So out of sheer boredom, I took a picture of my lunch for tomorrow while I waited for it to cool off before stuffing in the fridge. I marinated some chicken thighs in a mixture of Old Bay seasoning, sesame oil, garlic, salt, and ground black pepper. I let it sit overnight, and baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Brussel sprouts boiled with water, salt, and sesame oil.

No you cannot has recipe, NOT YOURS.

Those who understand the conversation, much kudos to you, those who don't, I feel sorry for you.

I <3 1337 and the subculture that comes along with it...



elasticity and aoumd should get a kick out of it.  Thanks to amandanoelle82 for the pic.

So this morning, I woke up at 7:30AM, and said to myself "Oh shit I gotta get to work!" and rushed into the shower (I usually wake up at 6 AM on weekdays).  While I was in there, it dawned on me that today was Sunday, and I work Monday-Friday.

So after the O's game today, they showed Cal's induction speech at Cooperstown today, and I started to tear up when they were playing The Wallflowers "Heroes" over the PA.  I had to wipe away some tears as Cal went through his speech.  It didn't matter that the O's lost to the Yankees today (they still took 2 out of 3), these were tears of joy and this was Maryland's boy, now a man and a legend, being immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

That is where my cell phone was sitting from early last evening to right now. It even survived a torrential downpour this afternoon. I called my cell phone from the land line and heard it go off, but could not see where it was located. I knew it was coming from the car, but it wasn't until I saw a sliver of it peeking out from that crevice that I realized that I found a brand new place to lose a cell phone.

So I ended up at the Capitol Fourth concert last night, something a DC native tends to avoid (**COUGH** stupid tourists **COUGH**).

I got a kick out of seeing all the other people with Washington DC caps, t-shirts, and other assorted paraphernalia.  You definitely ain't from here if you're wearing those things.

So we're standing in line and the cops evacuate us because of heavy thunderstorms, and we have to start moving out to find shelter.  We ended up having a picnic in the alcove of a covered parking garage...I can honestly say I have never done that before, until yesterday.

So after the rains, while we filed back into line, the cannons mounted near the Taft Memorial suddenly went off, startling everyone.  Someone yelled "THE MINUTEMEN ARE COMING, THE MINUTEMEN ARE COMING!", and wouldn't you know it, here comes this guy dressed like an18th century soldier walking down the street.  He heard the remark and said "Don't worry, those are ours."   LOL!  I guess he thought he heard British instead of Minutemen.

So after bending over and spreading our asscheeks in the name of national security, and got a seat on the West Lawn.



Wow, right in front of the Washington Monument and the fireworks......I would rather sit on the steps of the Capitol instead of the lawn.  However I did walk off with about 5 free bottles of Deer Park water from some pallets sitting on the lawn.  WOO HOO for free stuff!

So the concert comes on, Tony Danza does a lame dance number and becomes exhausted by it, as he gasps for air during the introduction monologue.  After the monologue, the National Anthem is sung by Hayden Panettiere, whoever she is.  After the line " O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave...", I hear someone make the following remark, "Why did some people yell O?"  I could not help but grin in silent joy, trying to hold back my snickering.  The Orange and Black Effect strikes again!

Then Elliot Yamin came out to do some songs.  Meh.

Then comes a rendition of Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" by Yolanda Adams.  It was ok, but I still prefer the Three Dog Night version.

Up next was Little Richard, who was pretty good.  I can always dig some classic rock.

Then comes some guy names Dierks Bentley.  I know next to jack about country music.

Then comes some songs by the NSO from West Side Story.  Not bad; it's better than what came before it.

Hayden comes out again and sings, blech.

Bebe Neuwirth comes out and does some showtunes, not real crazy about those.

Then comes the fireworks, which required me to shuffle off to the left about 20 feet just to even catch a glimpse:



Are you fucking serious?  What kind of view is this?  However I did enjoy the NSO playing over the fireworks, the music really set the tone of the night.

So after the show, we headed off to the Dubliner by Union Station and had some drinks, because only tourists rush down to the Metro after the show.  I discovered that I really love Woodchuck Draft Cider, and also got a glimpse of the O's beating the White Sox on the TV screens inside.  They also have a really good Spinach and Artichoke dip.

I probably won't go back to the Capitol Fourth again, it's such an overrated event designed for tourists, but I had a great time mingling with the MeetInDC people.

Unless I was completely disturbed and distracted by something other than what was on the television set, didn't Paris Hilton say that "The crime didn't fit the punishment." during her interview tonight with Larry King on CNN?

(If I did hear correctly, how fucking hilarious was that comment?!)

Don Cherry could not have said it any better. I really need to get CBC so I can watch Don Cherry and Hockey Night In Canada.



Getting rid of fighting leads to more cheap shots and dirty checks, plain and simple.

These twits ruined "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp, a CLASSIC song!



Well, it appears they are currently on tour with the All-American Rejects. No wonder they stink. Indie music can kiss my ass.

The original song is better than this junk on every level.

How Maryland Are You? Your Result: You're 100% Maryland You have erected a shrine to Ray Lewis in your living room, complete with a "BELIVE 'HON" bumper sticker on your car. You can name every county in the state and refer to Howard County as "Ho Co." The second you step over the stae line, you feel weird, and need a Natty Bo.
You're 80% Maryland
You're 60% Maryland
You're 40% Maryland
You're 20% Maryland
How Maryland Are You?

However...

--I grew up watching Joe Gibbs and Mark Rypien
--I live in MoCo, and I represent the DC area (Strangely enough I root for the Os. Actually it's not so strange. I root for the teams I grew up on.)
-- I cannot name every county in the state
--I don't use "Ho Co". Ever.
--Natty Boh tastes like shit, but is cheap.
--I do feel weird outside of Maryland, esp. in Nova -_-

shortieterp: **Makes some comment about how horrible female drivers are**
Me: Way to stick up for your own race! <--I meant to say sex, I really did! :-)

I also referred to the MODs at Shuttle as Shit Supervisors when trying to say the tongue-tying "6 Shift Supervisors".

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/09/07/44fffa0d0f286

Take that elasticity!!!

(I think this is crock; there is no way that UCSC did not even break the top 10.)

So today is my last day at Shuttle; my contract expires at midnight. The only thing I miss are the enormous amount of charters that I drove, and driving the Detroit Diesel and Cummins Flxibles. I miss the raw power of the L10 Flxes especially, and of course, how well the Flxes and Gillig LFs (the only praise I will ever give to any Gillig in the fleet) could slingshot themselves;-)

I really do not feel any need to say goodbye to anyone. There's only a few people that I will truly miss working with, and I can count them on one hand.

However, this is not the end of me as a bus operator; I will return to the seat someday; this flat wheeled operator ain't done yet. I'm on an extended 10-6, but I think I have 10-19'd with this organization.

http://www.etspe.ca/junk/temp/MOV00610.MPG

Ah the joy of county fairs. It's hard to beat the thundering roar of two souped-up 440 c.i. Dodge V8s with no mufflers pulling a sled.

It's a great county when you can experience the frenzied pace of a heavily populated urbanized area with gigantic commercial centers on one end of the county, and go to a dirt slinging, ground pounding, ear shattering tractor pull on the other side of the county.

Apparently I was so tired last night that I left my phone in my denim shorts, and it now smells a little bit better after going thru the washing machine this morning.




So I have a new phone now. I bought the David Gunn model: no mp3 player, TV tuner input, keyboard, Bluetooth, camcorder, etc. It has crystal clear sound, very strong reception, easy to navigate menus, and a long battery life, the only things that matter.