Jesus, it's the end of October already.  But at the same time the month has seemed to go by really slow, so I guess it's a bit of a catch-22.

I'm wondering how "star trek and speedos" can be one of the search strings that shows up as the most popular for finding this site.  How many people out there are interested in "star trek and speedos," and what kind of sick person is that?  Do you really want to see Spock and Kirk running around in speedos?  Or even worse, Worf running around in speedos?  It's a scary though that I won't spend anymore time on.

Turret's Girl returned after being sick yesterday (a blessing in disguise) and today she fell asleep while having lunch and was sprawled out across the conference room table.  I went in and dropped a book on the floor.

Moe's starting to feel slightly better - so that has got my spirits up.  I think we're going out to have dinner with Brendan tonight - he's home from college for the weekend.

10-28-03

I feel like Charlie in Willie Wonka's chocolate factory.  I received the "golden ticket" from Treasure Island in Las Vegas to join some slot tournament (how skilled do you need to be for that - let me push the button) and three free nights.  It's in December, so I doubt I'd be able to go.  But Vegas sure sounds good right now...

I went into work with such a positive attitude and within 30 minutes, I had been smacked so many times, that I just felt like crawling back home.  But somehow, I managed to keep a good attitude throughout the day, even as I watched Turret's Girl trip on Dayquil and Indian Engineer girl work on her resume.  I took it all in stride, even the denial of my request for the day off for the day after Christmas.  We'll just see how they like me tomorrow.

I will get that day off.  Especially since I am no longer the least senior one there.

10-27-03

Moe's still under the weather - he basically slept today - I feel so bad for him - he hates being sick (don't we all), but he really hates it and he hates doctors on top of that.

I caught Indian Engineer Girl working on her resume in the office today and announced it to everyone (I even took a picture of her working on it with the office digital camera - that was the icing on the cake).  I thought she was going to run into the bathroom and cry.  It was good.  Then I'm stuck doing Turret's Girl's job because surprise, surprise, one person cannot print 3000 things out, fold them and mail them all in a week.  So I'm doing it with her as is half the office.  8 hours of folding letters and sealing envelopes - thank god for the little wetting stick thing we have, because I'd have no tongue left.

A shitty week money wise - paid the bills and surprise, there's nothing left until the next paycheck.  Was reduced to rolling coins tonight to find some money for the rest of the week - and it was a surprising amount of money in coins when they fill up an old coffee can.  At least I can get lunch now for the rest of the week - no frivolities though.  So should anyone be able to get pennies from heaven, send them over my way.

10-26-03

Moe is still fighting some sort of bug - felt really bad today - at least tomorrow he should hear from the doctor and see if there's anything that he can do to feel better.  As it is, he's at work now feeling awful.

I on the other hand cleaned after yesterday's party and then became a vegetable in front of the TV for the rest of the day.  I haven't watched that much TV in ages.  I think that I saw at least 4 of the new "I love the 80's" shows on VH1 and then caught Charmed before I headed down and visited Moe.

Of course, there was some bill paying (and hand wringing) in there and I did get some other things done - like getting one of the a/c's out of the window and into storage (nothing like baby steps).

I think I've got to be in the office all week...eek...

10-25-03

The party was excellent...and the house looks amazing...Moe did a great job putting it together.  We had quite a crowd and had a great time.  Brendan has got blonde hair now.  Moe's sister arrived as "Eve," complete with the body suit and fig-leaves.

10-24-03

It appears that my winning streak at Mohegan is over.  Sharon and I made a quick visit last night and nothing, I mean, nothing was winning.  At least I got two dozen Crispy Creme Donuts.  Now there's something to be proud of.  They'll make a good snack at tomorrow's party.

10-23-03

Oh God, she was back and all I heard was hacking coughs, sneezes, blowing noses and sniffling the entire day.  And because she's been sick so much, she hasn't been able to get anything done and guess who had to do it with Lorraine?  Yup, I won the trophy for that one.

Each time Turret's Girl would go to the bathroom (which occurs on average, every 20 minutes), Lorraine and I would grab the lysol and spray down her cube and everywhere she had been.  She'd come back and she'd be like "what's the smell," and I would just smile and go "smell, what smell, I don't smell anything."

No office tomorrow - all day meeting which is better than being there.

Went grocery shopping with Moe tonight and now it's off to bed.

10-22-03

Turret's Girl was sent home yesterday because she had contagious open sores and was told not to come back until she is no longer contagious.  I have no idea what this disease is (leprosy anyone?) and I am just happy that she is gone.  We're taking bets on whether or not she will try to return tomorrow without a note since she has no time to take off and this is coming out of her check.

Dinner with Sharon and Moe at Joe's American Grill which is an incredibly overrated restaurant - I personally think it sucks.  But all the "cool" people go because it's hip and happening - blow me, the food is bad, the service is bad and it's not worth waiting 45 minutes to get a table.

10-20-03

See it is biology...

10-19-03

Still not feeling quite right...who knows...I guess it could be allergies since Claritin does seem to work.  But I would think that everything would be dead by now.

After getting brunch with Brian and Garrett, I spent the rest of the day catching up on chores that were missed over vacation, like groceries.  I was in the kitchen trying to think of something to make for dinner and just about everything was empty.  So an exciting trip to the grocery store ensued (it must be that everyone gets groceries on Sundays because the place was packed).  I have no desire to be in a rat race when grocery shopping.  I especially liked watching the soccer moms with kids in tow trying to speed shop, while talking on the cell phone and attempting to keep the kids in order.

Not looking forward to a full week in the office, especially now that it appears any field work it caputs for a while.  The only plus is that I'll be down on the Cape for the day on Friday - so at least it's only 4 days in the office, instead of five and Friday is a payday so that makes it a bit better.

10-18-03

I sure hope I'm not coming down with what Moe had over the last week.  Woke up this morning feeling like crap and spent most of the day in bed sleeping and that's very unusual for me.  Tried to accomplish a few things (we did get our passport forms to complete in the morning) and I did update some links and put in some new pictures here and there on the site.  But then I crashed and have been sleeping from about 1 to about 7 and now I'm up still feeling tired, but I can't lay in bed anymore.  Too much time in bed for a change I guess.

Waiting for Moe to get back from the wedding and Justine called and wants to do something - so now that I'm awake after sleeping most of the day - I'll probably go out with Moe when he gets home.

10-17-03

Yes, the pictures from the trip are up - so don't even try to belittle me on that.

I hate my job - it took less than 3 hours back in the office to make me come to that startling revelation.  I think it was after i was lectured on how I earned too much comp time and from now on, there was no OT and no comp time.  Basically I have (as have all staff) been banished to the office and are now unable to travel to meetings and stuff.  They took the one thing that I enjoyed about this job and took it away from me.

Spent the evening shopping for Moe's dress clothes with him for the wedding that he is going to tomorrow.  I think tomorrow morning we're going to the post office to try to figure out how to renew my passport and how to get him one.  There's a chance my Mom will be taking the whole family to Europe or Iceland next spring and we want to be ready (actually she instructed us to get the passports as soon as possible).  I already have one, but it's so old that it's scary.  I was 13 when I went to Italy and the picture, well, you can just imagine.  Don't think I'll be scanning that and putting it up anytime soon.

10-16-03

Back from our vacation - we ended up visiting the Catskills, the Adirondacks and the White Mountains - all in a week.  It was a lot of fun and we've got plenty of pictures once I get them all touched up and online.  Hopefully tomorrow evening unless I get sidetracked.  The weekend should be fairly quiet, so I should definitely be able to get them done then.

Now it's back to the grind tomorrow - I'll be back in the office after a week and a half absence.  I'm starting to dread what my inbox is going to look like.  Add to that my voicemail and email.  But with all this relaxation, I should be able to make it through a day because then it will be the weekend again.

10-9-03

I just may be able to top an 11 hour workday - how about a 6 hour meeting in a room with no windows?  Yes and add to that the stimulating discussion surrounding 4 project alternatives that all pretty much suck and each part of the client group has their own agenda for...you get six hours of grandstanding that no one enjoys, especially when you could give a shit on which one gets picked.

Oh yes, such joy that I'm not sure how I could be any happier.

Of course, that put me on 128 in the middle of rush hour when I was supposed to be going to the pharmacy here to pick up my refill.  Thus I had to drive real fast and take the Pike, which I generally don't do - but in this case, I checked the traffic and it was open and so I managed to get to the pharmacy without too much trouble before they closed.

Now I'm contemplating dinner - should I cook or should I go and get something?  Moe's closing so it's just me and I am in this quandary.  Twice I have tried to start cooking only to decide that I don't want to cook.  Especially now that's it's already a quarter to 7, I really should decide something.  Maybe I'll just get something when I go and visit Moe.

Starting tomorrow night - Moe and I will be on vacation (a well deserved and earned one I might add) in NY for the week - be back on Friday.  Look for new galleries, pictures and stories when we get back.  Plus next, next Saturday we're having a party - so even more pictures.

10-8-03

No matter how you slice it, an 11 hour work day sucks - even if you are in the field the entire time.  Tired, tired and more tired.  Tomorrow I get to sleep in at least for a late meeting.

Off to go shopping with Sharon and Moe - we are looking for Halloween stuff for our upcoming Halloween party.

10-7-03

Turret's Girl spent the day on the internet and Little Indian Engineer Girl walked in dragging her leg, claiming her ankle hurt and left early, even though she has no sick time.  It was a typical day in the office.

I'm glad I don't have to go back for another week and half.  It's back to the field for the rest of the week and then vacation next week.

Went out to dinner with Sharon, Amy and Chrissy for dinner.  It was good and I finally got to pull out the leather jacket - I can't wait to start wearing it again now that it's cold enough.  I love jackets.

10-6-03 - I had too...this is just too funny to leave out...

10-6-03

I wonder how many other gay 26 year olds enjoy The Mama's and the Papa's - the though crossed my mind as they came up on random just a minute ago with Age of Aquarius.  Even college people wondered when they heard it coming from my room.  Oh well, I guess we develop an affinity for music we were raised on and since my Mom loved them, I learned to love them.  I even saw them in concert (minus Mama Cass of course) in Albany one year.

Another day out of the office - but I just found out that I've got to go in tomorrow.  The work in the field is getting backed up and I don't need to go to a new location to supervise any new work and there's no use in me going back to sites I've already been at, so I'll be a cubical denizen tomorrow.  I wonder if Turret's Girl will be in to drive me crazy on my first day back.

Winter is really coming - there was frost this morning when I was out in Southbridge.  It was freaking cold - gloves and a jacket weather.

But you know what the best part of the fall is?  I can wear my jackets.  Moe will roll his eyes, but I believe that you can never have too many jackets (much as Patsy said that you can never have enough hats, gloves and shoes in Ab Fab).  I probably have at least 20 different jackets (fleece, canvas, leather, on and on...) so I can wear a different jacket with each outfit or tailor the jacket to the occasion that I am wearing it to (people were probably starting to wonder where my gay traits were - they're in full bloom with jackets).  I love my jackets and the fall is the best time for them since in the middle of winter, all you want to wear is a heavy coat and that's just not fun.

I wonder how long it is going to take before people realize that people are just gay and that it's not like we wake up one morning and say "I feel gay today."  Hopefully stuff like this helps.

I think Moe and I are going out to dinner tonight - I called him at work and said "do you want me to make dinner or do you want to go out," and he replied "bed" and I asked again and he said, "eat out."  So I'm guessing he doesn't want to be bothered with eating at home after work.

I did get chinese the other night and it was so good!

10-5-03

I haven't seen any help with the ac power cord issue :(

Moe and I spent the morning having breakfast and shopping before he had to go to work, afterwards I went grocery shopping.  I often wonder why people get so worked up at the grocery store.  It's almost like being part of a roller derby or something with people running around and crap.  I must have bumped into at least 5 different people and been pushed out of the way at least twice when I was picking out my two packs of chicken breasts that were buy one, get one free.  I guess the people thought that maybe there wasn't enough chicken in the world and that the store would run out.  As it was, I got my chicken and I got out of there in one piece.

Then I made a mighty fine dinner before dropping down and visiting Moe. 

I'm trying to decide whether or not I enjoy Charmed this new season.  Last season lost me - I liked the first few seasons and then it just started to get weird, with the kid, the "mysterious" guy from the future and all that jazz.  Though now it seems like they are just having fun on the episodes and they are kind of funny.  Who knows...it's not like Sunday nights have other great options to watch.  The Trading Spaces with 100,000 dollars to spend has been pretty lame so far.

More field work this week and not a single step into the office!  I have got a meeting I've got to pull myself out of the field for, but I won't have to go in.  YES!  You can't even begin to understand how great not being there is making me feel.  It will give me enough juice to get through working there for a while.

10-4-03 (aw fuck!)

Can anyone help me figure out where to pick up an ac adapter cord for a Microtek ScanMaker 4800?  I lost the cord while we were reorganizing after Alicia left and now I've got this scanner sitting there that is useless because I can't get any power to it.  I tried radio shack with a generic thing and they said that adapters for the amperage and voltage that it needed, weren't available (I have no idea if they were telling the truth).  So basically I need to the get the official cord for the scanner, or I have to buy a whole new scanner setup just because I lost the power cord.  Now that would suck.  If you know something, leave a note here.

10-4-03

This is what I love (and miss) about the places I don't live anymore - this is a small stream in the Catskills back in the woods a ways that I found while bushwhacking with my Dad last weekend (and a might fine picture that I took I might add).  First off there are no forests in eastern Massachusetts (the Blue Hills do not constitute a wilderness in my book) and second off, since it's so damn flat and sandy here, there's no streams like this.  Oh well, the curse of living where you make a lot of money.  I guess you can't find well paying jobs out in the sticks.  Plus I know Moe would never enjoy the rural life.

I hate laundry...I have spent the better part of the afternoon folding and putting away clothes.  Not only that, but I have way too many clothes.  I went through t-shirts and even after putting probably 10 or so aside for goodwill, I still have too many to fit in my dresser.  What is a poor gay man to do?  I mean, I'm practically crying with each shirt I throw in the goodwill bag, reminiscing on my experiences with that t-shirt.  There were some, I just couldn't part way with, even if after all these years and washing they have shrunk to an unwearable size (since I may lose enough weight to fit into them).

Moe had to work today so I've been left to my own devices for the day.  Amazingly, it didn't involve a trip to Mohegan Sun or a shopping spree at a home improvement store.

We just got word from the landlord (after 3 months) that we can go ahead and paint the apartment.  Nothing like a quick turnaround in getting back to you.  So now I have to go to Lowes and figure out what kind of paint I want and what colors, and then tell my brother down in NY to get it, since he works at Lowes down there and can get me a discount on the paint (hey, every little bit helps).  Then of course it's not just paint, but we need brushes, rollers, tape, compound to fill the holes and all that jazz - so I'm sure that's going to be a bit of money after all - but it will be worth it to get rid of the bare white walls of the apartment now.

I have a hankering for chinese food tonight and I don't know why.  All day I have been thinking - chinese would be good for dinner.  So now I have to convince Moe when he gets home from work that it's chinese that we want for dinner.

10-3-03

Amazing how much more tired I am after days of field work than being in the office - but it feels so much better than the lazy feeling you get when you get out of the office.  I'm actually tired for a reason and it makes me feel good.

This is too funny - check out the Trading Spaces Drinking Game.

Moe's going down to visit Brendan and J&W and I'm going to bed early tonight so I can spend Saturday doing things.

10-2-03

The world is filled with some really stupid people.  I had to deal with the public once again today and as usual, it was wonderful.  I often wonder if people were raised in barns by cows because that is their intelligence level.  I was asked today if I would drink a cup of herbicides.  I obviously said "no" but that I would drink from a 300 foot deep well when the herbicides were sprayed over 100 feet from the cap of the well.  I just can't stand stupidity.  Plus now I need to find $300 to $400 in the budget for a water test on her well to prove that it doesn't have anything in it.  Yeah, let me just pull that out of my pocket you bitch.

At least it wasn't the stupidity in the office, that I can deal with even less.

So I got to Orange bright and early at 7am to it being completely socked in the fog - then the sun came out - and then the clouds came back and poured.  At one point I thought it was going to start snowing, it was so cold when it was raining.

Thank god I can just relax tonight - have to be out early tomorrow morning too and then a weekend of pure relaxation.  I've got nothing planned and don't want to do a single thing that doesn't strike my fancy.

Got the new featherbed cover on top of the mattress last night, how did the two of us ever sleep on that mattress without it?  It feels just so comfy I want to jump into bed right now and cuddle up.

10-1-03

Well I made it through another day at the office only because it was my last day in the office for over two weeks.  I can't believe that I don't have to see the inside of that place for so long.  I'll be out in the field for the next week and a half and then the week after that, on vacation.

Went over to dinner at Sharon's to see the circus that is her family and they did not disappoint.  I liken it to a real live viewing of the Griswold family.  Got to get to bed early - I've got to be in Western Mass. at 7 tomorrow morning - have to leave the house at 5:30 - now that's damn early.