(no subject)
first, thanks to all who expressed concern regarding my recent lesson in cycling mortality. frankly, i think my ego needed it. i went an entire year without a single big incident, and i think it was a good wake up call. the pain is gone, and the bruises will be gone soon too.
secondly, a happy thanksgiving to all, especially those who texted to send regards.
foremost, toaday was a DAY OFF of a bar job i detest.
a day off!!
i spent it, of all things, sleeping late, and doing four hours of landscaping. it was a cool but not cold day, it rained just a little, not enough to stop work, and i it was good therapy, both physically and mentally. i was upset it got dark. i was upset i ran out of rope to bundle branches and vines with, because working felt good. the vines had really laced themselves into the links of any and all surrounding fencing, so they had to be cut, by knife, with one hand, while i ripped and pulled with the other hand. the vines were so overgrown they were growing into the neighbor's yard, so, feeling bad if i left 100 square feet of weedy vine on the fence in the other yard, which would rapidly take root again and begin its reconquesta of jersey city, i pulled th vines over the fence. this was big, because with no ladder, this was tough work, as the fencetop was lined with sharp twited metal points, and vines have an amazing ability to not want to be pulled loose. its kind of what nature intended.
in april, i cleaned the yard up to look like this :
and in a few days, it'll be back to pristine. i'm happy to see that my work was not undone by the retarded amount of rain we've gotten hit with. it means it was built well, and given that it was just debris, i'm even happier than my work withstood abuse.
i could have done this all day and night, in the rain, in the windy cold. mosquito's even came out at one point, lots of them, and i did not mind. in four hours, all of the vines you see in this pic, plus all of the vagrant trees and weeds were romed and or cut down. i thought seriously about taking trips to the real woods with an ax, adze, rake and shovel, just for the workout. i'd choose a location, and terraform it using only things found in the vicnincity. i'd cycle to the spot once or twice a month, and take eight hours to make a stone structure, or cut a terrace, or plant or replant some foliage.
my new job has changed things quite a bit for me. the main purpose of this job was proof of employment. as you know, i was doing handyman work, moving jobs, or whatever for money since novemeber 2006. money got extra tight, and the need to refinance came about. but, good luck applying for any kind of loan with an off-the-books income.
so i needed a steady job. the loan process has been tedious, and my job has not been an easy one to bear. for this reason, and others, i have been less and less social as of late. the main reason, probably, is that i'm getting scheduled for more and more hours.
the unholy trifecte here is...1) i hate my job and co-workers. its honestly what prison must be like. shank or be shanked. but, 2) i really need the money. so the extra hours are necessary, so i can;t say no. 3) for a loan to go through, i'll need a steady job i've been at for more than a few weeks. if i quit, i fuck up my chances for many months to re-apply for a mortgage, perhaps longer, as job changing or unemployment is a total no-no in the lending business, especially now.
until/unless the loan goes through, i'm stuck at this shitty job, at this shitty job's terms.
for this, i apologize to everyone. i do this every once and while, but i know for people with "normal" jobs and schedules, it must be frustrating being my friend or associate.
if i work daytime, i go to work at 10:30am. i get home by about 6pm, tired, and needing to unwind. i go for little hour long cycle rides a lot. the point is, i get home out of the state of mind of doing much more than relaxing. remember, i hate my job, my customers...
if i work nights, i usually sleep till 2 or 3 pm. if i work lunch, i come home and nap after work. i stay up late. the job erodes my ability to socialize on your "normal" schedules.
it additonally erodes my ability to plan more than a few days in advance, which annoys the bejeusus out of me. we are given our new schedules 2 days before they go into effect, ie, saturday night, we are told if we are working the next mon-sunday. what's worse, we are not allowed to swicth shifts, even if its mutually desired. this is done exclusively to fuck with us, i'm sure.
i'm sorry i work so much, and i'm sorry my hours suck.
i mention this for a few reasons, the bigest being that i can't answer texts or phone calls while at work. i get no signal in the building anyway. but if you text me and i don;t reply, its not a snub. the problem is, i get off either during rush hour, which makes even warming up and leaving work an ordeal...hoboken rush hour is no joke anymore. it can take 45 minutes to get out of that fucking town if the holland and lincoln are snarled up...
if i work night, i get off between 11pm and 1am...too late to reply to a text or call back.
well, the point here is, texting me is better than leaving a message. during a smoke break, i can check 30 texts in the time it takes to check one voicemail.
calling me after midnight is welcome and preferred. because of my wierd schedule, i always feel like the only chances i get to text/call are intrusive ones.
secondly, a happy thanksgiving to all, especially those who texted to send regards.
foremost, toaday was a DAY OFF of a bar job i detest.
a day off!!
i spent it, of all things, sleeping late, and doing four hours of landscaping. it was a cool but not cold day, it rained just a little, not enough to stop work, and i it was good therapy, both physically and mentally. i was upset it got dark. i was upset i ran out of rope to bundle branches and vines with, because working felt good. the vines had really laced themselves into the links of any and all surrounding fencing, so they had to be cut, by knife, with one hand, while i ripped and pulled with the other hand. the vines were so overgrown they were growing into the neighbor's yard, so, feeling bad if i left 100 square feet of weedy vine on the fence in the other yard, which would rapidly take root again and begin its reconquesta of jersey city, i pulled th vines over the fence. this was big, because with no ladder, this was tough work, as the fencetop was lined with sharp twited metal points, and vines have an amazing ability to not want to be pulled loose. its kind of what nature intended.
in april, i cleaned the yard up to look like this :
and in a few days, it'll be back to pristine. i'm happy to see that my work was not undone by the retarded amount of rain we've gotten hit with. it means it was built well, and given that it was just debris, i'm even happier than my work withstood abuse.
i could have done this all day and night, in the rain, in the windy cold. mosquito's even came out at one point, lots of them, and i did not mind. in four hours, all of the vines you see in this pic, plus all of the vagrant trees and weeds were romed and or cut down. i thought seriously about taking trips to the real woods with an ax, adze, rake and shovel, just for the workout. i'd choose a location, and terraform it using only things found in the vicnincity. i'd cycle to the spot once or twice a month, and take eight hours to make a stone structure, or cut a terrace, or plant or replant some foliage.
my new job has changed things quite a bit for me. the main purpose of this job was proof of employment. as you know, i was doing handyman work, moving jobs, or whatever for money since novemeber 2006. money got extra tight, and the need to refinance came about. but, good luck applying for any kind of loan with an off-the-books income.
so i needed a steady job. the loan process has been tedious, and my job has not been an easy one to bear. for this reason, and others, i have been less and less social as of late. the main reason, probably, is that i'm getting scheduled for more and more hours.
the unholy trifecte here is...1) i hate my job and co-workers. its honestly what prison must be like. shank or be shanked. but, 2) i really need the money. so the extra hours are necessary, so i can;t say no. 3) for a loan to go through, i'll need a steady job i've been at for more than a few weeks. if i quit, i fuck up my chances for many months to re-apply for a mortgage, perhaps longer, as job changing or unemployment is a total no-no in the lending business, especially now.
until/unless the loan goes through, i'm stuck at this shitty job, at this shitty job's terms.
for this, i apologize to everyone. i do this every once and while, but i know for people with "normal" jobs and schedules, it must be frustrating being my friend or associate.
if i work daytime, i go to work at 10:30am. i get home by about 6pm, tired, and needing to unwind. i go for little hour long cycle rides a lot. the point is, i get home out of the state of mind of doing much more than relaxing. remember, i hate my job, my customers...
if i work nights, i usually sleep till 2 or 3 pm. if i work lunch, i come home and nap after work. i stay up late. the job erodes my ability to socialize on your "normal" schedules.
it additonally erodes my ability to plan more than a few days in advance, which annoys the bejeusus out of me. we are given our new schedules 2 days before they go into effect, ie, saturday night, we are told if we are working the next mon-sunday. what's worse, we are not allowed to swicth shifts, even if its mutually desired. this is done exclusively to fuck with us, i'm sure.
i'm sorry i work so much, and i'm sorry my hours suck.
i mention this for a few reasons, the bigest being that i can't answer texts or phone calls while at work. i get no signal in the building anyway. but if you text me and i don;t reply, its not a snub. the problem is, i get off either during rush hour, which makes even warming up and leaving work an ordeal...hoboken rush hour is no joke anymore. it can take 45 minutes to get out of that fucking town if the holland and lincoln are snarled up...
if i work night, i get off between 11pm and 1am...too late to reply to a text or call back.
well, the point here is, texting me is better than leaving a message. during a smoke break, i can check 30 texts in the time it takes to check one voicemail.
calling me after midnight is welcome and preferred. because of my wierd schedule, i always feel like the only chances i get to text/call are intrusive ones.