The rest of today
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their support. I got tons of phone calls today and didn't have enough time to answer them all, but I'll get to everyone eventually. My mom was a lot cooler about it than I thought she'd be, as I figured she'd be pretty worried about me not having a job. She just thought it was "terrible" what happened and the way in which everything transpired. She's right, but I still can't shake that I brought this on myself (through my own stupidity). My sister thinks that I let things fester inside of myself for far too long and that, if I talked about them when little things were occurring, I wouldn't periodically break-down. It seems she's right, and I didn't know it until Tuesday. Nothing has even reached the point that I was at yesterday morning... I was quite upset. I guess the most ironic part was that I was upset at Andrea and not at all at her dad, yet this cop dude was only focused on what I said about her dad. *shrug* Whatever. The more I think about what I could've done differently, the more I realize that it would have just left me in a job that I hate, doing everything for everyone and getting shit pay.
What still upsets me is the injustice of it all. Good things don't happen to good people... 'bad' people make sure that the good people are just as miserable as they are. Which reminds me, this afternoon... after the meeting, I went back to my apartment and made some phone calls, then I headed to The Second City to register for my next term (nothing like gettin' canned then spending $250). On my way there, I saw Andrea trying to cross the street... it turned out that I crossed her path. I didn't say anything or even attempt to make eye contact. Know why? Because I wouldn't put it past her to get some kind of restraining order against me. Yeah... I was thinking about it as I was walking. If she did, it would seriously put a hamper on my classes... as it would mean taking some kind of really weird route to get to the Training Center. I honestly just hope they leave me alone because I know I want nothing more than to never talk to either of them ever again. I don't want anything to do with Coldstone or ice cream in general for a long time. I think doughnuts will be my dessert of choice from now on ;)
So you know what I did instead of moping around all day? I helped my friend Brian move out of his apartment. I figured some heavy lifting would help easy my mind... and it's always nice to help a friend. We ended up packing stuff up and driving around to the UHaul place and such until about 7 o'clock this evening. I was then starving, as I was honestly too sickened all day to eat. You know what?, scratch that... I wasn't even hungry then... I just ate because I knew I needed to. After that, Brian, Adam and I all went to Dave and Busters. We shot stuff... that always makes me happy. And we played pool, which I suck at, but I still enjoy playing and watching other people play.

Quick sidenote 1: I already started looking for another job in the Chicago Reader... and there's an opening at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre for a part-time 'front of house' staff member. I also find a part-time business assistant position that sounds a lot like what I've been doing for a year (only better in that I wouldn't actually be doing the persons job). It pays $15-18 per hour and it's only a two day a week job... so I'm thinking of maybe trying to take a couple part-time jobs, if I can get them. Never fear, dear reader, I'm only looking for jobs where I can leave work at work.
Quick sidenote 2: I realized tonight that I can now date Coldstone employees. There's one employee who I might ask to a movie sometime *blush*
Quick sidenote 3: Now I have time to actually go see movies, I've got a lot of catching up to do. Fahrenheit 9/11 comes out on DVD soon and, I'm guessing because of Rhea's post about it, Eternal Sunshine... comes out soon or did come out. I bought myself the first four season of Mr. Show (I'm finally into that show Nate!), and the Star Wars DVDs... so I have plenty of sitting around catching up to do. Honestly kids, I could go without a job for two weeks without getting bored. I have a TON of things I'd love to do that I haven't. And there are museums and shows in Chicago that I haven't gone to because I haven't had time. Unfortunately these things cost money... but I've got a little bit saved up... I should be able to go until November if I needed to without a job. I just can't make trips to Albion all the time because I KNOW it's going to be expensive to go back there. The funny thing is that going back to Big Rapids is probably just the opposite. My parents always give me money or food (which is just as good as money as far as I'm concerned) whenever I head home.
Long sidenote 2 (the 3rd quick one was long): I'm going to be able to go to the Monday Night Football game with my dad on October 11th. It's the Packers/Titans in Green Bay and I'm TOTALLY pumped! So I'll see my parents then. I could honestly use an entire week in BR with my folks... relaxing, catching up with them, and trying to make Miss Katie Huey fall in love with me. This is as opposed to spending a week in Albion trying to get Miss Chelsey Wagemaker to fall in love with me. Hey... I'm every girl's second choice! Hooray for already having boyfriends!

THE Meeting
Well... while this is still fresh in my mind, I figured I might as well let you all know about it. As I approached the store, I noticed Andrea sitting outside with a Police Officer. The officer told me to take a seat. I did. He then said, "I understand that you have a temper"... to which my face must have gone "huh?"... because he said "I'm here to tell you that you're fired." He then went on: "I hear that you said you were going to break someone's ribs." This is where our story gets interesting... I did, in fact, mention something about breaking his ribs. In fact, I said "well maybe I'll just break his ribs" while on the phone with Andrea. The reason I did this was that she HERSELF had broken his ribs during an argument to get her way. This was supposed to be a jab at her own temper, but it was later (obviously) used against me. Big point to the Johnsons (Which we'll call a "bitch point," because it's a punk-ass bitch thing to do). He then proceeded to tell me to just "move on with my life" and to "not come into the stores". When I nodded and stood to leave, he asked me politely to sit again. He then asked me if I had keys... and I said "oh yeah"... and proceeded to lay the keys on the table. I then remembered that I had to get Robert some stuff, so I reached into my backpack to get it. It was at this point that the police officer unholstered his firearm. Yep, that's right... he was treating me like I was crazy. I then backed away from my backpack and put my hands up. He reiterated that I should just "move on" and I asked him if I could get some papers out of my bag, which he then thought was fine. I placed the papers on the table saying "These are for Robert", zipped up my backpack, thanked the police officer (even shook his hand), stood up to leave, noticed ANOTHER cop standing behind me the whole time (that I hadn't noticed before), and walked away. Since that time 40 minutes ago, I've let Stephan, Brian, Adam, Robert, and the AD Nate know that I've been canned. The tragedy here is that, to all the "outsiders" I appear crazy... and to everyone who actually knows me, I'm something of a folk hero who was "wronged" by the "evil empire." It's weird. I feel upset, wronged, calm, relieved, scared, and excited all at once. I'm totally upset that Andrea would do that to me... we used to be friends, and good friends. I feel wronged in that all my hard work has probably gone to waste. I've told Brian that I'll probably use him and Stephan as references... perhaps even Nate the AD would be a good reference. But I certainly can't use the Johnsons. I feel calm in that I finally don't have a million responsibilities... I can actually use my time to write and pursue my acting. I feel relieved that this bullshit is all over. I'm scared because I don't have a job and looking for a job is always a big pain in the butt... I don't even know where to start (I'm thinking Best Buy would be nice... or Circuit City... or maybe even trying to intern at Second City?). Maybe this is the time to go back to school. I've been thinking about going to Northwestern for sports broadcasting... or any good school for teaching (I don't know what I'd teach, but I'd be a professor of something!). My dad has also started to push a bit for me to go to law school. He even said that he'd pay for school if I got into a good law school like Notre Dame or Wisconsin. I'm also excited because this is a good opportunity for me to re-focus my efforts and do what I want to do with myself.
We'll see what all this adds up to in the coming weeks. The good news is that I'll be able to have a great vacation this weekend in Albion. I hope everyone treats me nicely, because I'm really really hurt. (Adam Traum is taking me to Dave & Busters tonight... that should be fun)

THE Phone Call
I've got another post from this weekend that I'm working on... but I figured that this was important enough to go first. This morning I got a call from Creamery (that's the corporate headquarters). The woman said, "I tried to call Andrea Johnson, but she said she was in Central America, was it?" to which I responded "Interesting", to which she said "And Andrea told me that you could handle this so blah blah..." I proceeded to handle the situation. I then called Andrea and asked her if she was really in Central America; "No" she responded, "but I'm leaving in two weeks so I figured I'd just tell people that I'm already gone". She then proceeded to recount her past month of catching up with family and getting certified in yoga... all things that I would really appreciate and be happy for her about if I hadn't been doing her fucking job for a month (or if I was doing her job and getting her salary). I, unfortunately for me, was very dismissive with her on the phone... and basically told her after about five minutes that I needed to talk to her dad (we had a scheduled meeting). She then stopped me from ending the conversation because she wanted to know what was "wrong". I basically said that I had to go and that we should talk later... but she asked me again. I responded in a similar way and the third time she asked me I snapped. I said something like "What's wrong is that I've had to my bosses fucking job for a month." I proceeded to let her know things like "I'm going to ask for more money, or I'm going to fucking quit" and that I didn't think she had "done shit" for a while. Surprisingly, my tirade upset her (note the sarcasm). To her credit, she actually tried to help me out for a few minutes instead of getting angry with me in return... but I would hear none of it. A month's worth of frustration come out all at once and I was so enraged that I literally blacked out of the conversation. I'm remembering bits and pieces of it... but not actually what was said. That's why it's taken me up until now, roughly 14 hours later, to realize that she was pretty cool with my initial expletive-peppered statements, and was trying to help me from making a mistake. Unfortunately for myself, I was in the "zone"... the swearing and probably going to get fired zone, but it's still a zone.
I then went into the meeting with Mr. Johnson. While in the meeting, Andrea tried to call me... but I didn't answer. She then called the store to talk to Mr. Johnson. He and she talked for a while. He then came back to the meeting and pretended as if they hadn't been talking. After about five or ten minutes, he went outside for a cigarette and asked me to come along. I did and he started by saying that he had heard Andrea and I had "an interesting conversation". He then said that Andrea told him that I had been swearing at the President of his company and that I had made a few threats that I was leaving the company... and he wanted the hear my side of the story as he "had no reason to believe she had lied". There was nothing I could do but fess up to the fact that that was what had indeed transpired... and I was left trying to explain why it occurred. I tried explaining that I thought Andrea was leaving, to which he said that didn't matter. Okay, one point for him; even though everything about his body language told me that he was not upset that I had sworn at his President... he was upset that I had "fucked with" his daughter (side point to me). I then said that I was venting my frustrations from a month in which I didn't seem to have much help, and that I had only learned this morning that she was leaving for Central America... and to go from thinking I had help (even if I didn't), to hearing that your boss is leaving the country is "a hell of a gear change". This he seemed to think was reasonable. He then wanted to talk about wage... and what would be appropriate. This is where I always fumble with what to say. How to I accurately describe what I do? I started with "the managers manage the stores, and I manage the managers... and we're all being paid the same rate. I think anyone would agree that that's unacceptable." This he didn't agree with because he was under the impression that the managers do their thing and I do my thing completely separate of that. I explained that, since the second store opened that IS the way things have been going. Furthermore, since the opening my workload has doubled as I'm trouble-shooting for two stores. He seemed to take this all in. Long story short (too late), he wants to have a meeting in about nine hours about what exactly I do and how much would be an appropriate wage.
Basically, by tomorrow afternoon I'll either be making more money or I'll be looking for a new job. It's that simple. Sleep well everyone, I won't.

Old John versus New... or why self-loathing never looked so appealing!
Jean, in her wonderful effervescence (huh? Just go with it... mmm, bubbly!), responded on her blog to something I wrote on mine. It was a quick sentence about how the John of old wouldn't like the new and not-so-improved version. I appreciate the positive response from those who told me old me'd be happy with new me, but I think you're all wrong... and I think it's probably time I talked a little bit about why I feel this way. This post has been a long time in the making, I just hope I don't forget anything.

1) Work, Classes, or Me... these three things seem to be the only three things I'm willing to devote any time to. 'Me' always seems to always come last. I haven't talked with my sister in a month, even though, for some reason, I've been calling my parents about three times a week now (if not more). I'm about to take a quasi-self-forced vacation... this weekend (Thursday through Sunday) to Wisconsin to spend some time with my parents. This should, hopefully, give me some perspective. I continue to be upset with the way my apartment looks. I got so very close to having it almost the way I wanted it and then I got busy again. I need to force myself to get a new futon, as the old one has seen better days. What does this have to do with old John versus new... well, both old and new John didn't take care of himself very well. It was something new John was working on and got close to understanding before new John decided to try to make enough money to live here, and only spend his time with working.

2) Speaking of futons, Sleep... every day I wake up tired. This is because late at night is the only time I can do whatever I want without someone calling me to do something. So I get to 10 or 11 PM and figure I'm finally not "on call"... I'm finally not going to get bothered... and it feels like my day finally starts. This causes me to stay up late doing what I wanted to do during the day; but I still have to wake up early to take care of stupid work... so I just end up being tired every day. Old John wouldn't have let himself live like this. He was never this desperate for money, to sacrifice his own happiness.

3) Politics... Sorry, I still don't care. I know I should care, but I don't. If I were to care, I would just become frustrated by how ignorant this country is. Bush is going to win... sorry everyone, but the country's too stupid to see how he's NOT helping us as a country. One of my favorite "what if" scenarios is the "what if Gore was President? How would he have handled the attacks on 9/11?" This is an argument for Bush over Gore. Has it ever occurred to those people that perhaps Bush being President was one of the reasons the attacks happened in the first place? We've heard the 'rumor' that the administration knew that something was being planned... has this possibility even crossed those people's minds? How about this... have we heard anything about the thousands of military men and women who've died for no reason in Iraq? We can talk all we'd like about "freeing" people (yes Ken, this means you)... but I'm not willing to pay that price. Additionally, NO ONE seems to be talking about the 10,000 Iraqi civilians who have died. Civilians! I'm sorry, this doesn't seem like a kind of freedom I'd want.
But, then again, it doesn't matter. Nothing's going to change, regardless of what I say or write. And do you know why nothing's going to change? Because there are too many ignorant, apathetic people in the country. I was talking to Brian tonight and I surprised myself by saying what I thought the problem was... the problem is *gasp* democracy! That's right, kiddies. Easily half the people in this country shouldn't have any say in what we do as a country. I'm not sure what the best government is... as I haven't studied them... but democracy, in the American incarnation, pretty much sucks.

4) Insensitivity... Walking down the street, ignoring everyone who asks for change. Treating them as less than human... even to the point that I'm angry when I'm asked. How could one be angry? Easy... the feeling that I'm being cheated... that I'm being somehow taken advantage of, particularly in that they're playing on my emotions. What have I done to quell that? I've stopped feeling (again... this isn't the first time)... and I've created a "character" for walking in Chicago. This person doesn't feel, doesn't notice people, and doesn't care. This person is a part of new John that didn't exist before... and he's the reason new John is no good.
Here's an example of why new John's no good: While leaving my building to head to my car (probably to drive to work), an older man who lives in my building stopped me. He said "Young man?", which I instantly inwardly objected to... condescending piece of... At any rate, the dude says "Young man? When you pass through the gate, it's nice to take the time to close it." Pause... looks at me looking at him probably like I thought he was an idiot. "Otherwise the gate makes a loud noise, and it's just... the gate makes a loud noise when it slams closed, so if you could just make sure to take the time to close it." I then dismissively said "Okay" and walked away. While walking away, I started muttering what I wanted to say... "It's fucking Chicago. We hear sirens at least half a dozen times a day, and you're worried about GATE noise?!" and "Tell the fucking building people to fix it, if it's a problem"... and it took me sitting in my car to realize that I was unnecessarily hostile towards that man. He's just trying to make this stupid building more like a community. Where people are nice and civil to each other, and I damn near bit his head clean off. If I had been a little more tired or just a tad more stressed, I would've told him where he could stick that gate.
I need a vacation.

PACK 1-1... Let's talk about everything but football
Sunday I spent in Aurora with Keith and Adam. We messed around with scripts for a while, Keith showed us a few things on his guitar and drums. He also showed us a tape of him in high school... which he wants to use to create a character that we would write into a movie. I think it would be interesting... but I think it would be tough to write an improv created character. I suppose it would be a good learning experience for me. Or something. Keith also started singing this simple song... and then Adam had an idea to make it a weird foreign song (it's a funny little song), and then I had an idea... and in ten minutes we had Keith going from "There's just this other stupid little song I wrote" to saying "Oh my God that's awesome! That is awesome!" It's a really weird song and the ideas are just absurdly weird... but we're probably going to perform it. Death face!
I couldn't sleep last night (moron that later). I was actually inspired to be political, and write a politically motivated scene. I finished it this morning... it seems almost interesting and half-way funny. If we don't put it in the level 5 show, we might put it in the hour-long Keith/Dave/Adam/John/Token woman show.
Yesterday I played some more KOTOR. And it was weird because something in the plot actually made me say "wow, I didn't see that coming". That's pretty rare... and I love it when that happens! Speaking of, Donnie Darko the Director's Cut is out in theatres. If I actually get some free time, I would love to go see it in the theatre. I love that movie.

I always find it amusing to hear about when people can't sleep. Especially when there's really no reason for it. I'm tired as shit... I wake up tired (probably has to do with the condition of my "bed". I need a new futon), yet I still find myself struggling for sleep at night. Last night is a perfect example. I played KOTOR until I was too tired to even look at the screen and then went to bed. Two times while I was lying down, I had to turn the light on and write something down: an idea for a scene or an improvement on an existing one. This isn't the amusing part... I love it when two different people both can't sleep at the same time. Normally that means that something's going on that affects both of them... but with the advent of blogging, I can see someone else is having trouble sleeping across the country on the same night I'm having trouble sleeping. It makes me feel connected, even though I feel very isolated here in Chicago from who I used to be. I wonder if me then would like me now? I doubt it.

Out Wide to Steeno
Check this out! I found this football (soccer) chant at footballchants.org! It's from Norwich under the "O"s! LOOK!

" 'Out wide to Steeno'
(tune: Molly Malone )
In Norfolk's fine City
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on young Malky Mackay
As he wheeled his wheel barrow
Down streets by the Carrow
Swinging long balls & headers out wide to Steeno
Out wide to Steeno, out wide to Steeno
Swinging long balls & headers out wide to Steeno"

In my head, it sounds like an Irish drinking song. I'll sing it to you, if ever we meet. But it's to the tune of Molly Malone... which is a tune I don't know. I'm also trying to track down who this Steeno dude is. I have every indication that his name is Steen Nedergaard... and that he, at one time, played for the Norwich City Canary's football team. I'm awesome!

Driving down Chicago with your door open
Before you think I've finally lost my mind completely, let me explain. This afternoon, I went to Office Max with Stephan, the manager from the North Avenue store. Wait, wait, wait... first we went to CostCo to get some miscellaneous candy items. This is where we got up to the register and I saw that CostCo now sells stamps and Stephan said "Oh we need stamps for bills" and I proceeded to ask the woman how many stamps they sell, and how much they are. When she replied "100" and "36.75", I turned to Stephan. "Are we just not going to get stamps because you're thinking that that's too much?" he asked... to which, I replied "Do you need the stamps? We'll get the stamps, if you need the stamps". That's when the woman at the check-out counter started laughing at us. Stephan asks questions... all the time. All the time, he asks questions... and I respond to them as you know I respond to someone who's asking too many questions. Have you ever been indecisive around me? You probably know what I'm talking about then (And, Laura, I'm way better than I used to be. Being District Manager [or whatever] doesn't allow me the luxury of being indecisive).
But I digress... after that fun, we went to Taco Bell so that I could force him to eat (he's like me in that work comes before eating). We had a nice long discussion about America and our culture. Steve was born in New York, but his parents are 100% Swiss... so he actually did a lot of growing up in Europe. He speaks German (Swiss German), French, and amazing English for someone who speaks both German and French. I found his insight to our culture fascinating... and I don't actually have to go to another country to hear what other people are thinking! That's great because I hate foreigners *said as much like the president as possible*.
After THAT, we went to Office Max. We had a long list of office stuff to get for the store. As Adam would later say, "We've been open for almost a month and we're not buying pens and staples because we're out... we're buying big shit like tables and desks." Which is true. We opened the store too damn early, we didn't have enough time in the store without construction workers. At any rate, we purchased a filing cabinet and a small cabinet for office supplies. The cabinet required assembly... so it came in a box. This is good. The filing cabinet was made of metal. It did not require assembly, because it was made of metal. Can you see where this is going? It was too big for my car, even with the backseat folded down. I ended up putting it in my backseat... closing the driver-side rear door, and leaving it sticking out the other door on the other side. Trust me, the guy who helped us bring it out to the car was having a very good time. I tied my door closer to my car with some twine the Office Max dude gave us... but the door was still pretty wide open. There was, pretty literally, nothing I could do besides drive with my door open. So I did. I drove from the Office Max on Fullerton (you know the one), to the North Avenue store. I was worried. Let's just say that. I wasn't so worried that I went 10 mph less than the speed limit... but I was still worried. However, I made it all the way to North Avenue with little trouble (and less hair). An hour or so later, I had assembled the wood cabinet, placed the metal cabinet... and left to do bigger and better things.

Speaking of bigger and better things, there is perhaps an Improv workshop in the mix! I've spoken with Miss Katie Aumann, and she would be interested in me coming to Albion to host an improv workshop. It sounds like it will be one of the days of Homecoming weekend (I'll be there anyway). I went ahead and asked Keith if he would be interested in helping me run it, and he's all for it. We spent about two hours on the phone trying to figure out what we should focus on, how much time we'll need, and what they really need to know to make this work. It's my goal to not only give them the basics of improv, but to give them a few performance games that they can go out and play right away. Unfortunately, from our conversation, it sounds like maybe one workshop wouldn't be enough... and he and I wondered if it should be a two day thing. We're still trying to figure out how much time would be needed, as it's something a little more difficult than just jumping right into... but if the goal of the workshop is to give the students the tools they need to start their own group, more power to them. I guess I will need a few subsequent discussions with Miss Aumann to see what the group wishes to learn. That would better prepare us for what we need to teach.
Holy shit I'm excited about teaching.
And Rhea, look!, no football! But I will say this... Sportscenter has been in Kuwait all week. And while I love the fact that they're trying to entertain the troops... I don't like the way they've been doing the show. They're playing up to the crowd instead of just telling me whether or not the Cubs won... or talking about how the Packers look really good. In addition to playing to the crowd, they're asking the opinions of the troops. Isn't that great fun for the troops? Yes, it is. But I don't care what they think about the wildcard race... especially since they haven't seen anything but highlights (and I'm assuming they're seeing the highlights) in months. Let's say Sportscenter were to ask my opinion... does it mean that I'm wrong? that I don't have insight? No. But would I expect anyone to care what I think? Again, no. Sorry, I'm not watching... just give me the f--king sports news (Which is why I'm glad I have EPSNews).
Don't get me wrong, I'm the first one out to support the troops. This is more about Sportscenter... and it's actually a trend I've seen from them lately. Old School sportscenter was interesting... but they've been having more gimmicks recently, and less of a sports anchor sitting and reading the news. Hooray for ESPNews!

Let's fix my predictions!
I'm actually surprised that I got as close as I did with my predictions. I didn't do any of the math... I just put down what I figured would happen. So, now that I've got exactly what the first week of standings are... so let's add some wins:
New York Jets- not 6-10, but 8-8
The Jets get the greatest benefit of my miscalculations. I actually didn't think they would beat Cincinnati, but then Curtis Martin reminded me that he wasn't dead... and the Jets rolled. Pennington continually surprises me with how good he is... as long as he's healthy. Look for the Jets to take second place in the AFC East.
Denver Broncos- not 8-8, but 9-7
I didn't expect Denver to beat KC. But they did... their defense is REALLY good. Why not more wins? Plummer could've easily lost them the game... look for him to lose them at least two games this season that they should win. He's kind of like old Favre that way... but Plummer isn't going to win any games by himself like Favre could/can. Improved defense gets Denver one more win!
Philadelphia Eagles- not 12-4, but 13-3
I guess I underestimated Philly's offense. McNabb to Owens looks like a good combination, even though the Giants are terrible and would make Steeno to Huhtala look like an unbeatable combination (well, Ken would run REALLY fast). Anyway, Philly's Westbrook may be a better running back than I gave him credit... and the defense might not suck hard-core (even though they gave up 100 yards to Tiki Barber... come on!). Anyway... look for Philly to roll over Dallas and New York for four easy wins, but maybe split against Washington (and they'll lose to my Packers in early December).
Green Bay Packers- not 10-6, but 11-5
Who knew the Pack would make Carolina's awesome defense look like chumps? I worry about the Pack "blowing their load" too quickly, giving Ahman Green too many carries early in the season... showing too much of their playbook too early, and letting defenses know exactly what they're going to be doing all year. But that's just because I'm a pessimist. A pessimist picks them to beat Philly in Philly? Last year, my Packers were a better team than Philly TWICE, and still lost both games. It's not going to happen again. The Pack are still the best team in the NFC North.
Arizona Cardinals- not 4-12, but 5-11
Who knew the Cardinals would give St. Louis that much trouble? If the game was in Arizona, the Cards probably could've pulled it out (intangibles!). The Cards will get a win or two before November (when Bolden comes back from injury), and then look for them to string three or four victories together at the end of the season. They'll consider this a good season, as it'll mean they have momentum going into the off-season.

There you have it, sportsfans. I think next year I'm going to go through the schedule game-by-game and do my predictions that way. Then I won't have this math problem. Math is confusing, because I'm a woman. HA! Unless you're Allison, prove me wrong!

First Sunday of football season!
Following Nate, I'll post my predictions for this year. Unfortunately for me, I'll already know the first weeks standings (pretty much). But I'll just forget about the scores I've already seen. Anyways... here we go:

AFC East
New England 13-3
Buffalo 7-9
New York Jets 6-10
Miami 4-12
The Dolphins will be terrible this year. With a constant QB controversy, and no running game, not even that defense will be able to help them win more than a handful of games. If Pennington stays healthy, the Jets could easily blow past the Bills, but they won't beat the Patriots. Look for a better offense in NE to help them continue to dominate this division.

AFC North
Baltimore 11-5
Cincinnati 9-7
Pittsburgh 8-8
Cleveland 6-10
Cincinnati will be better than last year, even though Kitna (who should've been in the Pro Bowl) is benched. Pittsburgh will be better than last year too, even though Tommy Maddox sucks. Cleveland, too, will be better than last year... but will be buried by the better teams in this division. And, if Kyle Boller steps it up and J. Lewis can stay out of jail, the Ravens should still rule this division.

AFC South
Indianapolis 11-5
Tennessee 9-7
Jacksonville 7-9
Houston 5-11
Colts are easily the best team in this division. However, their defense couldn't stop my grandmother. Tennessee will stay strong because of McNair's pure will... but they aren't better than Indy. Jax is better than last year, but still not quite good enough to challenge Indy or Tennessee.

AFC West
Kansas City 12-4
Denver 8-8
Oakland 7-9
San Diego 5-11
Speaking of a defense who couldn't stop my grandmother, it's Kansas City! Too bad the rest of the teams in this division suck, or else KC might have to actually play defense to win. Denver and Oakland will have respectable records, despite the fact that they'll suck. Denver's defense will be very good... but their offense will probably let them down in the end.

NFC East
Philadelphia 12-4
Washington 10-6
Dallas 5-11
New York Giants 5-11
Philly's going to be good... we all know that. But with a sucky defense, and no running game, they won't be as good as they could be. Look for Washington to really push them in this division.

NFC North
Packers 10-6
Minnesota 9-7
Detroit 7-9
Chicago 5-11
This is the season when the balance starts to shift. Hopefully this'll be Favre's last season, or else he'll have to be around to see Detroit and Minnesota pass the Packers in the division. It won't happen this year, though. Minnesota makes it tough on the Packers, but not tough enough. Look for the Lions to finally get out of the cellar, this year... as they learn what it takes to win on the road.

NFC South
Carolina 11-5
Atlanta 8-8
New Orleans 6-10
Tampa Bay 5-11
Was Carolina a fluke? Well... a good defense is always the best way to keep winning. So Carolina will keep winning. Atlanta will give them a couple problems this year, but still might not make the playoffs. The key to Carolina's season will be a terrible division. NO and TB are no good this year.

NFC West
Seattle 13-3
St. Louis 9-7
Arizona 4-12
San Francisco 3-13
Seattle is everyone's pick to go to the Super Bowl. And their team might just be solid enough to do it this year. But, speaking of terrible divisions, Seattle and St. Louis will be the benefactors of two HORRIBLE teams: Arizona and San Francisco. I think San Fran is the worst team in the league this year. St. Louis may make the playoffs, with a team not as good as the other teams who have made the playoffs in previous years.

AFC Playoffs
Byes: New England, Kansas City
Wk1: Indianapolis over Cincinnati
Tennessee over Baltimore
Wk2: New England over Tennessee
Indianapolis over Kansas City
Conference Championship: New England over Indianapolis

NFC Playoffs
Byes: Seattle, Philly
Wk1: Green Bay over St. Louis
Washington over Carolina
Wk2: Seattle over Green Bay
Philly over Washington
Conference Championship: Seattle over Philly

Super Bowl
New England over Seattle
Seattle may not even stand a chance... we won't see Vianiteri kicking another field goal to win the game... this one's going to be over long before that. The real Super Bowl might be seeing NE and Indy play each other again in the playoffs.

When is Thursday night a Monday night? When it's NFL Kickoff Night!
Yes, I indeed spent my Thursday night watching the Pats/Colts game. It turned out to be an amazing game, even though the wrong team one in the end. Yes... the Patriots looked good. They looked really, really good. However, if the Colts defense could've stopped the Pats' offense (easier said than done, as it's more difficult this year than last), they might've had a chance. But they couldn't... so that's that.
In happier news, Nate should be happy as the Lions are a "dark-horse" for pretty much everyone who is trying to come up with a dark horse for the season. Why not? With an offense that, though young, might be making huge strides forward this year. Their defense needs some work... but they seem to hold up when they really have to... and their special teams are always pretty good. This could be a pretty even (.500) season for the Lions.
Friday night was the Miami/Florida State game. If you stopped watching this game early, shame on you. Both Brock Berlin and Chris Rix SUCK. They both SUCK big time! Miami's defense looks as good as they always are... and Florida State's defense also looked good. But I don't know if both defenses just showed how useless both these QBs are or if the QBs made the defense look good. Regardless... not a whole lot happened throughout the game. Until the end. The end of the game was awesome, and it was no surprise to me that Miami ended up winning. Both of these teams aren't as good as people thought they should be, so look for OU, USC, and Georgia (maybe) to be the best three teams in the country.

I was shocked to see that my blog hit 4,000 hits in just six months! That is, without a doubt, incredible. This is for a site that was created just to give me someplace to put all the crap floating around in my head. Thank you all, for still coming back to see all my boring and slightly useless ramblings.

Saturday came and I was at work when the Notre Dame/Michigan game started. I figured this was just as well... as it was going to be a slaughter. As Chris Berman would say, "That's why they play the game". I got to my apartment with Michigan driving down the field... up 6-0 late in the second quarter. I said to myself "hmm... interesting. Notre Dame's hanging in there." Then, on a 3rd and goal from the five yard line, Michigan handed the ball off and got about two yards. What they should have done was pass a fade to Braylon Edwards, as he's easily four or five inches taller than anyone in NDs defensive backfield. At that point I said to myself "They've (Notre Dame) got a chance in this game. Michigan's playing not to lose." Then the second half happened. Wow. Notre Dame finally realized all that potential I've heard about. Willingham finally had the offense playing like an offense that doesn't suck. And it's been two seasons since Notre Dame's seen that (at least). It turned out to be a fantastic display by ND's full team: rush offense, pass offense, and defense (special teams are for pussies). Don't expect ND to win many more games this season, maybe getting 6 more... and don't expect Michigan to forget this game, in another season watch out for a 30 or 40 point beat down. But this year... today's our day (I think that was mixing metaphors... oh well).

I recently started playing Star Wars: KOTOR. I'm not much into the Role Playing Games, but this one is different. Everyone says so, so it must be true. I've never really played an RPG before... but a lot of the elements from Zelda games come into play, so I'm not totally unfamiliar with the format. This is, though, my first RPG experience... and they've really done it right. Fighting is still technically turn-based, but it's in real-time. So you can send your character, like I do, directly into the bad guys and just let 'em go nuts. That's basically my strategy, to send Wedge Steeno straight into the guys and have him cut 'em up. (Yeah, I named my character 'Wedge Steeno'... I thought that was really REALLY clever) And I'm pretty obsessed with leveling up and gaining XP. I'm lame.

Yeah, I woke up today wanting a new style... and new look. So instead of buying a new wardrobe, I decided to give a new look to my blog! It's one of the templates, but I moded it just a tad. It was fun to sit and figure out how to modify the ol' blog. It was important to keep it as fun as the last one, but to not be a big bitch and lose all the comments and the site tracker thingy. I'm really good at computers, can't you tell from the talking I can do about it? I'm an idiot.

Let's talk about the 4-9-2-2-4! (AKA The 5-1-7)
I got a piece of mail in my mailbox from my parents... who in turn received the mail from Albion. A section of that mailing that caught my attention was the Albion Alumni auction. People who aren't Albion alums need not apply. I went to the website to check it out, and one item in particular has my interest. What is it, you ask? Hmm... I'm not going to say, but it's something that I think would be really awesome to be able to do. Also, I think I have a good shot at it, because I'm willing to spend about eight times the starting bid price. Aren't mysteries fun?!
Speaking of fun, another piece of that mailing contained an invitation to all Alumni to come and sing at Albion's Homecoming. That sounds like fun... because I miss singing. And I miss the super hot Chelsey Wagemaker. And I miss feeling important (like a rock star). Which reminds me, Dr. Rose apparently announced in choir class that I was going to be at Homecoming. In addition, he announced something else to entice people to go on the choir trip to England.
Yeah, Albion's choir is going to England next year... and so am I. He announced that I was going on the trip to entice more people in the choir to go. I'm a reward! But seriously folks, I know I don't have the money to go to England... but I also have never been to any other country (besides Canada... and that's just "safe America"). Granted, England is "Olde America"... but it's a step up. Someone once said that money's made to be spent... so that's what I'm going to be doing. I want to go to England... and I'm gonna, darned it!

That was lame. You get what you pay for, dear reader. If you wanted something interesting or humorous, you'll have to go to my paysite. Kids, get your parents' permission (that means you Nick). But, speaking of paying for my services, I was talking to Katie Aumann recently. (Yes, think gross things... now take a step towards the less gross stuff... now one more... now two more... now realize it isn't gross at all, you perve). Katie said she'd be into starting an improv group at Albion (which I wanted to do two years ago, but never had time). I've started thinking about a few improv exercises and games I could go over with her that might help. And that leads me to start thinking about how great it would be to teach people improv. Then I realize that I have no knowledge that anyone would pay me to teach someone else... so I stop thinking about teaching.

Update from the previous week, Early September!
Wanna know what I did Wednesday through Friday of last week? I worked! That's it! I'm seriously done boring you with exactly what transpired. I'm just going to let you know that those days were spent working and doing not much else.
So you wanna know what I did? I took Saturday off. I lazily spent the entire day watching football and chilling out in my apartment. Nothing fancy, just a nice relaxing day by myself. It was good.
Sunday, I went out to Aurora (actually Oswego) with Dave from class. We went to Keith's house, where we spent the better part of the afternoon working on scripts and trying to put together an hours worth of material. Dave's been talking to the guys who schedule Donny's Skybox... and as soon as we figure out what we're doing, we're in. That's it... and as we went through our material... it turns out that we're ridiculously close to having that much material.
Monday, Labor Day, I spent actually trying to do work. I went into the Wells store to try to get some computer stuff done, but I was unsuccessful as every other company in the world besides Coldstone is closed on Labor Day. Know why? Because they all respect the labor their employees put in. *nods* and there would be hell to pay if they tried to stay open.
Speaking of hell to pay, there will be if my lease renewal isn't figured out. My lease is up soon and my management company is a bunch of idiots. Isn't that the way things work? I've called about a dozen times to get a copy of the lease. Supremely long story short, I finally got a copy of the lease slid under my door... faxed it (co-signed by my folks), got it faxed back, and sent it to Planned Property Management. Two days later, I got a call saying that they'd "hate to lease my apartment to someone else" (this is after weeks of saying the same damn things), but I told them it's in the mail. I think I would travel down to the office and stab someone in the eye if they leased my apartment to someone else.
I've pretty much had no food in my apartment for weeks because I haven't had time to go grocery shopping. It took me leaving work right after a meeting on September 9th and effectively turning my phone off to get it done. I've got a ton of food now... except for dinners. Dinner continues to allude me, as historically dinner is a time for hot, homemade meals. Yes, I realize that I was spoiled having a mother who cooked at least 5 times a week and who loved cooking. I guess I really miss home. I've called my parents three or four times this week... which is about three or four times more than I usually call.
During one of the phone calls, I revealed to them that I'm looking for another job. Yeah, I'm actually actively searching for another job now. I'm looking into office work, like at a law office. Anything that has regular hours and respects my time out of the office. I want to be able to leave work at work. My days at Coldstone start when someone calls me from one of the stores first thing in the morning... and they finish when I've made sure both stores are "okay" for that day. Basically I finish when I can't do anything else that day and have to put it off until tomorrow. Sometimes those things get done the next day, and sometimes they drag on and on forever. Such is life? The pessimist in me thinks so... but the tiny, frail optimist inside of me knows that there has to be something out there that can make me happier than this does.

Speaking of making me happy, let's talk video games. Let's talk Madden 2005 vs NCAA Football 2005... who's the king? I love a lot of the new features in NCAA, but the actual gameplay is pretty much the same as previous years. It seems a little more difficult to pass this year than last. And, by a little more difficult... I mean almost impossible to be consistent. But you can run up and down the field with very little problems. With Madden, the same is normally true. I can run up and down the field... but I can't pass the ball worth crap. But, with this version of Madden, it's easy to pass the ball up and down the field... but running is another story. The defense is "improved" in Madden this year. Which means that it's tough as shit to evade someone trying to tackle you, but apparently you can throw the ball 30 yards down the field with no problems. It makes no sense... but it's very easy beat Ken at Madden, and not as easy to beat Ken at NCAA. But I still beat Ken at NCAA without trying as well. You bring it, Kennarth.

See what happens when you can't sleep?
Two years ago, a Wednesday night would have meant staying up late and dealing with loud, obnoxious drunks into the wee hours of the morning. Regardless of my attitude towards drunks and even though I often had a Thursday morning class, Wednesday nights used to mean 'fun' for me and pretty much everyone else. However, this Wednesday night has meant going to bed at 9:30, because I was too tired to do anything else. Then it meant being awakened by a headache that refuses to stop piercing my brain directly behind my right eye. The cause of this headache is multi-faceted but, as it seems to be keeping me awake indefinitely, I might as well go into it. The most pressing matter at hand is an incident at work involving one of the cash drops. Long story short, this drop mysteriously disappeared between the time one of the (very trustworthy) shift leaders dropped into the safe and the time the safe was reopened to do a deposit. Mr. Johnson says that Eric, the shiftleader, is responsible for that drop and will probably have to be "let go". I've got another employee who was there when Eric dropped the money who vouched for his story even before we got the story from Eric... furthermore, this employee (being young) said she'll quit if Eric gets fired. Now... I feel that this is probably the way a lot of the employees will feel: 1.) They're young, some as young as high school age; and 2.) What kind of message is being sent by management if you've got an air-tight story and the money just mysteriously disappears? Apparently it doesn't matter, you'll still be fired. Regardless, my brain is being racked trying to figure out how the money could have possibly disappeared in that time... as only a few people know the code to the top portion of the safe. Additionally, I'm not looking forward to pleading with Mr. Johnson at our meeting tomorrow morning for him to reconsider firing Eric. Eric's a good, hard-working employee and it would be a shame to fire him over this.
But that's not all... I continually find myself upset at Andrea whenever I think about my job versus hers. What was she doing while all this talk of firing Eric was occurring? She was "stuck" in the suburbs without a car. The best part is that it took phone calls from Brian, Adam, and me, plus about two hours to find this information out. She's making herself less and less available, and it's eating more and more into my personal time (because I'm having to pick up the extra slack). This is personal time that could have been spent at the gym (I haven't gone in a month), doing laundry (I still have three loads to do and, wouldn't you know, the pile just keeps growing), going to the grocery store (I haven't gone in over a month... am amazed how many meals can consist of bread and a condiment), writing or re-writing scripts (I've got one due this Friday. I might get into that whole thing another time), catching up with family or friends, or honestly just relaxing... like I forced myself to do this past Saturday. In retrospect, I shouldn't have taken Saturday off as Brian, the manager at Wells, was still in Atlanta visiting family. I guess if there's good news it's that Adam and I got to spend a lot of time hanging out this past week... and that's good because he's a funny guy. Plus I hope to take some time off this weekend, which will be spend watching the first week of football season... and the absolute slaughter that will be the Notre Dame/Michigan game. In addition, I'm telling myself that I'm not going to do anything at work tomorrow (after the meeting, of course) until I get my grocery shopping done.
*sigh* I really wish I could just fall asleep. Do you remember the best sleep of your life? When was it? It's probably as far back as you remember... when you were too young to worry. OR it was a time when you were too exhausted by the day to care. It's interesting that I get older and can be exhausted, yet still manage to find the strength to worry myself out of sleep. I'm sure I'll rest easy knowing that, even though over 1,000 (a thousand!) soldiers have died in Iraq, it's nothing in comparison with all the people I didn't know and care about who died in wars long before I was born (for more info, see Ken's blog). Perhaps the fact that millions of people I don't know or care about half-way around the world are 'free' will ease me through the pain of losing one brother. Sorry Serge, I'm not buying it. Fuck 'em. You come home safe.

Update from August 29
Sunday morning I had brunch with Jason. I figured we could go to Michell's/Michael's because that would be someplace were we could lazily spend an hour or longer. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday afternoon, and that place was pretty booked. At any rate, we talked and caught up and ate some crap food. It was good.
On our way out, a couple at a table stopped me. "We saw you at the Second City" they said. Turns out they went with the Johnsons to see the show, but that was a week ago, I've gotten my hair cut since then, and we weren't in The Second City. They said that it was very funny, and that I was very good... that typical stuff you say when you met someone who you've seen in a play or whatever. I was more surprised that someone, in Chicago--a city of roughly 8 million--stopped me in a restaurant to tell me that they thought I was funny in a show. That's pretty amazing, at least to me. Whatever... thanks for pissing on my parade!

Remember what I said about it raining Friday night? Remember how I said that crappy stuff happened? Well... what happened is a "flood" at Wells. The water must've been at least an inch deep. And guess what was on the ground: the computer. Great guess if you got it. Good for you. But that's not all... the cord to the fax/copier/printer was also on the ground. It's not a big deal if it's just the cord, but you know how printers have those connections? Yeah... that shit got fried big-time. I had to get on getting a new computer fast.
And, as of Sunday the 5th, we've got the new computer, no new printer, and the computer isn't working the way it's supposed to yet. I hate my job.

Update from August 27-28
Friday (the 27th) morning started with errands to Office Max. Stephan's store needed lots of loot and I'm the man to get it. I went to the store with around $700 on me. I had to buy a printer/copier/fax machine, phones, a filing cabinet, and miscellaneous office products (staplers, pens, velcro [what?], and so on). I'm so good, that I ended up with only about $4 left... I even calculated for tax! Hey... I was impressed that I almost hit this nail right on the head. That's awesome financial planning... I was almost and actuary!
I then went to Taco Bell by myself. I used to do it at Albion, where I would drive to Marshall (the Jackson one was Laura's) and sit and eat by myself. It was nice... and it gave me a few minutes to clear my head.
And it was good that I got those few minutes because Friday Laura came to Chicago! It was very nice to see her again, but we only had a couple of minutes together before I had call for my performance.

That's right, it was my final performance of the level 5 show. And the odd thing about final performances at the Second City is that they all sell out. From what I hear, they all sell out and then some. My show was no exception. We not only sold out Friday night, but there was a waiting list of 35 people. For those of you who don't know, Donny's Skybox is about half full with 35 people... so we probably could have put on two shows Friday night, both fairly full. The show was great... the audience was very responsive, and even most of the actors decided to add a few things because of the amount of laughs we were getting. We were getting so many laughs that we cut one of the scenes near the end of the show. That's laughs. It was a great experience and something I hope I can do again soon.
Friday night, after the show, Laura, Jim, and I went to my apartment and hung out for a bit. Laura was very tired from her long day, so we called it a night after an hour or two. After Jim left, I got ready for bed and lied down and then my phone rang. The rains had come and Jim's bus had not. I got up, dressed, and headed to Lake Shore Drive. I actually drove past Jim at first, because it was raining so hard I couldn't see him. Once I found him, we headed to his apartment through, at points, lakes of water. Water does not drain very well here in Chicago... so there were plenty of places where we were wading through water in my car. It was an interesting drive... but the rain had let up by the time I got back to my apartment, about an hour later.

Saturday morning, Laura and I woke up (in separate places. Come on! Mommy and Daddy are separated, because mommy makes daddy want to kill himself) and had a nice lazy conversation. It felt really nice to wake up and talk to someone again. Don't get me wrong, I love living by myself. But I sometimes miss waking up and talking with someone first thing in the morning.
I planned on taking Laura to Garlic and Chili (yes, I know Thai food is weird first thing in the morning... but we're weird). Oddly enough, the Thai food restaurant was closed. We then headed towards Coldstone and decided to eat at Einstein's. I paid for breakfast with a "Happy Birthday" to Laura... and we had a pleasant breakfast talking about how awesome I am (Laura would never have that conversation). We then walked back to Coldstone and got ice cream almost first thing in the morning. Nothing says that you're going to have a great day quite like getting ice cream first thing. I, unfortunately, had to deal with something that I'll get more into later... but it was good for Laura to see where I work and how awesome I am (so that we could actually have that conversation).
That was pretty much all of Laura's visit. And, for some reason that I won't get into because it would be talking about my feelings, saying good-bye was difficult. It was difficult because it was very good for me to see Laura again. And not just because it's nice to see a good friend again... but for reasons I won't go into. Let's just say that it's nice to know things are good for someone you care about.

After saying good-bye to Laura, it was time to go back to work. Saturday was Coldstone's grand opening at North Avenue. I really didn't have much to do, but make sure everything ran smoothly. Adam and I stuck around just long enough to see that the face-painter and the magician (I know... shut up), and then we left.
Once the grand opening was under control, Adam and I to Dave and Busters. We had dinner and shot a bunch of stuff... nothing says a job well done quite like pulling the trigger and ending a computer generated life.
After that, Adam and I went to see the movie 'Garden State'. I think it was a very good movie... the kind of movie that Nick would love. Hey son, go see Garden State if you haven't seen it. You would love it.

Update from August 25-26
Welcome to Wednesday morning... and after a 14 hour day, there was a surprise waiting for me at the new store: no electricity. Yeah... that's right. It was another in the long line of 'hurry up and waits' that have made me feel like I have more in common with Ken then just being pathetic with the ladies.
Once we got power, I made more ice cream. Then Nate, the AD, wanted to run some errands with me, so I gave the ice cream job to Josh and headed out with Nate. We took a trip to Home Depot to get shelving for the store. While there, we got all sorts of tools and supplies for the store. It was kind of fun to go shopping with someone else's money. I suggest trying it sometime. We then went to the Container Store and tried to get more shelving and more supplies. Nate then proceeded to argue with the woman who works at the Container Store about whether or not a certain kind of shelving could be attached directly to a wall. Nate said it could, the woman said the manufacturer doesn't allow for that... and they were both being stupid and stubborn. Whatever... that's Nate.
After we got back to the store, we were all very hungry... so we went to lunch at an Asian cuisine place on North Avenue. I wish I remembered the name, but it was alright, so I'm sure I'll go back there.
While we were at the store, Stephan and Nate did more training. During which, SBC showed up to install yet another phone line at North Avenue. I told the guy that he must've made a mistake, as we already have two lines from SBC. I then called Andrea to see if she ordered another line. She, apparently, had Robert call SBC to put in a "fax only" line. I told her that was overkill, but she thought that we needed a fax line; making three lines at the store. So I told the SBC dude that I had made a mistake. He started to do stuff... and then got to the point where he needed to get behind that gate that has thwarted many a SBC dude. We were actually prepared this time, and had the phone number of the landlord. We called her and she was on her way to open the gate. The SBC dude waited around for a while... and then left saying "I can't wait around any more". Less than five minutes later, the landlord showed up. It's that life? (Hint: yes)
After that whole debacle, I had to take even more boxes back to Wells. Nate and I have been arguing about what should stay and what should go since we brought all those boxes over to North. He said that we can't have all these boxes... and I told him that we're GOING to have all those boxes, deal with it.
After all that loot, Brian, Adam, and I went to Taco Bell. It's been a way of escape for Brian and I. But with Adam there too... there was lots of fun to go around. It was a great break... and if I were the owner of the company, it would've been a business dinner.
After that, Adam and I went to Dave and Busters... to shoot stuff. Shooting stuff is awesome. But we also played a couple of the basketball games, and the football game... so it's like we were exercising! (Buy that?)

Thursday morning started late Wednesday night. I had to print off a whole poo-load of "picture perfect" training cards for the new store. I printed off so many, in fact, that I'm going to need more black ink. Then, when I woke up I went to Kinkos to laminating it all. I find laminating fun... perhaps it's because I'm sadistic. I'm not exactly sure... but I do know there's something satisfying to the permanence of lamination. *sigh* I'm done talking about that... but I spent a while doing it, just so you know.
Then, when I arrived at North Avenue another surprise was waiting for me: no electricity... again. It made me so freakin' mad at the contractors. These idiots are costing us so much time (and time is money) before we could actually open the doors. In addition, there was a training session scheduled for the morning which we had to cancel because of the lack of electricity.
Since the training was cancelled, I ended up having to drive a couple of the ladies back to Wells. First, one girl Jennifer wanted the windows open when I wanted AC. Second, they wanted rap when I wanted 311. I hate it when people mess with shit in my car... but I wanted to make it a pleasant drive for them, so I let them do whatever.
The irony continued as I had to then drive those ladies back to North Avenue. I picked up Adam as well, and we headed towards the new store. On the way, one of the young ladies yelled "I'll suck yo dick!" out my window. This was inappropriate for three reasons: 1.) If anyone's dick is going to be sucked in my car, it's going to be mine; 2.) She had her Coldstone hat on... way to advertise what we do; 3.) She's going to be a missionary (the person, not the position). That's just weird. Don't tell me you're going to be a missionary and then talk about sucking dick... I read the Poisonwood Bible (or some of it), I know what missionaries do... they let their youngest daughter die. That's all! Sheesh!
Then Adam and I went back to Kinkos and printed off some flyers for the grand opening. It didn't take us very long... and it was good to be doing work again with someone I enjoy talking to. That makes work a lot easier.
After this long, crappy day, I gave myself the evening off. I went to Circuit City on the way home and bought myself the Three Days Grace album. I like it already... it kind of reminds me of Silverchair... not complicated guitar parts, but lots of energy. From there, I drove around Best Buy to get to my apartment, and I noticed a line around the store. I then remembered that one of the radio stations I listen to here in Chicago was talking about Linkin Park being at Best Buy sometime this week. And that must've been it. Yeah... one of my favorite bands, Linkin Park, was in the Best Buy I go to all the time. If I had an entire afternoon to waste in line, I would've been there getting something signed. Mmm... Linkin Park.
When I got to my apartment, I started playing Resident Evil, which is a game I rented for GCN through Gamefly. Unfortunately for this game, the camera angles and controls are too complicated for me to get into it. I then played a game I bought on a whim, Prince of Persia. That game is freakin' awesome! It's played like a story being told... so when you die, it says "Wait... that's not how it happened" and you go back a bit in the game and keep playing. It's awesome. I'm sorry... but it's awesome. It's like a post-modern spin on video gaming... you really have to play it to understand. And it's only $20 now. Speaking of $20, I also rented Knights of the Old Republic. This makes me a dork, but it's also a Star Wars RPG... so it makes me a super-huge dork who doesn't get chicks. I have yet to play it, though, so maybe I've got a chance.

The NCAA finally made a decision in the Mike Williams' "case". Mike Williams, the USC wide receiver who followed Clarett trying to get into the NFL draft, was denied re-entry into the NCAA. I believe he's still able to take classes, but he can't play NCAA football again. This is a shame... as Mike Williams wasn't the one to challenge the system (that was Clarett). And Williams is probably good enough to play in the NFL (and not Clarett). Williams seems to be caught in the middle of a NCAA/NFL power-struggle... and he's going to loose a whole year of doing what he loves because of it. It's a shame.

Welcome to September (September 1st, that is)
I just want to say Happy Birthday to Laura. Laura is as awesome and intelligent as she is beautiful and elegant. Happy Birthday to a fantastic lady. Too bad you drive me fucking nuts after only three minutes of actual conversation... *sigh* what could have been...
In honor of Laura's birthday, I finally completely sold myself out. What? you ask, could possibly push me over the corporate hump? Is there anything... anything at all that could make me any more of a sell-out than I already am. Anything, that is, besides changing my name to Randrew Jackson County Heatherman Memorial Stadium? ZING! No... what I did was I finally bought myself a head-set for my cell phone. Honestly, now that I've got it, I can't imagine driving safely without it. I can even chop up filthy humans, hands-free!

And now, thanks to Ken's need to know everything about Fantasy Football, here is my latest Fantasy Football draft, Pick by Pick (aren't you lucky?). I had the very first pick this year, so keep in mind that after the that first pick, I picked back-to-back. It doesn't really matter that I took Harrison over McNabb, for instance, since they were taking by me back to back. Here we go:
1. Priest Holmes RB Chiefs - I didn't want the first pick in the draft. I really REALLY didn't want the first pick in the draft. But I got it... so I went with the guy who has been THE fantasy football stud for the past few years. Even if his season isn't as good as the past few, that will still make him one of the top five backs in the league. And, honestly, I don't see the Chief's offense slowing down this year.
2. Marvin Harrison WR Colts - Marvin Harrison has been my #1 WR for years. I LOVE Marvin Harrison. I find it very easy to root for him, and he's very consistent (which I found is key in head-to-head leagues). Oh yes, consistency is key to a head-to-head league... which is why I stay away from the Mo Williams': the guy who will get you 14 points one week and .5 the next. Marvin Harrison is simply the best wide receiver in the NFL and, for some reason, one of the best kept secrets in the NFL. The rest of the league knows how good this guy is, but I don't think the casual fan knows who he is. He. Is. Awesome.
3. Donovan McNabb QB Eagles - This one was pretty easy. He's got TO. That means more passing. He's got no running game. That means MORE passing. Could it mean more INTs? Yep... it could. But the Eagles are supposed to be good... and Andy Reid passes all the time. Ergo, I think McNabb is a great pick.
4. Tony Gonzalez TE Chiefs - As Nate said, the "only TE worth anything". Gonzalez will get you WR numbers all season. As a TE, that's just a huge bonus. He is the best TE in the league, by far.
5. Brett Favre QB Packers - I had to do this. I had to. I normally don't take Favre because I want to be able to bench my players if they're sucking, and I could never bench Favre. But all the talk from Packers' camp is about how much better his WRs have gotten, and how much more dangerous he'll be once the Packers establish that they're one of the most dominating running teams in the league. Give the ball to Ahman Green... Favre's numbers might diminish... but that also includes INTs. He'll easy get me 25 TDs this year... maybe even thirty, because that's what he does. I had to do it.
6. Duce Staley RB Steelers - Anybody who's been following the Duce Staley story knows that he left the Eagles to run the ball more. He came to the Steelers because they promised they'd get back to "Steeler football" (running the ball and playing hard defense). What does this add up to? An above average season from Duce. Plus, by this point, most of the RBs were gone. Yahoo's pre-rankings have all the RBs first. So, if you're not there to draft your team, you're going to end up with 6-8 RBs and only two crappy crappy QBs (like Zack did).
7. Isaac Bruce WR Rams - "But John," you say, "Isaac Bruce is old... he's lost it. Bad pick." Hold on a second. You haven't heard about the offensive rule changes this year. They're enforcing the 'no contact' rule, wherein a defensive player has to keep his hands off the WRs. What does this mean? Quick receivers, like Bruce, will basically be able to run free all around the field. Bruce won't have a Pro Bowl year, those days have past, but he'll have a more productive year than last.
8. Chris Chambers WR Dolphins - Chambers is always one of my sleepers. He's the featured wide-out on a Dolphins team that has no running game. Even when they had Ricky, he was the only player on that team that could catch. With the addition of Marty Booker, will he get more balls or less? Less balls thrown his way, but he might be open more often if Booker's still any good. Less catches, more TDs this year for Chambers.
9. Kevin Jones RB Lions - What's this about John? Well... I had Kevin Jones ranked pretty high on my draft board (draft board? It's dorky... but you're all at home or school or wherever believing that I would do something like that), and he was still around. This pick was more about getting someone so that no one else could have him than anything else. I don't think this is the year for Jones, but I also think he'll do about twice as well as previous Lions running backs. Especially since Nate can't see the games this year. Bwa ha haaa...
Sidenote: I can't imagine being able to see my favorite team (the Packers) every Sunday of my life growing up, and then suddenly not being able to see them. That sucks... and I'm feelin' ya, Nate. I'll honestly tape the Lions/Bears game and send it to you, if you want. I guess I just got used to watching Lions games; and, since they were so bad recently (sorry), even rooting for them. Football is football, and I'm going to love watching it regardless of who I'm watching. It looks like another year of watching Bears' games for me... but I don't mind too much. I'll see two Packers' games and two Lions' games on TV, plus all the Monday Night games and Thanksgiving. And I'll get to root hard-core against the Vikings every week of the season.
10. Tiki Barber RB Giants - I missed that Tiki was still around when I picked Jones. Tiki isn't as good as he used to be, but he's still good for about half a dozen points a week. It sounds like Tom Coughlin wants to use Ron Dayne (Wisconsin!) as a "featured" back. We'll see how long that lasts before the newly svelt Dayne wears out. Barber returns punts and kick-offs and, like I said, is good for about 5 or 6 points per week.
11. Seattle Defense - This was one of my bigger steals in the draft. I don't think anybody knows how good Seattle's defense is going to be this year. Ray Rhodes, as bad as he was as the Packer's head coach, is a very talented defensive coordinator. Keep in mind, Seattle will have four games against the Cardinals and the 49ers, who will both suck big time this year. If the Seahawks can win a game or two on the road, they're in the playoffs deep this year. Too bad Matt Hasselbeck is a little bitch.
12. Adam Vinatieri K Patriots - Mr. Clutch. Need a big-time kick, he's your man. I have a feeling, even though I hate the Patriots (stupid Tom Brady) that they're going to be scoring TONS of points this year. Here's the man kicking the PATs. Nuff said.
13. Rod Smith WR Broncos - Rod Smith is easily one of the most underrated WRs in the league. He seems to always lead the Broncos in receptions, but no one has ever heard of him. Again, I went with consistancy... as Smith will get 5-7 catches a game and somewhere under 100 yards per game (50-70, probably). He's not much for scoring touchdowns, he'll get less than 6 this year, but he'll be a good bench player and maybe a third receiver or I could put him in the WR/RB spot if needs be.
14. Mark Brunell QB Redskins - Forgot about this guy, didn't you? Well... if Joe Gibbs knows one thing, it's how to win with ANY QB. Brunell will win if he can get Gibbs' system... and his numbers won't be spectacular, but they'll be steady. He's a good bencher on my team and maybe even trade bait.
15. Ryan Longwell K Packers - He's been my kicker ever since I started playing FF. This is kind of a traditional pick. And Longwell isn't a bad kicker. He was, for a time, the most accurate kicking in history. Then he changed his kicking form to make kick-offs longer, and that messed him all up. He's still a solid kicker and I will most definitely find it easy to root for him.
16. Atlanta Defense - I was actually going to take the Chicago defense, but they were selected right after Longwell went off the board (nice pick Jason). Then I was going to take Deion Branch, but he was taken right before this pick (nice pick Jason). So I took my next choice: the Atlanta defense. I know the Atlanta defense sucked ass last year, but their offense didn't help them at all. Remember two years ago when they were the first team to ever beat my beloved Packers in Lambeau in the playoffs? Yeah... that's what we're looking for from that defense this year. They've got my former defense coordinator (Ed Donatell) who always had the Packer defense playing tough, physical, let's-get-the-ball-back-cuz-Favre-threw-another-interception football. Atlanta might be right up near the top in take-aways this year.
17. Green Bay Defense - Like the Longwell selection, the Green Bay defense is WAY easy to root for, and something of a traditional pick for me. That's basically it. The Packers' defense doesn't stop anybody, but they will get a few INTs and some defensive TDs. *shrug* I like mah defense, what can I say?
18. Donald Driver WR Packers - Oddly enough, the featured receiver of the Packers' offense went 11 rounds below the second receiver (Javon Walker). While I think Walker will have a break-through season this year (it being his third season), Driver is still the 'go-to' guy in Green Bay. He'll ride my bench much of the season, however, unless he can prove he's better than some of the other guys I've got.
19. Kyle Boller QB Ravens - I think this was an awesome pick near the end of the draft. No one knows how good this kid could be this year. Most people are talking Super Bowl for the Ravens, which means Boller will have to put up some above average numbers. I see this as a "no one else can get him" pick, as well as potential trade bait, if Boller's having a good year.
20. Dallas Clark TE Colts - This was Mr. Irrelivant of the FF draft. The last player drafted was Dallas Clark. Why did I draft him? 1) to back-up Gonzalez at TE, and 2) trade-bait. Clark is better than any of the TEs left out there... and he's probably better than some of the TEs who got drafted ahead of him. Besides, Peyton seems to be getting more and more comfortable with Dallas, particularly in the red zone... so look for Dallas to get about 6 TDs this season. And look for me to try to trade him the week after he gets two TDs in a game (it'll happen).

Update of August 23-24
Monday morning (the 23rd) I spent waiting for the batch freezer calibrator. Hey... does that sound familiar? Like something I had to do Wednesday and Friday of last week? Yeah... well I rescheduled the appointment for Monday. I waited all morning, as the appointment was for the first thing in the morning... and kept waiting, and waiting... and I wrote something that I've already posted on my blog about that whole experience.
At any rate, while I was waiting for the batch freezer dude, Sysco came. They had a whole load of small boxes for us... intelligently referred to as "smallwares". I don't order smallwares, the ADs do... so I didn't know what we got in until I looked through it all. Nate, the AD, was there and he told me everything we had gotten and helped me to know what we still needed. Boy howdy was that fun! Huh? Fun! You heard me, fun!!!
And, as soon as everyone seemed to be doing what they were supposed to, the health inspector finally came. He was just some dude with an American flag hat, and he didn't seem as thorough as I thought he'd be. He just needed to see the few documents I heard he needed to see and he walked through the store with me telling me to get things done that I knew needed to be done, and that was it. We passed the health inspection. Sweet, huh?
So sweet, in fact, that Stephen (the manager of the North store) and I got a UHaul and we used it to move a shitload of boxes from Wells to North. We had to move all these boxes because I purchased a LOT of stuff for the North Avenue store about a month in advance (because of all the delays to the opening).
So that happened, and we figured since we had a truck, we might as well go desk shopping. So I got to drive a UHaul on the street of Chicago (fun, as you might expect) from the new store to Office Max. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Stephen to death, but he asks a LOT of questions. And he's also not very sure of himself... so, even after he found a desk he liked and I said it was okay and in our price range (I again felt like mah dad) he kept looking at other desks. What a goof! We ended up just dropping the desk off at the store because I had my writing class that night.

My writing Level 4 class was in a different room Monday night. It's odd, but you don't notice how much that kind of thing effects you unless you really pay attention to it. You get used to writing in a certain space... but then you go into a different space and everything about writing seems foreign. Regardless of my digression, we didn't spend a lot of time writing. I had a couple of my scripts read and we went over what worked and what didn't. It was a fairly productive class, even though it was only four of us and the space was alien.

Hey... today is Albion's first day of classes. I just want to wish everyone good luck this year.

Tuesday morning (the 24th) was spent at the new store. Since we finally passed the health inspection, we were able to start pretending to actually get things done. I showed up at about 10:40 am, 40 minutes later than I was supposed to have. It didn't matter because I was the first one there. Nate, the AD, showed up a few minutes later. Nate seemed fixated on getting lots of people (he wanted 100) to the North Avenue store to make all sorts of stuff happen there. Whoops! Can't get you 100 people, but I know I count as at least a dozen people.
But I didn't count as a dozen people when Josh and I attempted to put the desk (purchased yesterday) together. He and I, honestly, spent at least an hour working on putting the desk together. Why so much time? I think we were both really tired and weren't really paying attention the first time we put it together. We paid attention the second time, though.
From the gratuitously long desk assembly, we proceeded to the fantastically awesome job of cleaning all of the brand new pans, spades, knives, and cambros. This was made more awesome when we saw that there were stickers on most of those items and that Josh had absentmindedly tossed them into the sink without looking. Wet stickers are both easy and complicated to unstick.
While we were cleaning literally every piece in the store, Sysco came with our initial food order. This wasn't a huge deal, but it meant that I would spend the next couple hours makin' ice cream (which I haven't done in a long time). This has nothing to do with anything, I guess I'm just happy that after all this time I'm still good at something I used to do all the time. Let's hope other things are like that. ZING! What? I was talking about jumping rope? I've got nothing.
Nothing except for a run to CostCo with Josh! He had never been there before, so I showed him the ropes (see how I bring it back to rope? I'm brilliant!). We were getting the initial candy order for the store, which is a LOT of candy. We actually got up to the register and had to start saying what we needed to put back to get it under the amount of money we had. It was all very chaotic. So chaotic, in fact, that we ended up getting about 8 boxes of Butterfinger for free. The woman didn't notice, and we didn't notice until we were out the door. I guess this makes me an immoral person, but I was honestly too tired and kind of happy that we were getting something for free after all the money we dump into that store. I'm going to Hell... who's coming with me?
Josh did, because he didn't care either. And we proceeded to run to Wells to get more shit from the basement for the new store. Then, with candy and shit in hand, we went back to the North Avenue store.
Remember we had been cleaning all the new stuff? Well all that new stuff makes a whole lot of new waste. And that new waste goes into a dumpster. Old waste goes into dumpster... all kinds of waste goes into the dumpster! And, since we've got so much new junk that needed to be thrown away and only one dumpster, someone had to make more room. Guess who that was? Yep... I spent some time jumping into a dumpster. I climbed up into the dumpster and used my large man-weight to compress all kinds of boxes, ice cream mix waste, and cleaning products. It wasn't bad to dump into the dumpster, but let us keep this chore in mind for later in my post, shall we?
After playing in the dumpster, I was hungry (gross, yet funny transition). The group of us cleaning at North all went to dinner at Chipotle. Chipotle is awesome!
After dinner, I had to run back to Wells to get even more shit. This time I took Adam with me. While on our way to the store, Andrea called me. She proceeded to tell me a story of earlier today. She started this story by saying how much she hates who she's become... then she talked about who she was in the process of getting a facial and was on the phone yelling. This was the extent of her terrible story... that she was yelling on the phone while getting a facial. Oh, poor facial :( Do you remember the time I was standing in a dumpster? Let's not compare days... I pretty quickly ended the phone conversation... and proceeded to have a terrible time trying to get to sleep because I was so angry at how out of touch she's become.