On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering
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| I Am John's Stomach Pains. On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering |
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Monday, March 10, 2008 Overheard in Dallas For those who don't know, I'm in Dallas this week for some more training. I'm sure I'll have some things to say about the visit afterwards (including the super-fun huge what I can only guess was a lightning strike on my hotel at 3am), but I had to get this down, an exchange I overheard between some of the people I'm supposed to be helping: 1: "What's [so-and-so's] extension" 2: "I think it's the last four of his phone number." 1: "Oh, okay." These are the people I'm here to help. Labels: random thought, travel, work posted by Holz | 12:33 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (2)Friday, February 08, 2008 Following the Supers So I told myself February would be different, I was determined to blog every day of the month. Yeah, that didn't happen. Oh well. Still, this past week has been exciting. On Sunday, we had a few friends over - plus got to dog-sit Chloe again - as we watched both one of the most boring Superbowls, as well as one of the best Superbowls of all time. Honestly, that game was insane! The biggest excitement we had was at the end of the first quarter, as the score was 3-0, with less than a minute left. We were all involved in a grid with tons of people, but for those at the party, I had 0-3, a friend had 3-3, while someone else had 7-3. For those who watched, you know I won the first quarter by sheer luck, as a pass interference flag with seconds to go forestalled a field goal, and the Pats had a foot to go with 25 seconds or so, but decided to wait until the next quarter (and a measly two seconds) to score the touchdown. Of course, then next two quarters were a bore, as my coworker who had 7-3 in the grid got paid twice (marvel at the fact she was 2 seconds away from winning the first three quarters). Then that final quarter. There were only 6 people (plus a baby) at the party, but 5 of us were rooting for the Giants the entire game (yes, this Red Sox fan sided with the NFC), and I was Eli's lone supporter for the past few weeks. Sure I cursed him often for the past two years during fantasy, but after the initial game against the Pats at the end of the season, and all the other playoff games, I grew to like him. He and the New York Defense both put on a great show, but it appeared for naught as Randy Moss caught what appeared to be the easiest touchdown throw in football history. Really, the guy who covered him is still lying on the ground. Anyway, time running out, and Eli has to make a stand. I swear the Pats had like 3 or 4 chances to intercept one of his throws that last drive, and missed 'em all. Then... The Catch. Our house erupted as David Tyree caught that thing, literally with his head. Easily the greatest catch I've seen since watching the Superbowl as a young boy. Hand slaps all around, while Clark Kent - the lone New England fan - just collapsed, sensing what was coming. And the, to cao it off with almost a practice throw to Plaxico in the endzone... priceless. To see perfection wiped out... it was a beautiful thing. Commercials were pretty weak. My favorites were probably the Justin Timberlake Pepsi one (I'm a sucker for crotch shots), the talking shirt stain, the screaming animals from the tire commercial, and, of course, the trailers for Iron Man and Wanted. Surprised the Iron Man didn't wow many people, saw it on the bottom of the ranking list... I'm guessing people may still feel burned by the Hulk one from a few years ago. As so often does after a get-together like that though - especially one with a baby - I got sick on Tuesday, left work, and stayed home on Wednesday. Probably for the best, as I was able to OD on Super Tuesday results... what can I say, I'm addicted to delegate counting. I was disappointed that my candidate, Barack Obama, didn't have a better showing in California, but I can't say I was surprised. Still I was ecstatic at his national showing, as he dominated in states won, and it's looking like he took the delegate count as well. It's sure looking like he'll take the next couple states as well, and my home state of Pennsylvania is gonna be the deciding factor (and by deciding factor, I mean it's probably gonna not mean anything, as the superdelegates are gonna have the final control). Still, I hope my PA buds are getting into the spirit out there... ...if not, I'm gonna have to smack some sense into ya' when I head home next weekend. Yep, The Holzinator is returning for a short visit next Thursday with my gal, hope I'll be able to visit with everyone. Labels: politics, Superbowl, travel posted by Holz | 11:30 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (22)Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig So it's finally over, my treks across the country, training field office users on this new underwriting platform is finally over. And not a moment too soon. I was going a bit crazy being away from home for so long, and I'm sure Kris was feeling the same way. ...sigh... no joke, 2 minutes after typing that above sentence, I've found out that we're not quite done yet. Apparently some in the field are struggling and we need to go back out again and help out... grr... Anyway, it's still nice to have a few weeks of home-peace. My trips weren't that bad, of course. I was able to get a quick visit with the folks and friends when I went to New Jersey (sorry I missed the kiddies, Stan!), my mileage reimbursement for two weeks driving to the Walnut Creek office is helping to pay for next week's Vegas trip (as long as my pesky Service Engine Soon light isn't serious), and while in Irvine, I was able to catch up with Kat & David, and was able to check out their swanky house... very sweet, you two. Thanks again for dinner! Caught two more movies in the past couple of weeks: Grindhouse - Just lvoed it, although I wish Lushy and Meli had been there with Kris & I. Of the two flicks, I found Planet Terror much more fun than Deathproof, mainly because (surprisingly) I've never been a fan of Taratino's dialogue-heavy diner scenes. They just don't work for me. Still, both of 'em kicked ass overall, an the fake previews were awesome. I want to see Machete, like now. 4 out of 5 Stars (split along 4.5 for PT, 3 for DP) Perfect Stranger - Night Nurse and I caught this with her folks, and I can't really recommend it. Bruce Willis isn't in it nearly enough, and I'm sorry, I've never found Halle Berry to be a very good actress... serious scene chewer. But the real problem with the movie is the ending, which isn't so much as a surprise, but an annoyance. Won't get into it much, but the problem is in a mystery, the audience and the writer have an unspoken agreement to not pull the "and it was all magic" or "the killer appeared on screen for 7 seconds in the first act" card. Neither is pulled here, but the resolution is cheap, and not shocking. Plus, no f'n nudity! 1.5 out of 5 Stars Labels: bitching, movies, review, travel posted by Holz | 10:13 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (1)Saturday, April 14, 2007 If I'm Lying, I'm Dying: Holz Sees a UFO Okay, you can be as skeptical as you want on this, but I swear, last night I saw a real life UFO. Does this mean I think it was aliens visiting Northern California? Not exactly... the term simply means Unidentified Flying Object, and that's exactly what it was. And as you can expect, my initial reaction upon seeing it when driving home is summed up in the text I sent to Kristine: "Holy shit i just saw a fucking UFO!" The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes, and I'm amazed I haven't seen any other similar reports in the news yet, because it happened while I was on a major road with a shitload of cars. Not to mention the fact it happened in a fairly populated area, above Richmond, which is just outside of Oakland. I tried to get a shot of it with my camera phone, but let's be honest camera phones suck ass. Seeing as I had no idea how I'm supposed to report these things (Kris recommended I should've called a radio show, but honestly, what the hell would that've done), I went online and reported it on the National UFO Reporting Center. The following is what I sent to them, it sums up my sighting fairly well: *** While returning from the Oakland Airport, I was driving along 580 towards the Richmond Bridge, when in the sky there appeared some type of cylindrical object of flashing lights. I first saw this object in the sky while passing the IKEA in Emeryville, CA. The object was stationary, but far in the distance. The lights I saw were clearly in motion, moving in a circular pattern, but in a pattern that varied from a solid circular pattern of uniform shaped lights, to certain areas flashing while other areas are black. If it had lasted only a minute, I may have ignored it, but this went on for more than ten minutes, and as I moved along 580, it was clear I was approaching the object. While I originally thought it stationary, it must have moved at some point because I lost eye contact with it for approximately 2 minutes, then it came back into sight. I cannot say the exact place I "passed" the object, but it was on my right-hand side, somewhere nearby the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park. Shortly after I passed where I thought it was above, I saw what I thought was a helicopter moving towards the location from the Southwest. By the time I reached the Richmond Bridge, I had seen an additional 3 helicopters in the area. *** So there you go. Laugh all you want, but this happened, and it's something I'm gonna be thinking about for weeks. And before you ask, no I wasn't confusing it with an airplane, or helicopter, or street lamp. There was something up there, and it wasn't anything I could explain. I Friday, March 02, 2007 The High Life So next week begins my month and a half of travelling around the country training field office users on the new system I've been working on for two years. Good times. My last business trip to Chicago went well, aside from the bitter cold, getting sick, and getting a nickname I have still yet to live down... actually, in retrospect, that one wasn't to great. Still where does my lovely trip begin? Newark, NJ. Yeah, Newark. *sigh* Still, I get to go back to the east coast for a week, and hang out with my folks for three days afterwards, so that's a plus. So for those who may be up for a quick visit, I'll be at their place next weekend. Hope I'm able to swing by and visit the little Sprite and Magik. After that I come back here, then off to Atlanta for a few days, two weeks in a nearby field office, and then down to Irvine for a week. Sadly, I was not picked for the Honolulu trip. So, keep in mind blogging will be sparse in the coming weeks. Labels: travel posted by Holz | 4:42 PM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (7) |
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"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42 | |||||
