In my quest to relieve my life of the boredom that can sometimes be felt when you sit at home, alone, night after night, by yourself, with no one around...to relieve that boredom I have found a few meetup groups. My first experience with a meetup group was with scrabble, but I have found several more that do other social things. Some of these groups have trivia nights at area restaurants. I have attended several of these gatherings.
I went to one such trivia gathering last night. My team consisted of twelve people on several tables pushed together. We got second place. However, the three women seated closest to me were all married. And the closest single woman to me had a laugh that made me want to cover my ears, not that it would have kept me from hearing that loud piercing shriek. She kept trying to flirt with the guy next to me, but he really wasn't having any part of it. Another single lady at our large table was wearing a t-shirt that read "legalize gay", so I'm guessing she is out.
My food was horrible. I didn't realize a burger could actually be bad. Charred on the outside, raw on the inside, seasoned with some brine solution, stacked with the sourest pickles I've ever eaten and the bitterest onions I've ever had, topped with bacon cooked longer than the pig even lived - it all made for a terrible combination. I asked twice and never received any mustard, so I squirted some of the watery ketchup from the table onto it so that I could resolve the rumbling in my stomach.
The restaurant was very noisy. Unless you were blessed with a terribly loud and high pitched voice, it was hard for me to hear you. I had to lean forward and read the lips of the woman seated directly across from me in order to talk to her. I did find out she has a 6 year old granchild and a 10 year old daughter and she expressed a desire for more children. I hope she wasn't too offended when I told her a woman shouldn't have to get out her reading glasses every time she needed to change her kid's diaper.
For some reason, our table of twelve dwindled down to six by the end of the trivia competition. After the woman in front of me left, another woman slid down into her chair. Then as the second woman attempted to leave, she knocked over a tall, narrow glass half full of gin and tonic right into my lap. Fortunately I still have lightning fast reflexes and was able to jump out of the way or I would have looked like I should have worn a diaper myself. As it turned out, I only looked like I dribbled a little, which sometimes happens anyway when a guy gets over forty.
Then I got to drive home. Yay me!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Where have I been?
Getting a divorce, for those of you who didn't know already. I just needed to put that fact out there to explain some of the future posts I may write.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Snowpocalypse 2011 - Entry 1
January 9, 2010
At approximately 8 p.m., the first drizzles of sleet begin to fall outside my home. I have only been home about ten minutes as I finished my weekly journey to the laundromat. I had bought a few cans of soup, but not many other things to sustain me through what I assume will be a solitary snow day.
The snow piles up quickly. In just a few hours, there seems to be about six inches of snow piled up on the ground outside. I do not go outside to measure it though. I stay up late watching the snow, knowing that I will not have to work tomorrow. After midnight, a tow truck comes down the street with my neighbor's car. I watch as the tow truck tires spin as it struggles to maneuver into position at my neighbor's driveway.
January 10, 2010
All schools are canceled. I sleep late. In the afternoon, kids start sledding down the icy hill that was the street in front of my house. Others explore the snow in four wheelers. I watch as two four wheel drive vehicles successfully leave up the street. Later on I watch as a couple of vehicles do not make it up the hill and start slowly rotating around. They complete the rotation and go back down the hill to their homes.
I get out the bread to make a sandwich, but it is moldy. I decided to tear the bread into small pieces and toss it outside for the birds and squirrels to eat. I am amazed as each piece bounces on the snow and slides to a stop.
I am alone in my home, save for the dog. She refuses to go out into the snow. After several attempts, she finally does go down the three steps and there she stops, refusing to move. I go down to get her. I notice that the snow has a half inch thick crust of ice on it.
I am not feeling well and go to bed at halftime of the NCAA BCS championship game between Auburn and Oregon. I wake a few hours later with extreme pain in my ear. There is no pain medicine to be found in the house, but someone tells me to try a heating pad. I find a hot water bottle and sleep with it on my ear. It makes it tolerable for me to sleep.
January 11, 2010
I get a phone call that one of my employees made it into the office. Not that there is anything to do there. The economy has really affected our business. We essentially waste most of the work day doing nothing, because there is nothing to do.
Later I spy a blue jay eating the bread I had thrown out the day before.
I decide to make myself oatmeal for breakfast. It is old-fashioned oatmeal, but I make it in the microwave anyway. It turns out good. Who needs instant? I did discover that I do not have any regular sugar in the house though. I used some brown sugar. Oddly enough, I discovered 8 bottles of sprinkles.
After seeing a picture of a facebook friend shoveling the snow on his driveway, I decide to do the same. Mind you, I do not have a snow shovel. I find the best technique is to turn the shovel on its side and scrape the snow to the edge of the path I am creating.
At approximately 8 p.m., the first drizzles of sleet begin to fall outside my home. I have only been home about ten minutes as I finished my weekly journey to the laundromat. I had bought a few cans of soup, but not many other things to sustain me through what I assume will be a solitary snow day.
The snow piles up quickly. In just a few hours, there seems to be about six inches of snow piled up on the ground outside. I do not go outside to measure it though. I stay up late watching the snow, knowing that I will not have to work tomorrow. After midnight, a tow truck comes down the street with my neighbor's car. I watch as the tow truck tires spin as it struggles to maneuver into position at my neighbor's driveway.
January 10, 2010
All schools are canceled. I sleep late. In the afternoon, kids start sledding down the icy hill that was the street in front of my house. Others explore the snow in four wheelers. I watch as two four wheel drive vehicles successfully leave up the street. Later on I watch as a couple of vehicles do not make it up the hill and start slowly rotating around. They complete the rotation and go back down the hill to their homes.
I get out the bread to make a sandwich, but it is moldy. I decided to tear the bread into small pieces and toss it outside for the birds and squirrels to eat. I am amazed as each piece bounces on the snow and slides to a stop.
I am alone in my home, save for the dog. She refuses to go out into the snow. After several attempts, she finally does go down the three steps and there she stops, refusing to move. I go down to get her. I notice that the snow has a half inch thick crust of ice on it.
I am not feeling well and go to bed at halftime of the NCAA BCS championship game between Auburn and Oregon. I wake a few hours later with extreme pain in my ear. There is no pain medicine to be found in the house, but someone tells me to try a heating pad. I find a hot water bottle and sleep with it on my ear. It makes it tolerable for me to sleep.
January 11, 2010
I get a phone call that one of my employees made it into the office. Not that there is anything to do there. The economy has really affected our business. We essentially waste most of the work day doing nothing, because there is nothing to do.
Later I spy a blue jay eating the bread I had thrown out the day before.
I decide to make myself oatmeal for breakfast. It is old-fashioned oatmeal, but I make it in the microwave anyway. It turns out good. Who needs instant? I did discover that I do not have any regular sugar in the house though. I used some brown sugar. Oddly enough, I discovered 8 bottles of sprinkles.
After seeing a picture of a facebook friend shoveling the snow on his driveway, I decide to do the same. Mind you, I do not have a snow shovel. I find the best technique is to turn the shovel on its side and scrape the snow to the edge of the path I am creating.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Forget Failures
Forget failures. Forget mistakes. Forget everything but what you're going to do now... And do it.
A friend of mine recently shared this saying with me. Forgetting my mistakes is something I have had a hard time doing. Instead of moving on, I want to dwell on those mistakes and sulk. Instead of getting back up and trying again, I want to just lie there and do nothing. Instead of being defined by my successes, I choose to identify with my failures. And in doing so I have chained myself emotionally to an imaginary cell that prevents me from moving forward to accomplish the tasks before me.
A friend of mine recently shared this saying with me. Forgetting my mistakes is something I have had a hard time doing. Instead of moving on, I want to dwell on those mistakes and sulk. Instead of getting back up and trying again, I want to just lie there and do nothing. Instead of being defined by my successes, I choose to identify with my failures. And in doing so I have chained myself emotionally to an imaginary cell that prevents me from moving forward to accomplish the tasks before me.
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