Posts tagged melanie

Keyboards and bicycles

2
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted. I apologize. I’ve been extremely pre-occupied with work and trying to find time with Melanie. I have a story for you, though.

Saturday night, after a day in the city with Joe, I came home to find my wireless keyboard not working. It seemed as though my wireless receiver was not getting power. Unfortunately, my computer wouldn’t boot up unless it could find a keyboard (I forgot to disable the setting that halts boot up on a keyboard error). Multiple attempts at getting the keyboard working failed miserably and I was getting frustrated. By some chance, I happened to plug the USB receiver into my iPod’s charger and it lit up and synced with my keyboard. This was obviously not a path to go down, but I did nonetheless. Now convinced that it was a power issue, I asked my mom to drive me over to Best Buy (I don’t drive and it was too late for a train ride). I bought a powered USB hub, brought it home, and cursed myself out when it didn’t work. I gave up for the night and resigned to buying a new keyboard/mouse combo in the morning.

Sunday, after work, I picked up with Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000. With a little time to spare before having to run out to Staten Island to meet Melanie after she got out of work, I decided to hook it up. Nothing. Same exact results as with my old keyboard. I grabbed my roommate’s wired USB keyboard and the same thing happened. Then, it finally hit me. For some reason, my motherboard was looking for a PS/2 keyboard (this happened once before) and, of course, we threw out the one we had in the apartment.

My mind was racing when I remember that my dad’s computer is pretty old and/or I may have left a spare keyboard there. With no time to waste, I grabbed my other roommate’s bike (without asking) and raced to my parents. After realizing I didn’t leave a spare behind, I told my dad I was taking his keyboard for 20 minutes. I grabbed it, threw it in my backpack and raced back to the apartment in the increasingly hot 94 degree weather. I get inside my room, plug the PS/2 keyboard in and voila! My system booted, I disabled the option to halt boot on a keyboard error and plugged in the new Microsoft set. Out of curiosity, though, I tried my old keyboard and it freaking worked. It was a quick decision, though, when I realized that having to wet the contacts on my aging wireless mouse to get it to charge wasn’t exactly safe and that the old keyboard hasn’t been problem free in the past few months, anyway.

Relieved to have a working keyboard, I made one last quick dash back to my parents’ house to return the PS/2 keyboard and then raced home, showered and headed out to Staten Island. What a day that was.

Jobs for everyone

4
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

This has been a good week for Melanie and I. Financially, things are about to get a little easier for us and that’s always a blessing.

For starters, Melanie found a job at an Uncle Louie G’s that opened right near her house. The pay is only decent, but she gets tips which, so far, are pretty damn good. As the weather gets warmer and volume picks up, she should be able to get a nice amount of money together for the car she so badly wants to get.

In other news, I finally got the full time Merch position at work. Besides the extra hours, I also got a raise and will be able to get benefits such as health insurance and holiday/vacation/sick pay. Now, I’m not going to be doubling my income or anything, but I will have a bit more padding that will allow me to stress my bills a little less than I have been for the past year, or so. All of this is way over due, but I’m thankful I stuck to my guns.

Favorite video from vacation

2
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

Ok, so I didn’t take many videos while on vacation since I only had a standard digital camera and the video mode isn’t the best when it comes to recording quality. Between Melanie and I, we took about six 30 second long videos and most of them are forgettable, but this one video just makes me smile. Nothing special about it, to be honest, but I feel like sharing it, anyway.

For anyone wondering, this was filmed while hiking on the red trail in Bushkill Falls.

An amazing vacation

0
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

Well, I’m back from the Poconos and, let me tell you, I had one of the best times of my life.

We did so much while on vacation that it would be difficult to cover it all, but I have to mention a few of the highlights, at least. The first thing we did, as a group, was go river rafting. Now, as you could imagine, not being a swimmer, I was a little nervous about the whole drowning thing. My fears were calmed, though, after getting comfortable on the raft and I had a pretty good time rowing down the river for the 3 mile stretch. It took me a while to get the hang of rowing, but once I did, I was fine.

On the topic of water activities, we also went to a water park later on in the week. Camel Beach is a pretty nice park with the exception of the ice cold lazy river and the Triple Venom slides that left welts all over my back. Even though I’m not a swimmer, there was only one ride I couldn’t really go on, so I had to sit by as Melanie did it. I felt a little excluded, but we did the tube version of that ride immediately after, so it helped pick up my pride a bit. I had a good time, in the park, but the grey skies led to a chilly time that definitely put a damper on the day.

The last major activity was on Friday when we took a hike through the Bushkill Falls trails. There was some breath taking scenery and some fun hiking when we accidentally went off the trail and I had to balance across a fallen log and jump across small streams. The scenery was also gorgeous and I got some great pictures. I can’t wait to see if I can make any decent wallpapers out of them.

We did so much more on the trip that I’m not going to bother going in depth about. There was mini golf and pool time and a jacuzzi among other things and all of it was amazingly fun. I have to thank Melanie and her family for inviting me. It was exactly what I needed and I will never forget it.

If you want to see some of the fun we had, you can check out my Facebook album, Poconos 2009, which contains over 50 pictures from the vacation.

We’re going to the Poconos

2
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

Tomorrow, I will be heading to the Poconos with Melanie and her family. I won’t return until July 12th, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be out of touch. I plan on updating the world about my life, even while on vacation, because I know every one of you cares so much and would be lost without me. Actually, I just think it brings a slightly more interactive side to the site that will, hopefully, encourage more conversation.

For starters, as I did for my baseball road trip, last year, I’ll be turning on daily posts that summarize each day’s Twitter posts. It helps give a more clear cut path to follow for my non-followers. I also had a good time reading over the posts from the roadtrip last year myself, so it’ll be fun for me to read over them later on, too.

Also, I’ll be uploading pictures every now and then, too. While I’ve used Flickr in the past, I’ll be using Facebook this time around. For now, the pictures will upload to my Mobile Uploads album, but I’ll move them to their own separate album once I get back and settled in. I’ll put a more permanent link to the album in my sidebar on the far right, linked as “Mobile Picture Uploads”, so you don’t have to dig around for it (that means you, mom lol).

Any other ideas of things you think I can include? Let me know in the next 12 hours and I’ll see what I can do.

Want to be like my grandma

0
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

This past Saturday, Melanie and I went to my grandmother’s house to paint her kitchen and bathroom. She has a small apartment, so, while it may have been rough simply because painting always is, it wasn’t as bad as could possibly be. There’s really no story there. The real story lies with my grandmother.

My grandma isn’t exactly young. To be precise, she’s 84 years old. Somehow, though, in all defiance of age, she’s more active than many people I know, including a lot of people my age. Before Melanie and I even got there, she had already painted parts of the kitchen which included climbing up on a step ladder and all. When she told me this, I was a bit concerned, but she wasn’t. She refuses to let age stop her. I want to be like my grandma as I get older. I want to be able to hold on to that youthful energy and zeal for life. I only hope I can be so fortunate.

Little Treasure

0
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

Gonna push this harder than ever, my arm is a lever
To crank out these letters, the art and the clever
The scars are all better, my heart isn’t severed
Though sometimes the mind isn’t always together
The hallways get shredded and all that I’ve dreaded
Floods to the front and I always regret it
When the calm in each sentence waivers and withers
And jumbles the mixture and erases the picture
And I’ll say that I’ve missed her and this is expected
Recollection can drown you if you’re not protected
These dealings of love can be crazy and hectic
Though I try my damn best so I don’t fucking wreck it
Cause this is a record and one proud achievement
Fifteen total months and neither is leaving
I love what we have and I need it like breathing
To fight what I hold when it’s me and the ceiling
Laying there feeling so alone and pathetic
I’m sure millions of people would know it and get it
But that doesn’t end it or make it all better
My battles are mine and I’ll wage them forever
Like lost little treasures that sometimes I dig up
Only I know the loot and sometimes I give up
Fuck sticking chin up cause I’m just too damn tired
That fire has expired and I can’t be the fighter
To spark it all right up, to stand up to a navy
On an ocean of tears that can drive myself crazy
Maybe I’m lazy or perhaps I’m a quitter
Just take what you want so I know what to give her

Never Bought It

0
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

I hate the happy melodies and actually quite seldomly
Do I ever really smile at the happiness they sell to me
And everyone can yell at me and criticize and judge me
But the sum of all the masses will never move or budge me
I guess it’s just that one thing that I never could connect with
Even more specifically when it takes what makes me desperate
And it’s not much of confession when I say, in fact, I miss her
It really should be obvious when looking at this picture
Cause this fixture of my solace only comes so very rarely
Sometimes I make it well enough and sometimes it’s just barely
And I’m fairly, pretty sure enough that if I didn’t have it
The resulting consequence would be comparatively tragic
I imagine it’d be fun, though, if you crave a little drama
Watching someone fall apart as they lose their pride and honor
But this guy who was a goner has done a hundred eighty
Still, the time apart is tough cause I’m never one for waiting
Standing there and pacing and sitting and observing
Analyzing hands of time can be a bit unnnerving
I wouldn’t call it hurting, but a yearning and a wanting
To quell the loneliness I feel, the one that can be haunting
The one that can be daunting, a little tough to deal with
The feeling that I feel when I wish I didn’t feel it
And the only way to steal it is to put me in presence
The girl who makes it go away and to whom I write this sentence

Crappy carnivals and fractured ribs

3
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

You’d be surprised how easily the former can lead to the latter.

Wednesday, Melanie and I went to a carnival that was open in her neighborhood. It was small and crappier than most carnivals/feasts. We went anyways and took our chances on a few rides that looked like they were being run by drunken Mexicans and held together by rust and a prayer. The haunted ride was laughable and the ferris wheel shook a bit too much when the wind blew. The scrambler was a bit too much spinning for me, but I didn’t get sick. The bumper cars did me in, though.

Well, I think the bumper cars are what resulted in my injury. There were no seat belts, just a loose lap bar and, being a tad taller than the average person, I had to cram myself into the vehicle. After the five or so minutes on the ride, I exited with, what I thought, was stiffness in my right side. After leaving the carnival and heading back to Melanie’s, I decided to lie down on her bed. When I went to get back up, I felt a sharp pain in my rib cage and knew something was definitely wrong. After some self diagnosis and a quick look by her grandmother (who used to be a nurse), it would appear that I have a fractured rib on my right side.

It’s a good injury to have, in a way, because there’s no needed trip to the doctor (not an option when you don’t have health insurance). You just have to take it easy and let it heal itself. The problem is, though, that the smallest movements have the potential of aggravating it and causing a lot of pain. I’m still trying to figure out how to get out of bed without killing myself.

This is one of those “only me” moments. Let me tell you, though, a sneeze becomes such a frightening action when you have a fractured rib. You feel it coming on and know that, in a few seconds, you’re bound for a ton of pain and there’s little you can do to stop it.

Decisions made and confusion cleared

0
2 years ago
by bangbang023 in

Well, I’m just a tad bit less stressed out than I was in my last few posts. I’ve had time to think and, after talking things out with Melanie and sorting through the facts, have figured everything out for now.

In terms of the Citi position, I’ll let that play itself out and see what happens. In the mean time, I’ve decided to remain in the new position at work. I’ve already received a raise for it (almost 10%) and will, hopefully, be getting more hours very soon. If I can get 30% – 50% more hours, I’ll be ok and can, possibly, stop the bleeding of money that’s been going on for the past few months.

The key here is that I’m getting more money and I’m a lot less stressed. It just took a while to sort everything out.

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