Almost five in the morning and I decide to post a brief blog. Why? I am a goofy guy and this will be my last free week before the holiday work week ramps up. Where I get to work Fridays and Saturdays and a company Christmas party and a physical inventory thrown in for good measure.

Haven’t started Christmas shopping and seeing how it’s a short list, one day I can knock it out.

Sports Info: The Cleveland Browns won three in a row and have one more game than they did last year. And if the mathematical Gods smile on the Browns, gasp, they might and I mean might make the play-offs. If they win out right and they get a whole lot of help. The Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals lost. Still trying to figure out how they all lost. Especially the Ravens…

Not much happening here. Just dealing with work at the holidays. And waiting for the snow that may or may not get here. Not that I’m complaining. Driving in snow is not a problem. Dealing with the other idiots who forgot how to drive in snow, not so much.

Still haven’t decided on what to buy for myself. Am leaning towards books on Amazon. The gadgets are fine and all but a book I own and don’t have to turn in is better. I may hit a local used CD/game exchange to buy some super cheap CDs. The library system doesn’t carry the hard to find music I like. And I like to spend a few hours looking for the music I like. There are some glaring gaps in my music library. I mean, how do I NOT have any ELO??? Sigh…

Still eating home made bean soup. So you can guess I’m popping Beano like candy less I clear out rooms…

Still watching Arrow. But Last Resort got canceled. I may down load the show to my PSP. Am now watching the new season of Top Chef and Iron Chef America Redemption. I may power through the shows I have DDR during the Christmas break.

Time to call it a night. Almost 5:15 and my alarm is set for 10:00 am. Good thing I don’t have to be ready to go until 12 noon. Good thing I have some Diet Mountain Dew on ice at work. That and the last of the bean soup.

Have a quiet and happy week. And try and relax some. What’s the point in being stressed??? If the idiots in Washington D.C. don’t care, why should we???

Ciao…

@sleekpunk

I am computer illiterate so part of this post will be truncated.

My Xangan name comes from two places: Zoz came from a teen book I read way back in the early 1980′s called Video War. One of the characters used Zoz for his high score name and 36 was how old I was at the time when I first came to Xanga and the people I used to follow here are almost gone.

I’ve been here off and on for over 10 years.

Only one account. I was at another blog site but came back here. More fun here.

I haven’t changed my name. I rather like Zoz. I have Zoz in my e-mail address.

The people I try and follow (I am clueless around computers. I started out on Webtv and dearly miss it) are the people where I leave comments. And I wish I could be more frequent visiting their sites. I do read them via my subscription e-mail from Xanga. They are good writers and they are awesome people. And you know who you are.

And other things…

The Cleveland Browns won two in a row. Still trying to figure out how The Baltimore Ravens lost to The Pittsburgh Steelers who have a back-up quarter back.

Still no snow on the ground and I haven’t EVEN begun my Christmas Shopping yet.

No word on my work schedules for Christmas week/New Years week.

It’s after 3:00 am and it’s wayyyyyyyyy past my bed time.

Have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my last free weekends before the holiday season kicks in. Seeing how Christmas falls on a Tuesday, our work schedule is going to get thrown out the window. I should know soon what’s going on. The way things are looking, the Saturday before Christmas and the Saturday after Christmas I’ll be working throw in a physical inventory and it gets real interesting. 

The temps are in the 50′s here and for the next few days. Waiting for the shoe to drop/hammer to fall on North Eastern Ohio. Until Lake Erie freezes, the potential for a snowy winter is there.

The Cleveland Browns are going to be on The Travel Channel next Tuesday at 10 pm on a show called Road Tested. May watch it. Just to see what the show is about.

While driving home from work last night, heard a cover of Herman and The Hermits song “Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good” by a band called “The Bird and The Bee”. Stopped off at the gas station and checked out their video on youtube (what did we do before smart phones???) and saw an amazing cover of the band doing Hall and Oates “I Can’t Go For That”. I quite liked it. It’s a funky version and they’re a funky band. They’re worth a listen.

Seeing how I love books and am a impulsive person, I picked up a book at Dollar Tree about the Coal Industry and I’m almost through it. It’s by Jeff Goodell. It’s more than a few years but it’s informative and while reading it, I was a little self conscious about the light I was using being powered by coal. I picked the book up due to the ties my family in West Virgina.

At the end of February, I’ll find out if the compression socks are doing their job and if the swelling in my legs have gone down. My left leg I have problems with but the doctor wants to wait for three months.

A mother in Cleveland reported her son missing Sunday and few days later he’s found dead. And now the mother is in jail for his death. That in it of it’s self is typical but a local radio talk show host did a rant about how the “family” is not present and did a race rant. And I guess the father, who isn’t married to the mother, is a bit of a mess.

Well, gotta go for now. Washing clothes and do outside chores this weekend before the weather turns bad. And enjoy the three day weekend.

Be safe out there and relax before the holiday season/winter season starts…

Didn’t go out to do my shopping. Will either buy gift cards or order on-line. I did buy two SD memory cards. The 32GB sold out. Ended up with a 8GB and a 16GB for my MP3 player and Smart Phone respectively.

On the bright side, Cincinnati, OSU and Cleveland football teams won. Some female local TV reporter, who’s from Pittsburgh, made a smart-ass comment on her Facebook page on how The Steelers gave The Browns a win. Yeah, professional football players, who lost two quarterbacks, GAVE a win to the other team.

Larry Hagman died Saturday from a long battle with Cancer. The BEST TV villain ever.

December is almost here and there’s no snow on the ground. And I am not complaining. Here’s to hoping for a less than normal snow fall this year. But with Mother Nature being the crazy person she is, bets are off…

Watched John Carter and Cars II this weekend. Wondering why I never watched them before. Am re-thinking a Christmas gift to myself. May get a 32in LCD TV after Christmas when the sales are better. Along with that PSP III that I’ve had my eye on…

Who’s going to play the Powerball this week??? Well, $400 million+ is a good reason to at least put down $2.00 for a chance. Hell, I’d kill for quarter of it. Not that greedy. So, yeah. I’m playing.

Wearing compression socks to help with the swelling in my legs. Not covered by my insurance so another $100+ out of my pocket. Which reminds me I need to buy a new pair of shoes soon. Ah, the joys of growing older… Not flipping likely

Well, tidy up the bedroom, take a shower and face a new work week…

Have a great and stress free week…

Yeah, it’s been a while since I blogged about anything but when one works in the food service business as I do, holidays have a way of fracking up the work week. Throw super storm Sandy and it’ll take a few weeks for things to get back to what’s called “normal”.

The tree branch that was over twenty feet long was cut up last weekend. It was therapeutic because my home town NFL team lost in over-time. Yeah, the Cleveland Browns stink on ice this year. But this weekend Ohio State Buckeyes play that evil team from Michigan at noon on Saturday. So am hoping OSU can go 12-0. Not bowl bound but anything to play spoiler to any team.

I worked five days last week because of Thanksgiving this week. And I had to work on a Saturday because our Columbus driver doesn’t want to work/deliver on Black Friday. Would have rather have worked on Friday so I could have a decent weekend to get the outside chores done. But as with everything else, life happens when you make other plans. One good thing of working on Saturday was we got some awesome pizza from a place that we deliver to. They catered our (night crew/drivers) “Christmas Party”. Am crossing fingers we can get them to do it again. Oh nuts… That two week period is so going to suck with Christmas falling the way it does this year. It should be an “interesting” work week. It doesn’t happen too often but when it does, it messes things up. And a twice yearly inventory that Christmas week and with all the special orders that have to go out and I’m hoping for little or no screw-ups. Yeah, nothing like the smell of salted cod to clear out the sinuses. And when the they are crated in wooden boxes, splinters are always a problem. One our drivers wife makes awesome pastries and I’ve ordered my “treat” to myself. It’s no Pecan Pie but Nut Horns (I have no idea what they’re really called but dough and fried and sugar can not be all that bad…) Speaking of treats: Note to self: It’s been a month since hitting Taco Bell for their Apple Empanadas. It’s as close to the McDonalds Apple Pies they used to deep fry and damned good.

Watched Myth Busters last Sunday and they tested if eating Turkey puts you to sleep. No, it’s the cubic ton of food that puts you into the coma. Duh… Ease back on the portions, take a walk in between courses and you may be able to not gain as much. Or the calories can be used to deal with Black Friday… Ain’t no way in Gods Green Earth I’m going NO WHERE near a big store. That’s why there’s the internet.

Watched Browncoats Unite: The Ten Year Anniversary on Science Channel. Can not wait if they’ll put it on DVD. Man I miss that show.

Debating if I want a tablet. The size of my smart phone is okay but if I want to do something on Xanga away from the laptop, forget it. So if there is anyone out there with an opinion, I’d like to hear it. It’s my Christmas Gift to myself. Or I may get a PS Vita or a PS III. Dunno yet but I will buy something. Or there is this list of books I want. Decisions Decisions

Well, at least there’s no snow yet in the Cleveland Ohio are yet. After this week, so the forecast says, bets are off.

To those of you out there who read this, Happy Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is well and doesn’t eat too much or get caught in the mess that is Black Friday.

Time for a shower and a brief nap and work one more day to enjoy an four day weekend. Note to self: Need to pick up Diet Mountain Dew for weekend. All out and it’s a rough morning if I don’t get one bottle in me.

Be Safe Out There…

Yeah, three years of peace until the whole flipping political ad war begins again.

Here’s the thing. The President Of The United States Of America gets, at most, eight years and then he’s done. He gets lots of perks that we, as tax payers foot the bill for. The question I have is: Why do people get their undies in a bunch about the President? Here’s a good question: Are there term limits on the Senate or the House Of Representatives? I mean if a guy like Strom Therman can get re-elected and be in his upper 70′s , it begs the question as to who hold the real power in Washington D.C.? Why isn’t that question being asked. I would like to know. 

Man, the family in WV ARE PISSED that Obama won. Okay, I didn’t for vote for the guy or Romney. But I KNEW Obama was going to win. I mean come on. Mitt Romney??? That’s the best the Republicans could come up with? I would have voted for Colin Powell in a heartbeat. But after the mess that George W. left the nation, it was going to be a long haul.

And now the aftermath of the election. Who’s going to be the next moron who’s going to slam the other around in three years. And the mess that’s in D.C. is still there. Gridlock on soooo many levels. And until you find a way to do away with the system that’s in place in D.C., you’re not going to get real change. And now Obama is going to be… What exactly? What’s his goal for the next four years?

And what’s on the horizon for out country? The mess that George W. left us is still there. And the new health care law is there. And what else?

Oh, yeah. Gas prices jumped up almost thirty cents a gallon today.

Wacky weather is in store for the near future. Feeling sorry for the East Coast with that new weather storm heading their way. But it’s been sunny the past few days here and may be able to squeeze the rest of the yard work in before Winter set’s in.

Oh, vacation is about over with. Turkey day is less than three weeks away. Am thinking of getting a foot long turkey sub from Subway. Screw that whole dinner thing and all the dishes that have to get washed.

Well, time to wash dishes speaking of that. Clean the bathroom and call it a night. Read one book last night and have a busy day tomorrow.

In case you missed it, in between the political ads and Hurricane Sandy/Super Storm Sandy, Disney bought ILM from George Lucas for $4 Billion.

So this blog is going to be about him. And why I can’t stand him. And no it’s not about the cash he made from Disney.

It’s about him re-writing history. And trying to steal my childhood memories.

Before Star Wars, Science Fiction movies sucked up the place. Special effects for Sci-Fi movies sucked. And the stories sucked. Most of the good Sci-Fi was on TV and it wasn’t that good either. And with movie scroll Star Wars and damned if I wasn’t hooked. Good story and even better special effects. And what’s not to like. A good bad guys, two characters for comic relief, a roguish like able guy, etc… You cared about these guys. And I dare any of you out there to say they didn’t cheer when the Millenium Falcon came blazing away to save Lukes’ ass. The Empire Strikes Back was even better and Return Of The Jedi was aimed at the kids. Come on, Ewoks? Really?

Fast forward a few years and George Lucas decides to re-release the trilogy with beefed up special effects. And who wouldn’t want to see the best damned Sci-Fi movie again on the big screen??? But the jack-ass that is George Lucas has to screw with my childhood and change the damned franchise for me with one scene. Han Solo is minding his own business and Greedo starts in on him about paying back Jabba The Hut. Then Han decides to shoot Greedo and go on about his business. In George Lucas world, he has Greedo shoot first and miss and THEN Han shoots him stone dead. And if I wasn’t with friends and it was a damned long walk home, I would have left the movie theater. Han Solo became a good guy and his evolution of character was what sold me on the series. And I detested all George Lucas was. I wasn’t going to watch one second of anything else that he re-did. Or anything else he put out in the Star Wars universe. I got tricked into seeing The Phantom Menace. And as long as George has a hand in the direction of the “Franchise”, I want nothing to do with it.

So the speculation on who is doing the new Star Wars movie and what’s going to be about is all over the Sci-Fi ‘verse. And I may want to see the next three movies. Yeah, George is going to be around it but as long as he doesn’t A. Write one fracking word and B. Isn’t the director, I’ll see it. With all the books Star Wars has spawned, I’m sure there’s enough to splice a three picture story line from. And I may get around to watching Star Wars The Animated Series.

I am sure George Lucas didn’t sell the rights of the Star War licence agreements on the stuff from toys to themed product. I may be wrong. I don’t know. He says he’s giving a good chunk of the cash from the sale to charities. It ain’t like he’s going to be broke anytime soon.

So the nerd about things like this is going back to his room. The one with the three foot long Space: 1999 Eagle Transporter hanging up in the air and everything that is Sci-Fi that’s in there. I wish. But it’s pretty to think so.

Well, that’s enough for one day. Going to bed an early hour and sleep for more than five hours. Voting tomorrow and wash a few loads of clothes and who knows what else I’m going to do.

Well, that was an interesting week for us East Coasters and other states. And it’s less than a week before the elections are over with. Can I hear A “Hell Yeah”???

Still can not get over the fact of how much rain north eastern Ohio and not that long ago everyone was talking about how little rain was on the ground. I guess Mother Nature has a way of balancing things out.

If it wasn’t for the fact that not having a back-up generator and needing it for the sump pump and having the basement almost flooded out, it wasn’t that bad. There are others out there who had it way worse. Kinda wished it happened on the weekend. And I am going to look into a back-up generator. Nothing big. Just to keep the sump-pump working.

Here’s the thing. I think this brings to the point that how much we, as a society, is connected to the internet. I still have a battery powered thing called a cassette player/A.M.-F.M Walkman. But think about it. Even as I am on Xanga, when was the last time any one spent time away from their computer/smart phone? Think about that. That and how we need a better way of doing things. Like being prepared for natural disasters. I haven’t forgotten about Katrina and I live in Ohio. And we’re not any better off than we were then. For those of you out there no where near what happened, check out out if you have spare batteries, can food, first aid kit… Hell, a bottle of bleach will solve a number of problems. Or in you car. Have you anything in case you get stranded. With no cell phone service. Simple things that could help you out in case that happens. I’m not talking about making fire with two sticks or any of that stuff you see on Survivor Man on Discovery Channel. As soon as the storm hit, there was looters out and about stealing things that didn’t belong to them. In my heart of hearts, I think we’re just one disaster away from total break society break down. Or maybe I’ve been reading one too many Ashes books by the late William W. Johnstone. It’s a mens’ action/adventure series that ran through the 1980′s through the 1990′s about WW III and how one man and his band of Rebels brought law back to land. I could be wrong. But it is something to think about. But if you think I’m nuts, there is a show called Preppers that focus on people who stock pile good and items in case of total break down.

On a lighter note: Mayor Blumburg canceled The New York Marathon. Well… Yeah. How about getting the city cleaned up, power turned on, getting things back to what passes for normal.

The NBA started their season and The NHL is still on strike.

This weekend we turn the clocks back an hour. Yeah, I could use an extra hour of sleep.

I get to clean-up the yard some after the ground dries out some and find a way to dispose of the tree branches that are all over the front yard. And maybe rake the front yard/back yards.

Oh yeah. I’m on vacation next week. And I will not be going to WV. They have SNOW and I’ll wait a bit before I want to see that stuff anytime soon. And there are too many things going on for any visiting right now. Maybe a quick trip during Thanksgiving weekend. Who knows.

No more freezer duty for the rest of the year. I’m keeping fingers crossed.

Okay, the Diet Mountain Dew has worn off. Should I have one more or get some much needed sleep. Decisions Decisions…

Nah screw it maybe a nap and check on other Xanga friends later…

Catch ya on the flip side…

I live in North Eastern Ohio. You would think I have seen a lot of freak ass weather. Where I’ve work at, we’ve had the power go out and where we had to go home and come back the next day. The last time was in 2002 where we had the freaky power outage that took down most of the eastern sea board.

Monday was a whole different can of Spam…

The wind was blowing so hard, the power poles were swaying. Right near the warehouse. Six trucks that have to be loaded and one of them was headed to Columbus Ohio. We got that truck loaded and headed south. Got started on truck number two and the power flickered and total darkness. And I figured “Typical Monday evening B.S.” We stayed for an hour and half. Had to really convince the president of the company to let us go home. And we ordered to pizzas before calling it a night.

The drive home was no fun either. Wind over bridges is never fun. Wind gusting to sixty miles an hour and it get pretty interesting. Me, I decided to stay off the highway. Nothing like dealing with down power lines and morons who should be indoors. Get home and relax a bit. Decided to suck up the water in the basement. As I get to the bottom of the steps, the power goes out. A sump pum relies on electricity. No back up. So I decide to bail out water so the basement floods. Gave up after and hour and a half. Leave a message to promisesunshine on the her Facebook page via my smart phone which was charging off my laptop. As soon as I do that, the power comes back on. Spend the next hour and a half sucking up water via two fifteen gallon wet/dry vacs .

Oh, I was up at six am Monday morning to see the doctor. The blood pressure was elevated but not as much as the store machines said. Never trust those machines. But am going to be dealing with other issues over the next few weeks.

So everything at work is a day behind and I get to work those rare Fridays this week. Oh fraking joy. And that day is a freezer day.

Hope every one else is fine. Shower time and maybe six hours of sleep. Reading in bed is something I need to stop but trying to unwind from work is difficult.

Be Safe…

Before I start on that rant, a few house cleaning chores…

The Cleveland Browns has won it’s second game this season. And apologies to promisesunshine, The Ohio State Buckeyes won. And it’s still raining here in North East Ohio.

And I hate Cartoon Network for only showing two episodes each of Young Justice and Green Lantern The Animated Series and saving them until next year. Great way to build up viewership that way… Oh and The Justice League Of America movie is due out the same year as The Avengers new movie. And no one has an idea the line up for the JLA movie. And as much as I want to see the new Iron Man movie, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin??? You mean they couldn’t find a great Chinese actor to play the part??? Does Chow Young Fat ring any bells??? The comic book/movie nerd is at odds with it’s self over this one. But will still see the movie. The trailer was awesome. For the new Iron Man movie…

Any hoo…

I was at yahoos’ web site and came across the story about someone banning/editing the Santa Clause image. Ya know the one with him with a pipe in his mouth? Apparently some one has their undies in a bunch and thinks that’s a bad role model for smoking. Smoking?!?!?!?! Yeah, seeing a fat dude dressed in red with a pipe makes me want to light up a smoke.Not to mention Breaking and Entering to put toys and goodies. (Not to mention how’s making/paying for all that stuff)  Using him to peddle cigarettes I have a problem with. But in no time did Santa put a pack of smokes in my stocking and say light up. Are we getting this PC about life as we know it now? And this coming from me who used to smoke a pack and a half a day. And have quit three years ago. It’s bad enough the Christmas Holiday is being shoved down our throats to buy buy buy as soon as possible. And when did K-Mart start pushing Christmas Decorations in the middle of September? There are times I just want to shut myself off from the world when I see things like this. And my dad wonders why my blood pressure is as high as it is… Look out Frosty The Snowman, they’re going to gunning for you next. Or anyone else that some one will be offended by…

The Xangans on the East Coast of the country… If I hear one more weather twit showing me graphics on how bad it may get I’m going to stop watching the news cast. When it keeps raining past twenty days straight, then I may worry some. But come on now. In this age of instant everything, if one doesn’t have a clue to prepare for this kind of weather… And just in time for lousy weather, gas prices jump forty cents a gallon in my area. And everyone is buy gas powered generators. Because God Forbid you should have you toys: I.E. internet, cell phone etc go down. Me, I candles galore, plenty of snacks and books. But I get to go out into that mess tomorrow and the rest of the week. Going to work and all that. One more week and it’s a week of paid vacation. If I make it to WV is another story. If it’s nice next week, a lot of outside work has to be done before Old Man Winter comes charging in…

To those of you out there in the path of the storm… Hope you are safe. And stay warm and dry.

Time for some dinner that includes fresh chili and cornbread.