journal
The perfect couple
Feb 6th
While it mostly comes from Melanie’s girl friends, I’m still surprised by the number of people who think we are the perfect couple. Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re a great couple, but we fight and disagree and go through the same things many other couples go through. We’re not perfect people and effort is required to keep the relationship going just as with anyone else’s relationship. Yet, we’re perfect.
Then we have my sister and my roommate. In my eyes, THEY were always the perfect couple. I was amazed to hear, when talking to my sister, that they fought just like Melanie and I do. It’s actually eerie to hear how many of the arguments are the same even if the people involved are completely different. The perfect couple, in my eyes, was the same as Melanie and I. Wow.
I started thinking and I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone knows a couple that they see as “the perfect couple”. That couple never seems to fight and, probably, appears to be the epitome of love. Behind closed doors, though, I bet they’re just like the rest of us. They fight and disagree and have those moments where they want to throw each other down a flight of stairs. We all have those moments, yet, everyone’s in love.
So, you know what? Melanie and I are the perfect couple. Hell, my sister and my roomie are the perfect couple, too. I think any couple that can go above that crush stage and make each other happy a majority of the time is, in fact, the perfect couple. This isn’t the movies. This isn’t TV. Some fights are stupid, some are nasty, and some are for the sake of fighting, but it never lasts long, cause there’s always that love. I love her. She loves me. Yeah, we’re perfect.
Separating work from the rest
Jan 30th
I need to start creating clear distinctions in my life and keep work from spilling into my personal life. To top it off, I need to stop getting stressed out, so easily, at work. It’s all serving to throw off my happiness outside of the big blue box and I’m sick of it.
Even though I mentioned it second, learning to not get stressed out at work should, probably, be my first priority. I go in and get pissed off because the people around me don’t seem to care as much as I do. I talk to managers and supervisors and get no where. I spin my wheels, get aggravated, and let it sit with me the rest of the day. Why should I care if no one else does? If I have to spend every single day cleaning up someone else’s mistakes, then that’s my management’s choice in how they’re spending labor. I get paid, either way.
Regardless of how successful I am with that, I need to make sure any stress I do encounter stays in that building once I punch out. It winds up exhausting me, making me feel old, and interfering with things like my relationship with Melanie. I’m too young to feel this old and I’m done with it. I’m not going to run out and start doing 8 balls, but maybe I’d like to be able to laugh and have a beer and just enjoy a night with my girlfriend, whether we’re going out or sitting home and bumming around. I don’t get paid enough to carry that burden around with me and I won’t do it, anymore.
Getting into shape and losing a scale
Jan 20th
My roommate, James, and I have been talking about how out of shape we both are. We both realized how bad our cardio was and James also thought he could lose a few pounds. We talked for months about it, but finally decided to do something to change the situation, so we went to Walmart and bought an exercise bike. Why a bike? Well, for me, I’ve always been a fan of bike riding in the summer, so this felt like a natural extension of that love and a great way of keeping me on my workout routine.
We had a limited budget to work with, so Walmart made the most sense, even if I’m not a fan of them. James and I both wanted a recumbent bike for the obvious comfort reasons, but settled on a nicely priced upright. The bike isn’t super high end, but it does the job and, during my first two workouts, I’ve had my ass handed to me. The thing I like most about it is the set of 8 preset workout routines that automatically adjust the resistance over a period of 20 or 30 minutes. These presets push me harder than I would, otherwise, push myself if I had to manually choose the resistance. Here’s hoping I find the strength to keep this all going and finally get back to the shape I used to be in.
As a side story, we also bought a scale in Walmart after our other one broke a few months back. We found a nice little digital scale for $18 and put it in the cart. Unfortunately, we were so wrapped up in getting the bike to fit in the car, that none of us (our girlfriends came with us) thought to take the bag out of the cart and into the car. I hope whoever found it is enjoying the damn thing.
Always quality over quantity
Jan 19th
It’s been a few days since I’ve checked in and I promise I won’t be returning to those extended periods of silence. Something came up, however, and I had to deal with it and the process was very exhausting.
I’ve realized, lately, the importance of friends. I know I’ve always been a bit more introverted than the usual person, but I’ve been coming out of my shell over the past years and having good people around you is key to remaining stable and happy. I guess a lot of it comes down to the relationship I have with Melanie. To be in a relationship, you have to open up and she cracked me a peanut. The rest just comes with the territory, I guess.
High school is a lot like Myspace. The number of friends you have always seems like a big deal and people go for as many friends as possible. There’s always exceptions, but I know most people, when I were in high school, called way too many people their “friends” when they were really just acquaintances, at best. I was no different. Even in my shy and loner ways, I tried to be everybody’s friend and desperately tried to add to that total number. I kept a lot of people around and in my life when all they did was take from it. Things have changed, though.
I’m the first to admit that I don’t have many friends. I’m just not that guy. The few friends I do have, however, I appreciate more and more as time goes on. I’m not going to mention names because I’m sure some people will feel excluded and throw a hissy fit for no reason, but if you’re my friend, thank you. You guys have been immensely helpful as I go through my 20’s and I’d be much crazier if you all weren’t around to keep me in check. Forget dozens or hundreds of friends, I only need a select few good ones and you all fit that bill so well.
My jacket was stolen
Jan 9th
There’s nothing catchy or humorous or silly about the title because I’m in no mood to laugh. This is the dumbest shit I’ve had to deal with in a while.
Today was actually a decent day at work. Things didn’t go as planned and work moved a little more slowly than I would have liked, but I made a tangible difference by being there and that’s always good. Things quickly changed after I punched out, though. I went to go get my jacket and my hoody and, well, neither were in the locker that I had placed them in. This was about to get frustrating.
I started looking through all of the lockers in a frenzy as I prayed to God that I would find my stuff. None of the lockers contained my possessions and I was growing increasingly worried. I went into the employee lounge and looked around and found my hoody, thrown on a chair. I had no idea how it found it’s way there, but I was glad to have found it. My jacket, though, was no where to be found. After frantically searching, I went over to the store security and asked them if anyone had been in the lockers. He told me he needed to contact the third party security guys because they knew about it. I had hope until they spoke.
Apparently, my hoody was put into the employee lounge after they caught a woman going through the lockers. Most of us don’t put locks on them and she decided she was going to go into the employee area and start rummaging around. The third party security guard actually watched her doing all of this instead of immediately asking her to leave. Somehow, while this ass was watching, she managed to throw something into my locker and took my jacket as it was, obviously, fair compensation. Since my gloves and face mask were in my jacket pockets, she also got those. I guess she’ll be nice and fucking warm.
At this point, I just left the store. I went next door and bought a new jacket at Modell’s. They had almost the exact same jacket (minor differences) for half off, so I got it for $130. That’s not horrible, but it’s not money I wanted to spend. I actually wound up losing money today instead of gaining. It would have been more economically sound for me to stay home as I would have lost less money. All of this because the third party guard was too busy trying to catch someone stealing product instead of thwarting the problem, in the first place. Thanks for that.
Another disappointment and another shock
Jan 5th
Today was a little rough at work. I came in, as I would any other morning, and began working with my co-worker who had been scheduled along side me. I really didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. Hell, we even got to work on a planogram, which we haven’t been able to do in months, so I was feeling pretty good about things. Towards the end of the work, the GM came over and asked if he could borrow my co-worker for a few minutes and he’d have him right back. Who am I to say no to the GM? I didn’t think anything of it and went on with my work. That’s when things changed.
About an hour later, I went on my lunch break. After calling Melanie quickly and getting something to eat, I realized my co-worker never came back and texted him to ask him if he went home or if the GM had killed him (jokingly). Not more than two minutes later, I find out he was led out in handcuffs with a police escort. I have no idea what he’s accused of doing, but considering the people who were in the building today, they obviously think it’s something serious. A guy I worked with for 4 years and really grew to trust was now nothing but a common criminal who lied to me and everyone around us. Damn.
I really hope I’m not being too dramatic about all of this. I just feel really shocked by this and extremely disappointed in this guy. The world can really let you down sometimes.
Are the wrestling wars about to start again?
Jan 4th
Ask any wrestling fan and they’ll agree that the best period for professional wrestling was in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when the WWF (now WWE) and WCW were going head to head. The competition drove creativity and made for an amazing show for people on either side of the equation. Then, when the WCW folded, WWE went soft and everything fell to pieces. In comes TNA.
TNA wrestling, from the few shows I’ve ever watched, has always felt a bit low budget and seemed like a non-threat to the WWE. Tonight, however, that seems to be changing as they are airing a live broadcast for 3 hours in which two of those hours will directly compete with the WWE’s Monday night broadcast. Sure, WWE is bringing Brett Hart back to be a guest host, but their stories have been ridiculously lame for the past few years and a one night gimmick may not do much to help. TNA, on the other hand, is bringing in some big name talent including the way over-aged Hulk Hogan and Sting. Jeff Hardy is also going to be backstage since he was, apparently, fired from the WWE for a drug bust. While I’ve lost a lot of respect for the guy because of his personal issues, he can definitely put on a good match.
I’m going to try to watch TNA live, tonight (I also have the DVR set). I want to find wrestling that I can stand to watch, again. Maybe no company can bring back the Stone Cold era, but it’d be nice if there was something better than John Cena for fans to watch.
A kiss to start the new year
Jan 1st
Well, combine midnight on New Year’s Day, a Kodak Zi8 camcorder, and a girlfriend whom I love and you get the following video. There’s nothing else more to say about it lol
Another year has passed
Dec 30th
So, another year is almost complete and it’s been another interesting one for me. While 2008 was all about my love life and finding that happiness that has carried me since finding it, 2009 has been about advancing my career.
It’s been a long year at work. I started off as part time in Merch, but then quickly jumped over to part time SWAT (counting product) for the extra money and promise of a full time opening. The full time spot never materialized, unfortunately, and I quickly learned how miserable I was in the job and really started to fall off the radar. Thankfully, right before the new management came in, a full time Merch spot opening and, after some convincing, I was given the spot. It’s been stressful and tiring and the source of plenty of minor injuries, but it’s all been worth it. As I said not too long ago, I actually like my job.
I have a feeling that 2010 will continue my focus on work. I want to move up and I really need the extra money that comes along with it, so I have to keep working for it. There are a few minor goals that I’m considering, such as getting my driver’s license, but nothing is set in stone and I hate planning that far in advance.
Anyone else have their goals or focuses set up for the upcoming year?
Taking technology for granted
Dec 29th
People my age and younger tend to take technology for granted. This was never made so clear to me as it was this past weekend when I witnessed a simple piece of technology affect someone in a way I never expected.
Leaving out details and such, I witnessed an elderly woman receive a digital picture frame as a Christmas gift. The people giving it to her took some time to pre-load about 50 pictures of various family members and such. As they plugged the frame in to show her how it works, the pictures began to play in a slideshow and she was, literally, moved to tears by it. This is the same technology that I scoffed at, so many times, as I put a number of different models out while at work. It just didn’t seem that amazing to me, yet, here was a woman crying because of how amazing this all seemed to her and how happy she was to be able to see so much family history right there on one little screen. It really blew my mind.
I guess that I sometimes forget to step back and really look at things from different viewpoints. It’s difficult to do so, but a moment like this really opened my eyes to how I need to appreciate the simpler things in life a little more often.
