deep breath

so sweeps is over in 45 minutes. Thank God.

We did well. I'd rather not say in specifics, but we did better than our bosses thought we would. And with that hopefully will come some sort of bonus. One would hope.

This has been easily the most taxing month of work I've had. I'm proud of the fact that I didn't make in serious mistake, and the biggest criticism I got was "that spot looks rushed". My response- "That spot was rushed. I had 4 other ones due on the same day as that one."

Between the wreck and work, I just don't feel like I've stopped in a while and just mellowed the hell out. I plan on doing that in the coming weeks because I have one of my fabled "vacations where I don't go anywhere" coming up. But I might actually go somewhere. I don't know, I might not. There will be some raking of leaves. The yard is filling up as I type this. Unfortunately I get off work way past sunset, so the weekend is the only leaf raking time for me. I think I might try to tackle the front yard this weekend.

Lately I've been feeling unsettled. Not bored, but... I don't know. Random. I can't really trace it, but it just feels odd. I don't know what it means, or its cause. But it's there.

Hm. I can't really describe it. Tom Petty can.

I used to live in a two-room apartmentneighbors knockin' on my walltimes
were hard, I don't wanna knock itI don't miss it much at all

Oh
yeah I'm alright I just feel alittle lonely tonightI'm okay, most of the
timeI just feel a little lonely tonight

I used to need your
love so badlythen I came to live with itlately I get a
faraway feelingand
the whole thing starts again

That's a little misleading (this isn't girl related). But the feeling is the
same.

sunrise

this photo either reminds you of some good times or doesn't. and if it doesn't then you missed some fun.

War Eagle.

...

WAR EAGLE

a bowl of iron

i'm off to Auburn tomorrow to set up the backdrop for our pre-game show (which airs 10 hours before the acutal game!). I do not currently have a ticket, but i'm not afraid to pay for one.

prepare yourself for pictures and blogging.


in other news Rock Band has taken over my living room. I plan on discussing that at some point as well. Sweeps is over next Wednesday...and I will be getting drunk.

That is all. War Eagle.

Shotgunning Beers

When one shotguns a beer, a hole is punctured near the bottom of the can. One puts his mouth to the hole, and opens the top of the beer, causing it to flow quite quickly out of the hole.

I witnessed something Friday regarding the shotgunning of beers that made me almost pee in my pants. One friend of mine, let's call him Todd, was messed up. In a bad, bad way. Luckily he was in his own home. So Todd has really had enough. But one of his buddies from out of town is just getting started. So Todd is swaying there, and his friend prepares a beer for shotgunning for him. His friend yells go and begins to shotgun his own beer. Todd, the poor bastard, is not aware of the the hole in his can. He proceeds to open the beer and drink it normally. Unfortunately, 80% of the beer is flowing out of the hole, all over him. The funny part is the 10 seconds it takes for the beer to empty on him, with Todd increasingly frustrated that no beer is coming out of the can. I suppose its one of those moments you should have seen, but Todd is completely exasperated by his defective beer, and slowly realizing he's now covered in it.

Good times.

we are grateful for our iron lung

so I went to remove my tag from my dead Honda. It was in Purgatory for Wrecked Cars. Surrounded by some horrific wrecks. It looked...healthy. Comparatively. The insurance company coughed up some cash for it. Normally I'd blow all that money. But I think I might actually do something moderately intelligent with it.

Except for Rock Band. I'm buying Rock Band.

Sweeps

It was a prety rough week at work. I think, but am not sure, that I completed about 18 spots. Next week might be worse. I responded to the week by getting drunk. It helped, I think. Last night was a disaster and a good time. There are pictures on flickr.

Also I added some pics of the Battle Van. Some hot van-on-garage action.

My posts are lacking. I am aware of this.

New Vehicle Assessment: 1990 GMC Safari 10/31/07-?

So I'm now driving my mom's old van. She upgraded to a CRV 4 months ago (lucky for me) and the trade-in value on a 1990 GMC Safari with no AC is not very high. The "Chris needs a car" value of the van is very, very high. The first van related test was "Does it fit in the garage?" The answer is yes. It's very, very close. and when it's in the garage...it IS the garage. But it fits, thank god.

The next test was painful. A week ago, I filled it up. That cost 46 dollars. Today, 1 week later (but only 5 days of real drivin') I dropped another $26 into it. It's getting about 13 mpg. So gas is definately a concern.

The next negative is quite obvious. Going from Accord to Safari has allowed me to appreciate the sublime feeling of a proper parallel park. Because that shit ain't happening in the van. Hell, sometimes I pass over regular parking spaces just because I don't like the angle. The van is very wide and does not do so well with turning radii. It despises them.

There is good, though. It sits up high- I like lording over the other drivers whizzing by beneath me. There is also a glorious abundance of leg and headroom. The Honda loved to give me a love tap on my head whenever I went over a bump. That is gone. It is also cavernous. If at any point you need to drive an NBA team somewhere, let me know.

I mentioned after the accident that I was car shopping. I have all but changed my mind. I figure I can pay off most of my debts and drive this giant van until it dies. And then promptly go back into debt. Well, the hope is to have some saved up so when the van does bite it, I could actually have some money down for a vehicle. That's the plan anyways. When I see you, dear reader, next summer and I'm covered in sweat, it's because I'm cheap. Just remember that. The AC is a definate issue. It's something about having to replace the freon to some new formula that cars use. I think my father told me getting this done would effectively cost the same amount as the van itself. One good thing is that my mother drove it sparingly- in 17 years there's only 91K miles on it. The Honda had 112K. Crazy.

"Battle Van" is its nickname. This was actually named way back in high school in reference to the Punisher's method of transportation. I remember quite clearly going on a trip with my parents and thinking to myself that when I'm old I'll never have a boring car like that one. I'll drive mustangs and ferraris. Yeah.

Monthly Feature: Happy Meal time

Total revenue for "The Exact Smile" blog for the month of October?



$2.74



Booyah! I suppose I need to wreck my car more often. Thank you so much, all 4 of you loyal readers. You have allowed me realize my dream of making an inconsequential amount of money talking about myself.



At this rate, the day the blog ends, December 21, 2012, I will have...



$167!