Finishing the Basement

I am trying to finish my basement. Mainly there is one room that needs to be finished because one of my younger sisters is moving in with us for a while. I am about one third of the way done framing. I hate windows. I hate having to measure for them, and cutting the correct boards for them. It sucks! I have one wall fabricated and ready to be lifted up into place. I can not do this one alone, and my wife is in no condition to help. Which means I have to hope my younger brother is able to come home this weekend, and willing to come over to my house to help me.

What college student wants to spend their weekend doing stupid manual labor like that? Not labor really, but charity work? I’m not paying him! He would rather go to the Honda shop and put together VTX 1800’s. I can’t blame him. I would rather do that as well. Plus he is being paid to put them together. Sweet bikes. I wish I had the money to buy one. I need another form of transportation, my T-Bird has died, and we need to trade the Accord up for a mini-van or SUV REAL soon.

On top of all that, at some point work is going to be moving, which puts the traveling distance just outside of the T-Bird’s range anyway. I would like a motorcycle. Cheap on gas, and when the weather is bad or during the winter, I can have the wife and kids take me to work. We need to change their sleeping habits because the boy starts school next year. Waking up at 9 or 10 doesn’t work for him anymore.

Can I just tell you that I will be SO thankful once my wife is better, no more sick, and the kids are healthy as well. I hate being the only well person. I hope my health can last through Saturday. It can fail miserably after that. Just hold me through Saturday.

Why me?

The worst thing in the world, the worst possible scenario, is to be the only one in your family to be in good health. The others just whine, cry, mope, and make impossible demands. Dad I need this. Dad I want that. Honey, you have to do this. Well I'm sick of it! Oh sure, I love this people, but I need to get some sleep as well. I need to worry about myself a litle bit, otherwise I'm going to end up the same way they are; sick and in bed.

Not at all the best route to taking over the world. I need to be well rested, and in good health. How serious are you going to take someone who is pale, hunched over in pain, slubbering, snot running down the face, sneezing, coughing, and miserable. No one. If that person were to start making demands, you would probably laugh hysterically, and then cap them one in the leg. Once they were down, you would kick them a few times for good measure. You really don't need to, they are already in a world of hurt, but that is the kind of person we are trying to be.

Take over at that point would be a trivial matter. Which is why, as Evil Overlord, I need to be well rested, and in good health. I'm not going to give up my empire to some punk, while I am suffering through a cold. Oh no! I'm taking care of myself! I'm ignoring the needs of my family so that I don't contract what they have, so that I stay healthy.

I say that. But I'm not. *grumble grumble*

I Think I'm Getting Old

I think I am getting old. My wife made an appointment with the eye doctor for me because I was complaining about not being able to read the TV listings on the TV. Rather than make a fuss, I went to the appointment.

Now, bear in mind that I had glasses before. In fact this was back in 1998. I had the glasses for about two years. At which point my wife, who was roughly eight months pregnant, sat on and broke my glasses. It was a weak prescription. Probably the weakest you can get, and still have glasses. I just did not bother to get them replaced for the past five years.

Do I need glasses now? Yes. Is my prescription bad? No. Although, it is slightly worse than before. And this new word, stigmatism. The doctor said that I don’t need glasses for every day use, but at times I may wish to have glasses just to make things easier on my eyes. Being able to see the white board clearly in meetings. Possibly at the movie theater with the screen so far away.

Am I bummed? Of course not! If worn properly, glasses have a way of making someone more distinguished. More powerful. Course, if not worn properly, they only make you look more like a dork than anything. This is way kids get made fun of for wearing glasses. Their uncaring parents force them to get these huge frames because they are tuff and will last a long time. Frames that dwarf the poor kids face. Then the parent wonders why kids are making fun of their child. Idiots!

So I have glasses now. Well, as soon as they come in. Not a bad thing, but still regrettable. Oh well. I will be the Evil Overlord, and then it doesn’t matter because if someone DOES make fun of me, they will find themselves at the wrong end of a firing squad.

Those Darn Kids

I have had a rough past 15 hours. It began last night with my daughter. I was sitting on the couch, reading, when all of a sudden she started screaming. She came running is screaming get it out get it out of my mouth! What? What is in your mouth. A penny get it out! I don’t see a penny. I swallowed it! You what? Can you breathe? Do this! (pant) Can you swallow? Eat this marshmallow!

Now remember, this girl of mine forced us to call poison control 3 times in one week. She is such a pill! Why me? Why must I suffer with this demon child?

This morning my boy was at the dentist. 4 cavities. 4 for his 4 years of age. The poor boy, is SO doped right now! The dentist said he will be out cold until 3 this afternoon. The girl is upset. She wants to play with him. She misses her brother when he isn’t around.

The boy looks like he got in a fight at school, and lost. I hope he isn’t in too bad of a mood when he wakes up. Otherwise I might not be able to participate in the department games tonight. Because if he is in a bad mood, my wife will insist on a break!

Ok, well, I gotsta get back to work now.

Stupid Cats

We have two cats. Mad Mardigan (We call him Mardy) and Marie. Mardy is your typical curious cat. We have no problems with him. Marie, I swear is retarded. She constantly pees on our stairs, and yet, continues to use the kitty litter for her number two’s. This started when we had her fixed. We are trying to retrain her using the cage method. This seems to work as long as my wife pays attention when we let Marie out.

Now for the funny. When Marie is let out, Mardy zips right into the cage and refuses to get out until he is good and ready to come out. He LOVES the cage. I don’t know why. He gets in there and starts purring up a storm!

Marie hates me. Which is ok with me, because I don’t like her either. If we got rid of her and kept Mardy, I would be fine with it. The ONLY good thing about Marie (other than looking good because she is a good looking cat) is that she is such a good mouser.

That just isn’t a good enough reason to keep a cat though. Your house smells awful. Yeah I know. This stupid cat over here refuses to use the kitty litter. Well why do you keep her? She is a damn good mouser!

Sorry that just doesn’t fly.

So we are retraining her. If I can retrain (brainwash) a cat, then I surely can do it to people. This is practice for the world domination thing. Brainwashing is an art, not a thing.

Great Ideas

Have you ever had a really good idea? An idea that you know would make you a lot of money. An idea that would be inherently owned by your employer because it falls under that category in the employee handbook. Yes, I hate that as well. You want to make gobs of cash, you have the spare cycles in your off hours, something that would be really neat, but the resources can’t be spared at work, and yet, it would still be owned by the company if you do it.

That is why I am working on a book. Especially one of ruling the world because the company I am with doesn’t want to claim any credit nor ownership of my book. Bad for the corporate image, yet everyone wants a copy. If everyone likes and wants it, it can not be all that bad. A way for me to make gobs of cash.

The one downside to this plan, I haven’t written it yet. I get too involved with my family, house work, and computer games. I know that getting the book down is the important thing, but I have so much fun doing the others.

I had the same dilemma with school homework. I know it is important, but I have so much fun not doing it. There is no incentive to get me to do it. I need a vacation where I can go somewhere, not have to worry about doing anything, other than sit down and write. Unfortunately, I know of no such place. Something else I have learned, I can not write this book on the computer. I can type it into the computer really quickly, but there are too many distractions on the computer. This has to be hand written.

So, in front of all my 4 readers, I pledge that by this next Christmas, the book will be written, published, and for sale. That is my goal. To accomplish this goal, I will go and purchase a notepad to write in, I will print off all that I have typed into the computer already, and go to work. I will spend 30 minutes minimum, every night, until I have the first draft ready to be proof read. At that point, I will state my new goals.

Why do I want gobs of cash though? Every plan to take over the world requires some sort of funding! DUH!

The Weekend

The weekend started out like any other. I had some intentions to get some things done which didn’t happen. I wanted to clean up my back yard. Burn all the weeds, and throw away the garbage. That didn’t happen. The wind was blowing too hard. My poor daughter was walking towards the house when a HUGE gust came by. It picked up the entire pile of tumble weeds and started rolling it towards her. I yelled at her to run. She took one look at the death coming towards her and screamed. I am proud of her though. She didn’t stand there and get pummeled by the wall of death. She turned while screaming and ran. It missed her by a few inches. She wanted to go back inside after that.

My brother came over for dinner Saturday night. While we were waiting for it to finish cooking, I introduced him to City of Heroes. That kid played until 3:30 in the morning. He took a new character and leveled to 9 or 10 in one night. Course, that character is on my account and he can’t use my account while back in College. So he went out, bought the game, installed it on another computer of mine, and remade that character. She is either level 5 or 6 now. The nice thing though, I have someone who is willing to play when I want to play! HURRAY! And yes, I know someone is going to ask, it is a female character, just like all the rest of us!

So the best thing that happened this weekend was my daughters near death. And that because she was so cool about it. No hesitation. Scream and run.

We did get new fish for the fish tank. I want to set up a salt water tank. My dad has a 55 gallon tank. The perfect size for that sort of system. But we will see. I have to finish the basement first. As things are now, I have no room for another fish tank.

Why the World

Many people, over the years, have questioned why I have this fetish of taking over the world. Why am I bent on world domination. Where is the Pinky to my Brain? It is really quite simple if you were to think about it.

Our world is totally screwed up. The governments are doing a piss poor job of things, and the general public are no better because they let them continue to do so. It is agreed then that the world is screwed up. People fighting each other, musicians are being prosecuted for something that should never have been allowed to even remotely happen in the first place, and all this because of differing opinions. Well, it is my opinion that the world would be a much better place if one person was allowed to have the opinion that really mattered. Me.

Actually, life would continue on, mostly the same as it is now, except there would be no more wars between countries. It would be one giant country. Except for a few minor changes, it will be the same country. First of all, France. The whiney babies that they are, they do not deserve their own country. Besides, their disease might spread. If we want anyone to be whiney babies that can be walked all over, it is our inmates. So, France is no longer a country. Walls will be put up around the country, and all world inmates will be shipped there. All French people will now become prisoners as well, on minimum security because they pose no risk, and will continue to live their lives as they are.

Next on the list, Canada. We are moving the US northern border back up to where we originally wanted it, North of the 49th parallel. I don’t remember where exactly, but I’ll look it up eventually. We are going to then sink the rest of Canada and who ever is on the wrong side, oh well!

By this point, every other potentially warring nation will stop their petty differences, and live the way of life that I dictate. All terrorists will be shot on site. No special war tribunal. Everyone will be allowed to own and carry guns. That is what makes the US so great. Rap and Country music will be gone forever, and anyone who comments or talks to me complaining about that restriction will be kicked off the island and sent to the part of Canada that gets sunk.

As for the other question, where is Pinky? It is really quite simple. There was a lab accident several years ago. I haven’t seen him since. If anyone does see him, please let me know.

NARF!

Secret Agent Stuff

Have you ever wished you were a secret agent? I sure have. Being able to travel the world, see great sites, meeting lots of people. The military training, the secret killing skills you get, and all those cool gadgets. Yeah that would be fun.

I’m not a secret agent, I’m not given any cool assignments, and I have not had to kill anyone. I’m cool with that, it is ok. The one thing I do wish I had, gadgets. I want those nifty watches that become the remote detonator to my diamond cuff-links, or the hand grenade pen. Cool things that I wish I had.

I am building myself a secret laboratory though. And I have plans to build some nifty cool gadgets. And do not forget the "Don’t Throw Away I Might Need It Box." My box is more like three boxes and a pile though.

Every man needs nifty gadgets. Gadgets like a GPS, and an mp3 player. I don’t have either one. My kids tend to get all my spare change, so they are the ones getting the nifty gadgets. But for kids, anything is a nifty gadget. All I want to do is take over the world, but NO! My little girl wants a Slurpee, and my boy wants a Twix. Will it never end?

Course, things could be worse. My wife could nag me non-stop. And my kids could be the sickly things that every sitcom has. Allergic to everything. No, my kids are cool. Last night my boy cut himself somehow on the top of his foot. He had blood streaming down. He comes over to me and says I think I cut myself. Is this blood? And holds up his finger to me, with blood running off of it. (I didn’t know about the foot.) Yeah, that is blood, is your finger all right? Yeah, but it is coming out of my foot.

Yeah, my boy is cool. He deserves having the world handed to him when I am done with it. He will have fun. In the mean time, I want some gadgets.

The Kids

If you have not fathomed by now, I have two kids (4 year old boy, 2 year old girl) and an unknown on the way. At some point in the past the boy was given a Silverado Power Wheels for Christmas, and a neighbor gave the girl a Barbie Jeep Power Wheels minus the batteries and charger. The girl wants to ride in a Power Wheels, but the boy doesn’t want her in his. She knows this and so will cry if she is put in there. What do we do? We went to Walmart last night and purchased batteries and charger for her Power Wheels. $80 later, we are back at the house, and the girl is helping me plug in her batteries so that she can ride her Jeep the next day. Next day is today, so I will have to let you know how it goes.

I am a little nervous since she is a petite two year old, and has never even tried in the boy’s truck. If nothing else, we have a toy for my niece to play on when she comes to visit. But I don’t see that happening any time soon. She lives in North Carolina, where her dad (my brother-in-law) is serving in the Army. Military lives below the poverty line, they can’t afford to fly out here.

My backyard isn’t looking too pretty. I have three cars sitting out there. The 15 passenger van needs a new transmission. The Fiero needs a new engine, and to be unlocked. These are my father’s vehicles and were dumped here when they moved. The other car is my T-Bird, which needs a new transmission, new tires, and a new radiator hose. New tires will cost $250, and the hose about $15. That will get the vehicle repaired enough for my purposes, driving 5 minutes to work and back. The transmission doesn’t go past the second gear. But it will still do 80!

I need a new car. Actually, the wife needs a mommy mobile and I need something small to get me to work and back. I want a motorcycle, but that doesn’t work in the winter time. Or any other time it may be raining, snowing, or winds at 88 miles an hour! Hey, would you look at the time! I’ve got to go to work and work on my plans for world domination. I can’t be the Evil Overlord if I don’t have my plans, and have good skills.

I have pie building skills, arcade skills, and secret government nunchucks skills.

My License

Before you get too far in things, read yesterday’s post. Something happened and it didn’t post until today. I was lazy and didn’t want to look into it. But it is there now, so go read.

If you remember, the other day I had to go renew my driver’s license. It arrived in the mail yesterday. I think the new style is really gay. Oh sure, it is more secure, and conforms to new regulations, but I miss all the extra info that was on the old ones, the one that lists out all available Endorsements and Restrictions. At least I still have my motorcycle endorsement!

One of my sisters is going to move in with us. My mom is going to give me some money to finish a room in my basement for her. She isn’t going to live here that long, but needs a cheap place to stay. Well, ok, I’ll be the good brother and provide that place. Besides, I’ll be getting a free babysitter again, and part of my basement finished at little cost to me. Hurray!

Now, the ultimate question, how am I going to do the basement? Where are the rooms going to be, do I want to make a back door, is a 12x9 room big enough? All good things to help me practice and prepare for when I have taken over the world, and ready to implement my plans for a new world order. But most important, is the entertainment room going to be big enough?

Las Vegas

The weekend was a bizarre one. Spent all day Saturday in Las Vegas. We walked up and down that strip. The only thing we came back with was sore feet. I didn't gamble and the others only spent upwards towards $5. I spent money to ride on the roller coaster at New York, New York. Other than that and food, we didn't spend that much down there.

We all had black boogers the next day. That sucks. Sore throat, smoke filled lungs, and a drunken stench all day long. Really not much to talk about, except for the street preachers.

If you are familiar with the controversy in Salt Lake, Utah concerning Main Street, you will understand. There in Vegas were the same street preachers. They were holding signs that listed out all the sinners who were going to burn in Hell. Pot smokers, gamblers, sex addicts, alchoholics, sport fanatics, and Mormons. We all had to do a double take. We are in Sin City. They list out these things that they feel will send you to hell, and include Mormons in that list.

Having studied most religions (not all, and not all of them as completely as I should) and knowing the Mormon (LDS) faith, I know of nothing in the mentioned faith that would cause you to be sent to burn in hell according to the teachings of the other faiths. Would that be persecution? Being singled out for your faith? The other "sins" listed are for the most part addictions and require help to break from the clutches. Sports fanatics to a point can be an addiction, but that is generally going to be associated with gambling. What happened to these preachers to cause them to hate all Mormons? To name them specifically as those destined to burn in the firey pits of doom?

My bit of advice to all that. Do not change your religion based on the accusations of these guys. Study things your self, and THEN decide. Course, if you do go to hell, remember, that is where all the good bands are going! ROCK ON!

Friday Again!

I am so glad Friday has finally come again. Sadly, I am not going to be able to enjoy my weekend. We are going to Las Vegas this weekend. All I want to do is veg at home, but NO! The wife insists we go. I don't understand what the point is. I don't gamble. In fact, I never have. Of the many times I've been there, I haven't so much as put a quarter into any machine. My wife, on the other hand, grew up with it. They would often travel from Washington to Reno to gamble away.

I would rather waste my money in a nice arcade, or on some fun rides, or in a good movie. Not in a smoke filled casino.

I would like to get a slot machine for my house though. That would be fun to have over in the corner next to my arcade cabinet, and the pinball machine. I don't have a pinball machine yet, but someday! Someday one will be mine!

The kids are not going with us. They are going to stay with "grandma." My poor family. They have to deal with my whiney, bratty, kids for two nights. I wish I could stay with them instead of going to "sin city." On the other hand, I'll be alone, with my wife, for two nights. This might not be all that bad. In fact, I'll bet it could be a good thing. Yeah, maybe I want to go. (Don't tell my wife though, she feels bad about making me go. Maybe I can get some good wife points!)

Have a good weekend everyone. I'll be working on my plans for world domination.

More about the book

I am writing today's post with my little girl sitting on my lap. So, if it seems a bit short, remember she has a short attention span and has insisted on doing something other than sitting on daddy's lap quietly.

It is always a great moment when you have confirmation that something you are working on is good, and acceptable. I don't know about everyone else, but it gives me a good feeling. The green of NUnit. It doesn't sound like much, but when you've spent two hours looking at red. A blessed change.

I am working on a few projects, and soon (hopefully) I will have actual items to sale in conjunction with the book I am writing. Nice things, like posters, t-shirts, the book, and other small momentos celebrating the printing (or future printing) of my sinister plot to take over the world!

What really sucks is that there isn't much I can say about my book because I need to protect the copyright. I once read somewhere that once it has been freely printed on the internet, that it is difficult to copyright. Not sure how true that is, but this is a project I don't want to take chances with. Until that time that I know for sure, I can not give too many details. Course, it would help if I were actually actively writing the book. Right now it is just a few thoughts jotted down now and then. But it will be a great thing!

I have a first rough draft. More like a concept piece. That has been completely reworked, and now needs some serious bulk added to it. I want this book to be a family heirloom. One read and referred to often. A book for the ages! That or at the very least provide a bit of humor in this drab society of ours.

Just remember two words: Org Chart

Test Drive

My brother, who is away at college, needs to get himself a car. He is poor, as most students are, and so requires and older vehicle. One of my neighbors has a 1985 Ford Bronco. This thing has power and then some. There are a few rust spots in the door jams, but the exterior body looks nice, and has had a recent paint job. It has a small lift on it, with some big ol' tires. Basically, everything my brother would want if he were to take it off road.

Since my brother lives slightly more than an hour away, it became my chore to test drive this beast. It definitely drives like an old truck. And yes, it has power! I put that thing through the ropes. I think it has a hole in the muffler, but I could be mistaken. If I had the money, I would get it. I work very close to home, and in need of something that I can beat up hauling building materials for my basement and other weird projects that I get involved in. Too bad I don't have any money. That is where a raise would be nice, but again, I've got other debt that needs to be taken care of.

Test driving this beast, reminded me of the old Test Drive games. I don't remember which one it was that first let you drive all over the map, up and down hills, but I had flash backs to that while testing out the different aspects of four wheel drive. That is a past time people really don't enjoy anymore. Four wheelin'. We used to go all the time in High School during lunch, or right after. Granted back then the private mountain was open for that. Too bad the guy got smart and started developing it. We used to have a LOT of fun up there.

Another thing to add to my list of things to do once I take over. Go four wheelin', in a BIG dirt churning truck! One that says to the ground, "I rip your face off!"

Unfinished Basement

I have an unfinished basement. I wish it wasn't. With the four of us now, and another on the way, we need the living space which can be garnered from the hard cement. I have priced things out, and to get things started, I need to purchase about $150 in lumber to frame everything out. On top of that, I need insulation, wires, drywall, paint, and carpet/flooring. A big job. I would rather do something silly like build another arcade cabinet, or a jukebox. Or some other wacky computer project. I'm getting a bonus this month at some point. You know what that money is tagged for? Yup, the basement.

I want to add the money to what I have in credit at a motorcycle dealership and get, a bike! I have already lost that battle, just so you know. My wife has to have a bigger vehicle before I can have anything fun like that. But, once she has that, than I am free and clear to get a motorcycle! Hurray! How many guys never get a bike because their wife says no? At least my wife gave me an option. Now the question: With my worse than awful credit, will I be able to get a bigger car? One with less payments than we are paying now? I am fairly certain that if I can take care of some of our debt (not bad debt, just not enough money to get out of debt) then we can take care of the car thing.

My bosses say there are raises going through the channels. That is nice and all, but I need to make some serious money, and fast! I had better get to work on my book. I wanted it done before Christmas. I haven't worked on it since the summer! I just hadn't had the time. Actually, my priorities have been otherwise engaged. Watching tv, playing computer games, reading to my children, playing arcade with my boy. My four year old boy, can play video games better than any other his age! He plays them better than my wife. That isn't saying much, but still! I'm just glad that he still likes to run, and play sports. He enjoyed skiing, and wants to go again this month. Something else my bonus is tagged for, last ski trip of the season.

Last thing for today: I am looking for an inexpensive web host that provides .net, and an sql database. Anyone have any connections, or know of a good solid provider, please let me know. I think it is about time I made my own website and show off what I can do. Maybe I can weed some more money out of my rich uncle that way! :)