after office hours drinks

It is always best to drink with people who do not know thier limits (assuming you too are not one of those people, and for morality's sake you are not the type to take dramatic advantage of such a precarious situation).

Thin burgers on a generic gas grill, chips, pasta salad, a couple dozen burned out co-workers, beer, and drinks mixed by non-professionals that contain ridiculous amounts of liqour and little else. This makes a successful party amongst co-workers.

Surely there is drama...
Shirly brings her boyfriend even though she slept with Russell 16 days ago. Russell then sizes up a fellow who doesn't even know he's being scrutinized mercilessly.
The two young professionals that have been emailing on company time share meaningful glances across the way. There is always a third soul noticing this take place and remains silent though envious.
The guy who has slept with nearly half the staff schmoozes and boozes and tries not to notice that he remains at the same fork in his life's road that he has been ignoring for the last 6 years.Of coarse there is always a new girl full of trust at these things willing to offer him more denial in exchange for a breifly entertaining mistake.
Lovers that have parted ways fake knowing smiles that, "Jez, I hope no one finds out what we did"
The boss drinks with the peons and curses in socially acceptable yet still suprising fashion. Everyone enjoys this outburst of profanity.

We are out of mustard.

hot water returns to my pipes

for the first time in 9 days I took a shower in my apratment that did not entail shivering during and after the cleaning of my body and folicles. It did spit out some (what i assume was) rusty water just as I turned it own.

The shower itself was a glorious affair. I shampooed, I soaped. I took my time, and hit all the important places. some of them, twice.

However, this was still not enough of a boost to get me to work on time.

It should be noted I did shower everyday in the last week, save sunday. I used the ice faucets to wash my hair and scrubbed myself clean the first 3 days. I showered in a Hilton hotel on saturday. Abstension sunday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I got clean in the yellow confines of my preacher's house.

God provides.

brain freeze

My apartment is devoid of luxury. The hot water heater is the latest thing to go. Some time, late Tuesday is stopped heating water that is piped into my small flat.

There are 3 spigits in my home: Kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower head. In the past weeks there has been a developing problem with these devices.

First, and even when the cold nob was turned the faucet would run 20 seconds worth of warm water. Then it would get cold.

Now all the water is cold.

I needed to shower before work. It was too cold to shower in that water, but I have quite a tuft of hair on my head so I decided to wash it in the shouwer and cloth wash the rest of my outer self.

Initial rinse was fine. Cold, but doable. I scrubbed the 2 in 1 Dove product in my hair. I looked in the mirror at myself because it is not often one gets to see themself with such sudsy follicles, and it was all the visual I hoped it would be.

Then came the tricky part, rinsing it out. This takes longer. I have think hair, and it require some hand squiggy work. and all the hair has to be rinsed out. about 45 seconds into this process my head got the same sensation I had given it early tuesday evening. The feeling one gets when they eat ice cream too quickly and the skull seesm to shrink.

For the record I blame the neighbors upstairs for the whole mess.

Eats

I brown bagged it. And I had done a good job: carrot sticks, granola bar, 2 reese's eggs, 1 6-pack of peanut butter on cheese crackers, a pouch of ruit snacks, and an oatmeal cream pie. Lunch is at 12:22.

Normally, I eat some of my lunch in the morning because I do not usually eat breakfast. So I started out with the Oatmeal pie and about 8:49am. This is an early start. A minute or so later the bag of carrots had been consumed as well. The Reese's eggs got eaten next, and the fruit snacks and granola bar were gone by 9:05.

I found myself in the Burger King parking lot at 9:18. I went inside, and I ordered the new 10000 calorie Enourmous Omlette Sandwich meal ($4.99 plus tax).

The reasoning behind this choice in two fold. Anytime (with the avalanche of Dieting programs and healthy concious activists) that a food service thumbs its nose at the public and says, "We like fat, calories and cholesterol, and you will too" i am intrigued. After seeing the film "Super Size Me" I had not eaten fast food in over month. I broke the fast. I was mad hungry and these times called for extreme measures.

Secondly I was hungry, very hungry.

I ate the sandwich the hashbrowns and downed the OJ (you know for Vitamin C) in 11 minutes. I was still not satisfied. Also the sandwich would be better with either a biscuit or crossaint type of bread around it. The sesame seed hoagie bun seemed dry and out of place at breakfast.

The sandwich gets 2 thumbs up (out of 5).

1

We join the meeting already in progress

Meeting Leader (aka undeserving authority figure): "We must decide on the point in question after the formulation of the team framework as it applies to the leadership structure. The issue concerns whether or not there is an authority on the team would be the official officially in charge of the daily goings on in the summer."

Concerned Traditionalist:"Well speaking as a parent I say there just has to be someone we can all point to and say they are the cheif administrator."

uneffected voice #1: "It is always best to have one ultimate power in any organizational system"

uneffected voice #2: "The buck must stop somewhere"

Other Oldhead:"rebellious outsider, we would like to hear your opinion"

rebellious outsider:"I do not think you can have a team following the concept just outlined and passed not half an hour ago in this room, then turn around and say this person is the true person in charge. It undermines the very purpose of its existance"

Willing Imperialist:"I recall a time when I thought differently, and I appreciate your opinion, rebellious outsider, but age and guile has given me insight into the matter of the way things really are."

rebellious outsider: "OK I understand that, but does age and..."

Willing Imperialist:"And that is enough of a majority to decide things for tonight."

The outsider goes on the tell the truth
The power absent that eveing blasts him for revolt.

poopyheadz

Is America irresistable?

Imagine you were the only son of an only son. You were raised Amish in suburban Nashville, TN. Today is your 16th birthday. Though you go to public school, your parents have up to this point successfully protected you from the evil of 21st century, real-world, Christendom. Tonight you will do the first thing of substance that truly rebels against your parents wishes. Friends from school, have secured you lower-level seats to the Nashville Cats Arena Footbal League game tonight versus the Arizona Rattlers. Also they have secured one their parents' automobiles to drive to the game.
How is your perception of society different after this night? Based on just an arena game are you, Amish person, more or less likely to engage mass culture further? What would your impression of modern American young people be after this societal encounter?

What if you had lived in the Central African Republic for all fo your life, and now at age 32 you have a chance to come to America. Wee, you were hungry when you got on the train to go to Lagos, Nigeria to catch a flight. You have saved your whole life for this moment. You have spurned women and avoided a family for this one shot at freedoom. You may go to Tokyo, London, or New York.
Which do you choose?

You are an Afghani woman is enamoured with a young private in the US Army. He is impressionable and she makes an impression on him. He brings you back to his home town of Muskogee, OK. You may have more possessions and freedoms (as in ability to do things you desire) but is the life you lead in Oklahoma truly superior to that of the repressed women of Afghanistan? Do neon lights and slick ad campaigns numb you to the underlying reification of your culture, value-system and concept of God? Even if your husband was perfect could you and he happiliy assimilate into American life? Would you want to?

You are 57 and live in the rural plains of Western China. Does the potential to become a middle-class, car-driven, gadget-using, media-savy, image concious, intellectually liberated, person of modernity appeal to you? Is it even capable?

Do you ever have a choice?

Friday the 3rd

I went out for a jog/walk. Just a block away from returning to my home I stumbled upon 2 youngish looking gentlemen. I should have kept walking but they caught me. Played on my guilt for the holidays and my white man's burdan guilt as well. I ended up driving them all over Columbia on a chase that was ultimately fruitful and took them home. In a free society I would not have felt the need to right hundreds of years of racial injustice by taking to drunken broke-down gangstas to places I have no desire to go. The low point was without question Monte (killer) urinating on a tree in the obligatory lawn median which decorates the entrance for a aging middle class neighbor hood just south of Columbia. They found the 5 Hip-Hop songs I had between the 6 discs in my changer and refused to play anything else. Repeatedly they called me "Clark Kent" becuase apparently I ended up being a more interesting and pleasing fellow than they expected. Monte also confided in me that he was Special Ed. when in the public shcools of Queens, New York. Unfortunately, after hearing his lexicon come full circle in less than an hour this did not surprise me.