Howdy folks! Through a blend of good fortune and, um... good fortune, I had the opportunity last night to see a double feature of "Repo! The Genetic Opera" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show" in a theater. While waiting in line to get my tickets a woman and her early teens daughter got in line behind me. The girl asked what I was there to see and I told her "Both!" Her mom then explained "This is one of those old-fashioned theaters with only one screen." to which I replied "Ah, yes, the good old days." The mom laughed quietly, touched my shoulder, and said "Oh, I know!" We all ended up chatting and making jokes, during which the mom kept touching me. When we got to the ticket counter the daughter made a joke about "you old people". When I said to the mom "You know, sometimes I regret teaching my daughter my smart-ass sense of humor" she grabbed my arm and burst up laughing. I don't know if she was flirting or not, but I did notice she had a wedding ring, so even if she was... um, yeah... not. That's a line I will never cross, I don't want to be party to that kind of betrayal. Repo was awesome. Although, compared to my TV the screen was smaller from where I was sitting, it was incredible to see Repo in a theater... being surrounded by the sound and feeling the deep tones shake my ribs really added a whole nother level to my enjoyment of it. Between Repo and Rocky Horror there was a whole bunch of other silliness that went on, the shadow cast of Rocky Horror were selling raffle tickets for a vintage vinyl version of the Rocky Horror soundtrack (I bought 10, in case I won I was gonna send to to a friend, alas, I didn't) and goody bags for the show, which included noise makers, rice, toast and newspaper along with other things traditionally part of the audience participation. The guy MC'ing was really funny and the things he had people doing nearly had me rolling. If I can figure out how to get vids off my phone without losing sound I'll put some up on YouTube. There was a costume contest which was pretty cool. 1 person was dressed as Faith (she liked my Firefly tattoos!) and there were Groupie #3 and Dr Horrible as well. The prize for sexiest went to "the Mad Hattress", for scariest was "Two Face" (IMO, the best) from the Batman franchise and Overall was a couple who went as Batman and Robin. After the costume contest they did the traditional virgin sacrifice. If you've never been to see Rocky Horror in a theater, you really should. Virgins are people who are there for the first time, and they're subjected to all sorts of all-in-fun humiliation like same sex kissing, one holds a banana 'down there' and another tries to roll a condom as far down it as they can using only their mouth, one person tries to eat a mouthful of whipped cream out of another's mouth, fake an orgasm (both male and female), do a pg-13 rated striptease etc... (it's all voluntary, no one has to participate). In all the times I've been I've never seen more that 10 virgins at one showing, this time there were at least 75 and it took forever to get through them, but the hilarity was worth the extra time it took. Watching the movie I felt like a huge virgin because it's been so long that I'd forgotten so many of the audience callbacks shouted out (or thrown) either in response to or anticipation of what's happening on screen. Still, virgin-y feelings and all, it was so much fun to be part of all of that again. As a teenager it was the closest thing I had to the shared cathartic experience of church (we never went, even though my dad's an ordained suthuhn' baptist minister - didn't work out, he's too open minded.) If you ever have the chance to see Rocky Horror in a theater with a bunch of freaks, you really, really should... and don't be scared, I lived through my virgin experience with fond memories (more than 20 years ago, I licked the whipped cream out of a girls mouth) and so will you. Things have changed a bit, but not too much, since the last time I saw it. Used to be, during "Over at the Frankenstein Place", we'd all whip out our lighters for the "There's a light" line, now it's cell phones. And for "The Time Warp" we'd all run into the aisles to do the dance, now everyone just stands up and stays near their seats. Everyone still sings along which I'm very glad of, I'd have felt slightly foolish to be doing it by myself. The shadow cast were great, with a bit of a twist, Frank N Furter was played by a very sexy woman. I don't have words to explain how awesome it is to see Rocky Horror played out twice at the same time, once on the screen and another by a shadow cast along with a raucous audience, it's just something you have to experience. And, if you do, don't get annoyed that people are talking over the movie, that's kinda the point. The shadow cast... After the shows (about 1 AM) I really didn't want to go home, I wanted to be around people having fun, so I went back to that gay bar again. I'm really not, it's just, spending time there recently makes it feel like a fun and comfortable place. And it was again. While I was at the bar getting a glass of water (BTW, do you tip for water? I do because, for the bartender, it's the same amount of work) the same young woman who said "thank you" last time I was there waved me over and said "I recognize you, you're the karaoke guy!" I just smiled sheepishly and said "Yeah, I guess I am". She said "You're coming out again next Thursday, right?" I don't know if this makes me a boorish oaf or a pushover or whatever but I have trouble saying "no" to a pretty woman, so I said "I 'spose I am." to which she replied "Yay!" so I guess I'll have another Thursday adventure I might blog about on Friday morning. Pretty good Halloween, neh?

Yesterday was a unusual day for me. I still haven't slept, and I have more (light) physical labor to do today, so I'll be dead on my feet by this afternoon. I fell asleep at about 7 AM and was rudely awakened at about 11 by a big noise of something being knocked off of the closet shelf. Feeling irritated, I just wanted to get out for a while, so I looked online for places in Tucson where I could be Vork (i.e. places with free wifi). 2 different sites suggested... I figured with 2 recs and a cool name it was worth a shot. It really was, the place is well named. Cool decorations, good food (at least what I had, lox & bagel and iced green tea) the staff were fast and friendly, and like most of the other customers (including myself) they were all slightly on the freakish side. I felt perfectly at home, like I was among my people. It's my new favorite place ever. Plus the wifi was fast and easy, no automatic redirects where you have to sign up and agree not to do evil things, just connect and you're going. Also, they have outlets to plug your laptop into. It'd be more perfect only if it were open 24 hrs. It was an epic restart of an epic day. While I was there I finally made the decision to do my next little adventure. So, I went home to shower, change and catch up online. Then I headed out to... I got there about 4:30 and talked to them a bit (more cool freaks). I originally intended to get just one, but I'd had ideas for others and decided on 3 (in for a penny etc...), wrote out what I wanted, chose the fonts and made an appointment to come back at 6:30. So I went to have an early dinner and wander around Target for a while. While I was there I had a moment of panic that I had remembered a quote incorrectly and 2 nice people on twitter (@okelay and @GrrAargh)confirmed that I had been correct. That was a huge relief. Very nice people, if you use Twitter you should check them out and follow them. So, I went back to State of art a few minutes early and the artist was almost done with the stencils, so while waiting I chatted with the other people who worked there and their friends about music and what my quotes were from (none of them had ever seen Firefly and were intrigued when they looked up one of the quotes). I don't think I converted any new fans, but still, it was fun. The tattooing itself was a lot easier than I had thought it would be. It hurt, but in an exhilarating way, the good kind of hurt that makes you feel alive. It also helped that I knew at the end I'd have something cool to take out of it that would last my whole life. The first hurt more than the other two because it was on the inside of my upper left arm, from my elbow almost to my armpit. When the pain got a little high, I just imagined a picture I had burned into my brain that reminded me of a worse pain and that made it easier to take. When he started the second one (left shoulder right above where a t-shirt ends) the artist told me he was a little surprised that I had taken it so easily and that he wanted to start with that one to make the others seem minor in comparison. That was quite courteous of him and he was right. Throughout the last 2 I was texting and facebooking from my phone (which is tricky to do one handed). About halfway through the second he asked "Has anyone ever told you that tattoos are addicting?" to which I responded "No, but I can totally see why." He seemed pleased with that answer. At the end, about 9 PM, I was decorated with... . . I like the little story or statement it makes when read in that order, and that's actually the order they were done in. (the third is on my right shoulder, same placement as the second). The second was the only one I had originally intended to get, but I love them all. I'm actually trying to adopt a bit of that attitude. I might go back in the near future to get "Burn the land and boil the sea" put above the first, to complete the line. He was right when he said it's addicting. After that I went home again for a few minutes to grab a warmer jacket because it's been freezing here the past few days. Right now it's about 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I went out again and now here's the part where I explain the title of this blog entry. It's a line from my last one (A f'ing interesting evening) in which I described how I ended up watching a drag show at a gay bar (Ain't Nobody's Biz) with my best friend from high school. Several people from DOTT said they wanted pictures and it was also convenient timing because last night was karaoke night, and I was planning on videoing me singing "Under Your Spell" for Holly's birthday gift. So, when I got there, from outside I heard bad, off-key singing and laughing so I thought it might be pretty active. Well, I was wrong. When I walked in I could count all the people there on my fingers. 9 women, 2 of whom were the bartender and the DJ, and the lone guy, me. I asked the DJ if she had "Under Your Spell" and she didn't, the closest was "Under Your Spell Again". I asked if I could sing it a capella and she said "No, that wouldn't be very karaoke-y now, would it?", so instead I asked for "Beauty School Dropout" which she did have. I found a nice woman to video me with my phone when my turn came up. When it did, not to brag, (well, maybe a little) I kicked bleeping ass. Everyone cheered and whistled and clapped, which they weren't doing for everyone else. That song is perfect for me. After the song I sat down and listened to a few other singers, some of whom were quite good. The bartender (a nice lady with pink close shaved hair) should do it professionally. I started to get bored because I didn't know anyone there and couldn't find anything else good in the catalog, so I texted my ex girlfriend, Peggy, and asked if she wanted to join me, as friends. She agreed and I went to pick her up and got back about 45 minutes later and by that time there were actually 2 guys there, but a few of the women had left, so about the same number of people. Peggy, who refused to sing, helped me find a couple more songs I could do, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Here I Go Again On My Own". I did pretty well on those too, the people seemed to appreciate them, but they weren't as good as the first. Peggy videoed those as well. Towards the end of the evening the bartender climbed on the bar and danced and sang, at one point she got on her hands an knees and crawled seductively toward one of the guys and teased him a bit. That was a hoot. I closed the singing with "Wonderful Tonight". I chose that song because I had sung it to my ex-wife at our wedding reception and since our divorce I've never been able to listen to it without bawling, and I wanted to see it I could do it now. Everyone loved it and maybe I have a heart of stone now, but it stirred not even one single wistful feeling. Overall, it was a fun time. As we were leaving a pretty young woman tapped my shoulder and said "Thank you" when I turned to face her. I was a bit taken aback and not quite sure what she was thanking me for, so the only thing I could think to respond with was "You're welcome, and thank you too." Sadly, none of the pics came out very well because it was dark and my phone doesn't have a flash, but I'll post the best ones below. And my stupid phone recorded the video okay, but no ruttin' sound! Grr Aargh! If I ever go again, I will take my real camera which does both very well, but has a small memory card. I think it's funny that at a gay bar they have a women's restroom and a... but no men's. See how empty the place was? It's hard to read, but that's a red neon sigh near the DJ's stand which says "the G Spot" in fancy script. And here's a beefcake poster... The other night there were guys dressed like that carrying around trays of Jello shots. So as we were driving away we both decided we were hungry and wanted to hang out and chat some, so we went to Denny's. It was pretty empty there, too... The food was eh...(obviously) but we had fun talking. For a while she was complaining about bruises and sore muscles resulting from a fairly wild four hour marathon session with a guy she's seeing in which he went through a box and a half of condoms. I think she just wanted to brag a bit but, gotta hand it to him... he wins the prize for stamina and recovery. Here's Peggy with her 80's rocker chick hair... And here's me checking Twitter as I was waiting to pay... As we walked out I took this last pic across the street from Denny's... A bit hard to read but on the left is Fascinations, a sex shop and on the right is the Bunny Ranch, a non-alcohol serving all nude strip club which was one of our stops at my ex-brother-in-law's bachelor party. Holy cannoli, this is a lot longer than I thought it'd be and it's taken me close to 4 hours to write. I never worked this hard on homework when I was in school. I hope everyone has as entertaining and epically interesting day as I did yesterday. Cheers, exhausted Jay

So, it all started out earlier yesterday afternoon, when I made plans with an old friend to go out to dinner. Coincidentally, around this time, the wifi at home stopped working (which you might have read about in DOTT) The place we were going was kinda upper crust in Tucson terms, so shorts would be inappropriate, so I went to the mall to buy some jeans and a new top. After my successful purchases (which, again, you might have read about in DOTT) I went out to put the bag in my car and grab my laptop for an hour or two in Border's cafe area. After Border's, I was walking to my car and I reached into my pocket for my keys to discover... they weren't there. I had a vague paranoia when I walked behind my car and saw a little glint by the ignition through the back window. Yes, turns out, while dropping said bag in my car I sat down for a mo in the driver's seat to give my feet a break and to listen to the radio. When I got out to walk back into the mall to go to Border's, I forgot to grab my keys from the ignition and locked them in the car. You may have read about this on FB or Twitter. So, I called an emergency locksmith and they sent out a very nice young man to rescue me. He was fun to talk to while he tried to break into my car. Could have probably been friends had we met under different circumstances. So, now I have my keys and it's a little under an hour until I'm supposed to meet my friend. I rush home (15 minute drive) to shower and change then rush out to meet my friend (another 15 minute drive) for dinner. We had a great time catching up and the food was just phenomenal. I had fettuccine with a very tasteful pesto sauce that I will remember to my grave, the perfect combination of nutty, creamy, slightly bitter and basil-y sweetness. I passed on the wine 'cause it's not really my thing, just water and iced tea for dear ol' Jay. And here's where the more interesting part comes in... After dinner, my buddy suggested we go to a gay bar called "Ain't nobody's biz" to catch a drag queen show, because he'd never seen one. (Which brings up another interesting life coincidence for Jay that I may tell you about one day) He'd always wanted to see one, but was afraid to go by himself because he didn't want to get hit on by a guy. (He claims to not be gay but he's the biggest closet case I've ever known, his extreme homophobia practically screams it to the rafters). So, he wanted to go pretending we were a couple so he had an excuse if he were approached. Kind of like we had agreed to do if the draft had been reinstated during Desert Storm (round 'bout the time most of you were born) - if it were, we were gonna go into the recruitment office pretending to be gay lovers, so they wouldn't take us. Neither of us were really cut out for military service - which is kinda funny considering that much of the music we listened to back then (real heavy metal) was very militaristic in nature. So, back to "Nobody's Biz"... it was actually kind of fun. The drag performers were great. A few of them had me fooled, even knowing they were in drag, and one of them was just... well if... nevermind. At one point I had a transvestite shaking his/her booty in my crotch. I don't know what this says about me, but that guy was hot. If he had propositioned me I don't know what I would have done... maybe... eh, well, didn't happen. We met some very fun and interesting people there, one of whom told me after seeing my fingernails "Oooh, lilac blue? Girl, you're just giving it away!" S/he must have been blind 'cause 1) I'm not a girl, 2) they're all different colors, not one of them close to lilac blue. And I'm not sure what "it" I was supposedly giving away. After the show was over the interesting people announced they were going to another bar, IBT (It's 'bout time), to "really get the party started". I went, but my buddy didn't, he'd had enough. Wasn't really my scene... too much house mix heavy beat dance music, with tightly packed bodies and random groping. Cheers to you if that's what you're in to, but for me... I gave it a pass after a glass of water and headed home. Which is where I am now, typing this up. So, that was my interesting evening. Did you have one?

I don't know where the title for this blog came from, it just popped into my head. Don't read anything into it. Where to start... Um, 12 years and 9 months ago my wife was feeling kinda frisky and... maybe that's not the best place. Yesterday was my daughter's 12th birthday party! WOOOO!!!!! We all went to Disneyland and had a great time. Best birthday party I've ever been a part of, one for the books. Rather than go through a boring litany of events, I think I'll write this blog thematically, centered around the people: Everyone, my daughter, Gramma (my ex's mom), my daughter's friends, my ex; and then a little wrap up at the end. Everyone: Okay, 6 twelve year old girls, 3 adults, all in a crowded place with lots of strangers. A bit stressful for the grown ups? Understatement. The girls were understandably excited, running around roughshod and sometimes a bit rambunctious, but over-all, very well behaved. I'd be happy to be part of a replay. My Girl: What can I say? She's my reason. She's been planning for this party almost since her last birthday, and she did very well. It's been a noteworthy weekend for her, (if you read my recent DOTT post, you'll know part of why.) Everyone had a happy, memorable, time. Aside from a ride being closed for repairs, everything came off without a hitch. Everyone had a big happy. Yay! Gramma: She was friendly, gracious and fun to be around. She's has a very nice person in her and I'm happy she brought that person along. The melodramatic, passive aggressive, guilt tripping lady from the last time I talked about her was nowhere to be seen. So, Yay! for Gramma! She really came through for the family this time. My Daughter's Friends: I was a bit nervous at my daughter's guest list. Her last party with friends from different circles (end of the last school year) had some dark, uncomfortable, moments with a lot friend-jealousy. I'm pleased to report that there was not a spec of jealousy to be seen. They were all focused on having a fun time for themselves and my daughter. I was beyond pleased when, at the end of the day, I overheard some of the girls saying "I wish [person X] went to our school, she's so cool!" The girl from the other school, [person X], even now has an invitation to one of the other girl's next birthday party! I call that a win. My Ex: I was kind of fearful at the prospect of spending a day with my ex-wife in a place where we had so much fun together early in our relationship, before we were married (and before she lost my favorite hat, ever). But we both had a very good time. We had a better time together than we've had since years before we were divorced. At one point I was between her thighs, with lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, and she was totally wet, before the big build up and release. ... Okay, sorry, that was an intentionally innuendo-y joke (but my ex probably wouldn't laugh). But not entirely made up. We were on the ride "Splash Mountain" and I was sitting in front of her. So, between her thighs, twists and turns, ups and downs, totally wet, build up and release were all true, in the literal sense. In the innuendo-y sense, though, that hasn't happened between us for a very, very long time. Wrap up: Okay, so, I have to say real roller coasters are much more enjoyable than emotional ones. Especially in comparison to the last weekend and my past several blogs. Disneyland was just frakkin' awesome. If you've been to their Haunted Mansion in the last 30 year or so, you should totally go sometime near Halloween, it's totally re-done, in a so cool sort of way. On my Firelfy scale of awesomeness I'd rate it somewhere near "Ariel". Yeah, it's that cool. (also, WTF?!?!?! I just noticed that Hulu no longer has the entire series of Firefly available to watch online. Jerkwads!) It was really cute that some of the classic Disney characters were dressed up for Halloween (if you're on Facebook or Twitter you might have seen my Goofy pic). I wish I had had time to take a pic with Mickey and Minnie, Holly probably would have loved the sign. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Disneyland for a celebration, I recommend going to Big Thunder Ranch for lunch (unless you're a vegetarian), great food, awesome service. Also the Blue Bayou restaurant near Pirates of the Caribbean rocks really hard in good ways, but it's pretty spendy. I really wish I had gotten to go on the Indiana Jones ride (the only one there I haven't been on) and Space Mountain (my fave there) but things work out as they do, so, next time. The end: I guess that's it. Have a good Monday folks! I'm driving back to Tucsonish hell tomorrow, so I'll be off-line for most of the day, but I might be able to do phone-y things (Facebook, Twitter, IM) when I stop for gas and food. If I don't talk to you before then, see you on Wednesday. Maybe. That's a big day, too. Afterthoughts: Sorry I don't have any pics for this blog, I'll try to do another including them in the next few days. I'm in unfamiliar territory right now. Also, I think it's funny that most of the people who will be reading this could have been the cute tiny kids playing in the lobby at the maternity ward when my daughter was born. Kinda perspectiveizes things. So, anyway, yeah, that's it. Cheers.

Howdy all, I want to apologize for the less-than-cheery nature of my last two blogs and some of my recent activity on Twitter and Facebook. I realized I was getting a little overly dramatic when an ex-girlfriend, who I lived with once, texted me this morning to ask how I was coping. I don't want to make too much light of them, because they were serious words with serious feelings behind them, but for now, I've locked that me back in his box, he's wandered around unchecked for long enough and I usually don't like to air my private feelings in public like that. I'm sooper dooper appreciative of all the commiserating and supportive comments I've gotten - you guys (or girls, because no males commented - I understand, it's a guy thing) rock really hard and I have nothing but good feelings for every single one of you. It spins my head a bit to think how close to you I can feel with only keyboards, screens and words between us. As for now, I have much more to be happy and excited about than dreary and dismal. In a few hours I'll be leaving for a short road trip to see my daughter over her birthday weekend and to take her (and some friends) to Disneyland. So, in terms of Metallica songs, more Hit the Lights and less Fade To Black. (look them up if you want to - the lyrics are more expletive laden than I care to post. Also, give them a listen, both great songs) After that road trip I was gonna take another longer one but it was called off, which was part of why I was sad, but it's all worked out for the good and hurt feelings have been left behind. So, all's good in the 'hood as they say. Okay, I 'spose that's about it. Just, I love you all and thanks for all the support. See y'all in a few days as the proud father of a 12 year old (sheesh, where does all that time go?) Oh, yeah, one more thing - if you were wondering, the title of this blog was an intentional call back to an earlier one. Kind of a dumb joke. Probably more dumb than joke, but anyway. Yeah. Cheers, normal Jay.

You know that dreary hopeless feeling you get that accompanies coming down from an unreasonable rebound high after a despairing low? When you realize nothing's really changed from the reason for the low? That's me right now. I've been on a roller coaster the past few days, and not the fun kind like at an amusement park. I think I'm going to take a break, for a while anyway, from the forums I regularly post in. They're usually a big source of happy and I'm really not in the mood for happy. I probably won't go away completely, but I won't be as regular as usual. And some of that time I'll actually be away in a place where It'll be hard to check in anyway. Thank goodness for better-than-lousy timing for once. So, if you're wondering where I am... that's where. Not here. And for anyone who might be inclined to worry, please, please don't. I promise I won't do anything stupid. I'll be okay, I just need time to recover.

So, yeah, big high to lowest low. Started out Saturday morning with happy leavings from Friday night. The rest of the day was pretty good with happy anticipation. Saturday evening was a big high when I met one of my geek idols, Wil Wheaton. That was a huge high. Little did I know at the same time other things were brewing. Turns out some things that I had thought were one way were, instead, another. I was planning otherwise, but Sunday night turned out to be one of the worst nights of my life. I won't go into details. But timing sucks and sometimes it hurts to be the nice guy. I have nothing but good love for all of the friends I've met on the Whedon-ish forums. Just... Fair warning. I may not be not my normal me over the next ... whatever time. Sorry to be all emo, but these lyrics fit my mood... Things not what they used to be Missing one inside of me Deathly loss, this can't be real Cannot stand this hell I feel Emptiness is filling me To the point of agony Growing darkness taking dawn I was me but now he's gone

Hi everyone! I don't have much to say, but I said I'd blog about this, so... I finally got paid for my last invoice at my old job, so I bought myself some cool new things. Just a bit of retail therapy, which I don't usually go for, but ehh... I've been wanting this stuff anyway. :D So, here it is. Pretty neat, huh? Also, I really like Tucson. The people are so much friendlier than they are in San Diego. Just sayin'.

Note: This is a stream of consciouness brain dump and may seem disjointed, please bear with me. Also, my spellign and grammar probably suck. Don't hold it against me. Part the first, in which I explain my "absence": So, 2 weeks ago I announced that I would be mostly offline for the foreseeable future. Well, that foreseeable future is now the past and I'm mostly online again. Many of you know I was laid off from my job in January (before I knew anyone who will likely be reading this), along with all of the other remote employees because we were an easy group to cut. Shortly after that, they realized their mistake and hired a few of us back on a contract basis, not as normal salaried employees. This was good and bad - good in that I was able to negotiate a higher rate than what they had been paying me as an employee. Bad in that the rate was hourly, and I had to bill them and wait for the invoices to go through layers of process, approvals, amendments etc... before finally getting paid, sometimes months later. Throughout all of this there was always the looming possibility of my contract ending, but it was always renewed and it seemed the work would never be finished. That along with a not terrible severance package kept me afloat and led me to a short sighted complacency. I didn't spend enough time looking for a new actual job because I thought my current situation would continue indefinitely so I was caught by surprise when my contract suddenly wasn't renewed and, hey look, rent is due! The property management people were nice and understanding of my situation and were very accommodating and had let me stretch and slide things a bit when necessary, but they like to get paid just as much as I do. So, they very understandingly and accommodatingly told me I couldn't live there anymore. When I wrote my last blog I honestly had no idea where I would be sleeping that night. I ended up staying in a hotel for a few days, slept one night in my car at a campground and (ultimate in humiliation) spent a couple of nights on the couch in my ex-wife's living room. Throughout all of that I had very limited internet access and no place to set up my computers. Now I have moved back to Tucson and have become the very image of the stereotypical loser - unemployed middle aged man, mooching off of his dad and living in his spare room. Except the "spare room" is the second bedroom in a tiny two bedroom apartment. I love my dad and think he's one of the greatest people I've ever known, but I so don't want to live here very long. I almost wish I had never left Tucson five years ago in the first place - I had a nice three bedroom house in a good neighborhood with a huge yard for my dog and a decent kitchen. My mortgage was about half of what it cost to rent my two bedroom apartment in Carlsbad. But, I always try to be accommodating and when my ex told me of a great job offer she had in Cali, I decided to go along with it because I could work from pretty much anywhere. (We had agreed when we divorced to try to live close to each other for our daughter's sake). Thinking back, I could have said "no" but I never do that. Huh. (sarcasm) I wonder why things never go according to *my* plans? Sometimes it sucks being the nice guy. On the positive side, it seems like many companies are advertising jobs right up my alley, even if few are actually hiring. Hopefully it won't take long to find a new one. Even though San Diego is not my favorite place to live, I plan to move back there in the not too distant future because I can't stand being separated from my daughter for too long. Part the second, in which I describe my harrowing move: Where to start - OK, Wednesday of last week. I rented a U-Haul truck to load up things from my old apartment. Of particular interest was my daughter's bedroom furniture - about two years ago I had refurnished her room with very nice things - and she wanted that at her mom's place instead of in storage. So we got that all packed up and loaded, along with everything else, and moved over to mom's and went to return the U-Haul truck. Well, the people at the rental place said that I returned the truck damaged. Huh? What? I had had the truck for less than 24 hours, and had driven it a total of 12.6 miles, never going under any trees or overhangs, but they said one of the tiny little lights along the top was broken and they never let people rent trucks with broken lights. Yeah, sure. It didn't get broken while I had the truck, so it must have been already broken when I took the truck, but, I didn't mark it down on the inspection paper, so I had to pay 175 dollars to fix it. Frakkin' censor-bypass-heads. I swear, next time I rent a car or truck or anything I am taking a video and emailing it to them before I ever get the keys so I have proof. Starts with "F" and rhymes with truckers. So, after the U-Haul incident I went to assemble my daughter's furniture and - lo and behold - the screws and bolts are missing and by this time it's too late at night to go back to try to find them, so, one more day of delay. I went back the next day (Thursday) and luckily found the bag I had put them in near the trash. So, I got everything assembled then spent a fun and teary day with my daughter playing games and talking. I left about 6 PM went to fill up my car with gas, only to find that the gas station I had a gift card for had all their pumps blocked off because they're remodeling. Crap. Luckily I found another one on the way to the freeway, but not before I took the first of my travel pictures (you can see some of them in my FaceBook album). I was going to take more pictures but 1, it was dark because I drove over night and 2, from San Diego to Tucson is the most stunningly boring drive, ever. The radio in my car wouldn't pick up anything good, so I was gonna listen to the music that I copied to my phone before I left, but somewhere in packing my car I misplaced the adapter that allows me to plug my headphones into it. Grr. So, it was a long, boring, silent drive. I amused myself by singing aloud to myself. And taking pictures. And stopping at just about every rest stop along the way so the trip took about 11 hours instead of the usual 6 and half. Part the third, why Tucson almost, but not quite, sucks: It's frakkin' hot. I got into Tucson about 5 AM and it was already close to 90 degrees F. It was a little too early to go to my Dad's place, so I had breakfast and then went and hung out at one of my favorite places in Tucson, Reid Park (pictures to follow), for a little while, then went and strolled around a mall in the nice cool air conditioning for a couple of hours. When I got back in my car it was like an oven. I had forgotten to put up the window shade (don't need 'em in San Diego) so I could barely touch the steering wheel without burning my hands. According to a temperature display along one of the roads it got up to at least 114 degrees, which is unusual for late August. My dad told me later that this has been one of the hottest, driest and longest summers he ever remembers here. Yay, lucky me. I'm just hoping we get some big scary weather soon so at least I'll get to see a nice lightning show. I miss those. Otherwise, I love it here. Even though I'm not in my old house, the city still feels like home. The roads make sense, I can see for miles in every direction and I get the people. I had a minor scare after I unpacked my car. I got my computers and TV/DVD player all situated and was about to reward myself by watching Dollhouse, only to discover my DVDs were missing. I searched everywhere but couldn't find them and was beginning to think maybe they somehow fell out of the car on the drive. I don't know how that would have happened, but it was the only thing I could think of. Thankfully after most of a day thinking I'd never see them again, I found them underneath something my dad had helped me carry in from the car. Whew. OK, now for the touristy pictures... Here's a weird ... thing. I don't know what it's supposed to be, but it reminds me of a set from the original Star Trek Here's a pretty Gazebo thing... And here are some cool shadows underneath it... Here's the stage where a local community theater group does Shakespeare in the Park on summer evenings. I saw Much Ado About Nothing and Mid Summer Night's Dream there both for the first time, along with many others. They were quite good. Here's a sign for the zoo. I always feel bad when I see it becasue it makes me think of the polar bears there which have no business being in Tucson in the summer. Here's another "artsy" thing. Those are Eucalyptus trees that have been cut off at the trunk, then had the branches trimmed, then turned upside down and poainted red. Yeah, I don't get it either. Hey, look! That's the McDonalds I worked at for a day when I was in high school I was on loan from a different McDonalds where I really worked. This one, across the street from Park Mall. And my last piture - every city park in an arid desert needs a display of decadence, so... Thanks for reading and paying attention. Have a pleasant day!

Howdy folks. This will be my last word here for quite a while. I will be mostly offline for the foreseeable future. Don't worry, I'm not dead or in jail, just ... elsewhere. You can reach me via DM on twitter if you want to. I've enjoyed my time here, thanks for the fun. You're all wonderful people.