so is honey!  And the beat goes on!  The honkey tonk man is out of line!

PURE GOLD.

'Mater Mania!

Much has been happening in the soup world of mine recently.

I made my famous Masa Ball Soup. This one's gonna make me millions!
Today I made my Caldo Gallego, using sausage I made with my own 2 hands. Fantastic on a cool autumn evening.
Pics from my run in with Emily's tomatoes the other night for the masa ball soup:







The last one is after I poked myself in the eye with the tomato eyes...

And be glad we weren't making 'mater cake, where you take a box cake mix and add some Cambell's Condensed Tomato soup.
I think I just threw up a little in the back of my mouth thinking about it.....

I have turned to the dark side.  I got a new camera, and it's not film!  I cannot believe it, since I've railed on digi's for years.  But when an entry level camera is so cheap and shoots 8 megapixels, I can't deny it's purposefulness for quick snaps.  I won't be making art for sure...

But here's some pics of the Empire Ice Cream Van, or Vanpire as Trever suggested...

Veep-ers, Creepers

Last night at work, we listened to the vp debate.  I was amused by the things Sarah Palin said, or I should say, failed to say.  When she at one point boasted she wasn't going to answer the questions that the moderator asked of her, then she in effect, lost the debate.  She repeatedly turned answers to questions towards "Alaska is an energy producing state.....ENERGY INDEPENDENCE!" from questions regarding say, foreign policy.  When the only foreign policy experience you have is that Russia is kind of close, and Canada scratches your back, then great.

She brought no actual facts and numbers really, and the ones she did bring were de-bunked by Biden.

I don't need to go on, as everyone reading this blog feels the same as me (I hope).

But is it possible to one day have a more idiotic president than Dubya?  Scary.