I need to smile more. Jesus I didn’t realize it until I saw this pic and this was the best one out of the series on my webcam I just shot.

I wonder how long I can grow a beard until I wake up and find that someone shaved it off? At least let me make some designs first.

What’s with that funky eye thing from my glasses? I need to get new glasses or contact. Probably depend if I play softball this year what I’ll get.

Dropping pounds. Not from some great miracle diet unless you count sleeping in 2hr spurts a diet. Let my kids sleep over for a couple weeks and you can be as dashing as myself. If anything it making me cranky. Yes, cranky.

I bought a couple books today. I hate reading but something compelled me when I listened to the author speak. I never impulse buy. I did today. Books will be posted when they get here.

Did you ever notice the people that bitch most about how they hate the high school drama on social media sites are always the ones causing it? Even funnier is when they drag fantasy land into the real world and spend all of their time offline talking about what happened online. Watch out I might blog about it. Err wait. And people wonder why TV soap operas are dying *sheesh*

You thought all those D&D kids from grade school were freaks. They’re the ones building the apps right now you can’t stop using. Suckers!

I’ve paid attention more to the debates recently not because I want answers but because I want to see who’s going to get choke-slammed by Newt next. He probably won’t win the nomination because people are still too sensitive but man he’d be a bad ass. At the end of the day though my vote in November will go to Stephen Colbert.

If the biggest drama in your young life is if you should have kids now or later,  my advice is to wait until you’re 30. You’re obviously not ready to handle the mindscrew they lay on you so enjoy your 20′s. Just wait until there are 2 of them.

Want or need? The most annoying thing old people, especially my mom, say to me is “Do you NEED it or do you WANT it?” when it comes to making purchases. I have a feeling this has the legs for a good post subject. One that I NEED and WANT.

Late today I got the great news that this big project I’ve been stressing over got the green light to launch days earlier than expected. To celebrate I’m going to be the celebrity judge at a wine competition tomorrow night. Wrap your noodle around that one. Little know fact, I like wine… Franzia, thanks to Griff.

I have a couple more brew kits coming my way and I just need to pick out the yeast. Be afraid.

Looking forward to hanging with various groups of friends I haven’t seen in almost 6months. There will be bowling, mexican food and tequila involved. This can’t end well.

cheers!

I’m sure I’m not alone when it comes to fear of the dentist. Prior to a couple weeks ago I’ve been to the dentist twice since I’ve moved to Pittsburgh and for good reason, the person I saw before tore my mouth apart and said I needed $2000 in dental work that I didn’t need.

I never liked the dentists in Erie and I’m pretty sure one of them got their license out of a car in Mexico.

6 years ago I had most of my silver fillings (from when I was a kid) replaced with some white filling material. Well one of those fillings fell out and after I heard good things about a local dentist I decided to go in. He inspected the hole and said that most of the white fillings would need replaced again because they were poorly done but the one that fell out will need some work. Downside was that the next open appointment I could get was in November (I was in early Sept). He said that the hole wouldn’t be that bad and I should be fine. I wasn’t.

Shortly after brew day I started getting really bad toothaches and headaches. I called the dentist office and they were on fall break for the next couple weeks. Called the emergency number and no one called back. Happened to talk to my doctor and he took a quick look to make sure nothing was infected and prescribed a pain killer to help me out.

The pain kept getting worse and on the 11th I could barely talk because the pain was so bad. This day also happened to be Veterans Day so no one was opened. Thankfully we found one that answered their phone and was also close to me so I went in for an emergency check. He took a couple x-rays and then said what I didn’t want to hear. “You need a root canal… NOW!” 2 hours later and the worst pain I’ve ever felt, I leave and all of the pressure and pain is gone. However he didn’t finish the job because he’s not my regular dentist and said the guy I go to should be able to finish it and he didn’t want to interfere with any treatment he was giving me. I was cool with that so instead of putting a crown on he filled the tooth with cotton and sealed it up. Said it will be good for awhile.

This past Tuesday I get back to my dentist for a scheduled appointment and tell him what happened. He said he doesn’t do crowns or finish root canals so I would need a specialist and gave me the name of whom he recommends. In the meantime he fixed a couple of the fillings and sent me on my way.

Called the specialists office and they said they can’t do anything for me. Called back to the dentist office and the nasty woman working the phones says I never had a root canal, I must be mistaken and obviously I didn’t pay attention to her when she told me who to call.

I love this dentist. I fell no pain when he worked and I loved that he explained everything when he was working plus is very relaxing. His staff though is absolutely miserable to deal with which is unfortunate. I finally found someone I like and now I’m questioning if I should go back because his staff is that nasty.

I did find a specialist by where I work that will take care of the tooth in early Dec after and honestly I’m just anxious to get everything finished. I swear that you just cant find good people anymore when it comes to dealing with the public.

Anytime my hometown makes me do a *facepalm* I need to talk about it. Not saying we don’t do enough stupid things down here but you know… its home.

It’s no secret that WalMart loves the Erie area and I guess the people of Erie love it back. That would be the only reason why WalMart is now constructing a new $40 million Super WalMart less than 1/2 mile down the road from a current one. Shocked? Don’t be. A few years ago they did the same thing on Upper Peach in Erie.

According to GoErie.com the location will be 1/2 between Millfair and the Wegman’s driveway. Well that leaves a lot of land so thankfully the folks at YourErie.com have a more precise location. One that is right by the lovely The Cab bar. Wouldn’t shock me to see WalMart buy it and level it so they can keep their clean wholesome image *cough cough*.

I just don’t get it. Just about every WalMart in Erie is a Super WalMart except this one. The current building is next to a Wegman’s (which if you haven’t been to one is a fantastic grocery store) and since the zoning wouldn’t allow expansion to give them competition, because god forbid there is upscale shopping anywhere, Walmart is going to abandon yet another huge storefront and build a new one.

Before WalMart does this they should be required to find a tenant for the previous location that isn’t a Spirit Halloween or some fly by night Christmas store.

I’ve never been a fan of the current MLB playoff format. I liked it better when it was NL/AL West vs East and it came down to the final weeks to take out number 1 (Baseball should not be played in November either but that’s a different post). The invention of the Wild Card awhile back was great for some clubs to squeak into the playoffs but what this also means is that teams celebrate like they won the World Series after every round. If you’re going to keep it, the AL/NLDS is a waste of time and should be a 3 game “whew we’re lucky to be here” fight to go to your league title.

Does the NFL celebrate excessively after each round? NO. Does the NHL? NO. Does the NBA? I wouldn’t know since I don’t watch basketball. Come on its hockey season!

Texas won their ALDS and a trip to the AL title game. Not the AL title itself but the chance to play for the title.

(if this doesnt load, thank the MLB. click here to watch the flash file)

I get that you’re happy you won. You’re the defending league champs, to celebrate as though you’ve never been there is amazing. You haven’t won anything yet fellas but you spray enough bubbly that you have to water goggles.

You accomplished part of the final goal so have a beer and congratulate your teammates. Champagne showers are meant for champions, not for job that has to be finished.

Best way to explain this is to take the show American Pickers and make the hosts 2 hot chicks. That pretty much sums it up. I realized after the 4th hour that I really didn’t understand what I was supposed to be watching besides 2 girls in Daisy Duke shorts sift through junk and then make their man-bitch build something out of it back in LA.  They are hot though so I kept watching and it was better than another marathon of kids programming.

Then it happened… Dance Moms.

I’m a sucker anything involving Pittsburgh for 2 reasons. 1) I love this city 2) I’m always looking for someone I know.  In this case I found myself being hypnotized by this drill sergeant of a dance teach screaming at parents and kids. Honestly I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a heart attack or head explosion.

Quick overview – Abby has been running her dance studio for 25 years and wins a shit ton of awards because she pushes for the best. The 5 moms of some students stay and watch… and bitch… a lot. 2 of the moms are being portrayed as loving to hit the bottle, one thinks she’s Michelle Obama, another is the mom of the best dancer and busts her ass to help out and then there is the crazy ass who owns her own studio in Ohio but drives her daughter to Pittsburgh so Abby can make her better but this nut case tries telling Abby what to do.

The show is a complete trainwreck and its glorious. Here’s the deal, you want the best you pay for the best. Abby is obviously it. You know going in that this lady is going to push your kids hard so shut up. If you don’t like it there are other studios you can go to. Coddle your kids elsewhere while she grooms champions.

You cant stop watching though because the moms are insane; the instructor is insane and well everyone is insane.  If I ever had a girl would I send her there? Probably not because the demand on parents is way more than we could deal with and Lushie would probably beat every mom up and headbutt Abby.

Anyways, check out the shows. They’re worth it. Don’t let Lifetime fool ya, if it was on Spike the dudes would be all over this.

Picker Sisters – Tuesdays at 10p

Dance Moms – Wednesdays at 10p

trainwreck

waste of an hour

jumped the shark

I’ve never seen 50000 people bail so fast on a webcast in my life. I stayed tuned in to see what would happened and what I got was an hour of public access quality writing and sfx of fart jokes and applause. The only saving grace was the girl who would get up once in awhile and bop around while the others sat there sucking what is left of Charlie Sheen’s fame.

I’m sure the only time my kids will ever ask about this moment is when they have a school project on social media disasters but when they do I can point to this post and say “boys, I was there.”

I think this train may end faster and more harsh than the one Ted Williams was on.

Renegades mount up!

Pittsburgh was bitchslapped by a winter blast yesterday and into the morning. Unlike previous storms roads were… who am I kidding. Roads sucked, people drove like jagoffs and it was mass hysteria. Its 12:30am and few of us have seen a plow even thought it started snowing 10 hours ago. Took me 2 hours to get home tonight and mmmm yeah the city is in a state of suck right now.

Things I saw that lead to some of the chaos

• if you drive a sports car keep it home. You don’t have snow tires and spinning out up a hill is inevitable
• because you drive and SUV or truck doesn’t mean you can do 60 in a 35. Well it does but you’re sliding as much as us
• if you stay in your lane traffic would be a lot faster
• stop racing plows
• stop honking. no one is moving for you and the sound interrupts my Pearl Jam. this makes me stabby.

We’ll be melted out within 24 hours so sit tight tomorrow if you’re lucky enough for a delay. Be smart people, you’re not that important where your need to be somewhere trumps safety.

Go ahead and click on it. You know you want to.

The furnace has been a thorn in my side since me moved in. Its ran like a champ but the problem is that Captain Obvious went balls to the wall having this thing installed and left ZERO documentation to it. Yeah its not your typical furnace with $12 filters either. Of freaking course it wouldn’t be.

So here’s the deal

We’ve had a problem with heat getting to the nursery. Never an issue after we moved in because we always had the windows open so we knew the room was at least cool. Come winter time and its barely blowing. We call and the guy stops out THREE times. Yes, THREE! Each time with a different excuse. First time it was the filter which was $40 (this I actually looked up online and confirmed because its some 1 year accordion thing) Then he said it needed cleaned and since I saw the gunk in it I figured why not. Third time he comes back because the whole house is shaking when the furnace kicks on and there is water on the floor. At this point they think we’re full of shit.

Really? Look at this. Go one and click to make it bigger.
Does that look like I’m imagining things? It takes 4 days for these people to come back.

This time they send a new guy and he says that not only does the pump need replaced but there is a 1ft long piece of foam in the blower. Funny since we never had issues until the guy serviced the furnace and now this piece of foam is there.

Someone call the Hardy Boys to solve this mystery. Good lord it amazes what people do to make a buck.

You have your reasons for your vote, I have mine. Lesser of 2 evils blah blah blah.

I’m crossing party lines on this one and a few others.

That is what’s left of Teaspoon’s pumpkin. Never got to carve it because last night some teenagers nailed not only our house but the surrounding 4 blocks.

At first I was hella pissed because this was Teaspoon’s pumpkin and you don’t mess with my kid but then I thought about karma kicking their ass. You see one of the kids got caught and from what I heard literally pissed himself because the lady screamed at him so bad. Then, since they did it at 7pm, the police were right on top of it and most likely caught the others. There were pissed off parents roaming the streets so there was no way these kids were making it out. I don’t know what the final outcome was but the rest of the night was very peaceful. The problem here is I’m a smart ass and next year anyone who knew me in college knows the level I can take things. I was caught off guard this year but in 2011 I’ll be ready.

So here’s where it gets good. My mom is always telling me what a rotten kid I was growing up and every time she tells me of a memory to prove her point its never me. Its either something from a TV show or an assumption. I’ll be honest here, I was your average kid in high school. I stayed home and played video games yet she has vivid memories of me being some thug which is ironic since I never left the house besides to play pool with Mario at Eastway Billiards or go on a church youth group trip. OK, MAYBE I took a road sign but that was like once… or 3 times.

Case in point, today I call and tell her about the pumpkin getting smashed. Instead of saying “oh thats a shame” like she always does she says “Well i remember when you did that! Your dad was always pissed.” I never did. In fact my dad would have me hide in the bushes and jump out at people which, looking back now, was really dumb on the personal safety level.

Jump ahead to today where I hear one of my nephews told his parents he was going out to throw TP with their blessing yet I’m portrayed as a delinquent for not doing anything.  I get that kids will be kids and all that jive but come on, quit blaming me for being something I’m not when you’re approving of the same behavior.

I still have the signs btw. Hidden in a nice safe place.