Long Days

What is it that makes a day long or short? Is it entirely the perception of the individual? Whatever it is, today is a LONG day. The last hour has lasted approximately 1.3 light years, in my reckoning. What makes it worse is that I got up at NOON. I've only been up for 8 or so hours! Ridiculous, right?

Today is dad's birthday. He is 62. Which got me thinking. His dad was in his mid to late 40s when he got MARRIED. And Dad was born in what, 1946? And a second child...so, I'll have to check, but lets say they were married in '43. There's a VERY good chance that I have a GRANDPARENT who was born in the 1800s. How old do *I* feel now?!?! I'll check the dates to be sure and re-post this. 3 generations spanning 3 centuries. Scary.

Umm...not a whole lot going on since Saturday. I've cleaned 2 out of 5 rooms in preparation for Behtia's visit, but have the next 2 days off to get the rest done. My car will NOT be needing washing, as we've had tons of rain, but I did clean out the interior. Does sword cleaning count...? I did that too. Noticed 2 or 3 burrs on my 'swashbuckler' that need sharpened out. I'm toying with the idea of selling it, but can't bring myself to do it yet. Maybe I'll start posting the others on e-Bay and see what I can get.

Off to see if florists carry lilacs. I need to get some for mom for her birthday. I do it every year.

Wads of Cash for the Masses

Sold my Eddie Izzard tickets. I know, gasps of shock, but it was the best idea. I got, for $200 worth of tickets, $385. And that's a good deal for the people buying them at this point, too. What does that mean? That means that I made a $185 profit. I can give my siblings, who originally had tickets for their gift, a big wad of cash, take them to dinner and to see Iron Man, and it will COST ME NOTHING. BOSS. My fiancee was a little disappointed, but we're going to run around outside looking at gardens and stuff, and go furniture shopping, and look at wedding bands, so I think our docket was fairly full already. Plus I promised to do an opera or a show later this summer/fall. And I've seen Izzard live, twice, so its not the end of the world to miss this one.

Peace out.

Cause its been awhile...

I really have no specific reason for blogging. I have about an hour to kill until my eBay auction ends. Which DOES bring up a good point...if people don't want other people scalping tickets, quit making it so darn PROFITABLE somehow! Tickets I bought for $50 each are going on eBay for FOUR HUNDRED. EACH. That's outrageous! That's what, like a 700% increase? Insane. I would be loathe to pay that much for tickets, but I am GETTING that much for the tickets I am selling, so it works out even.

What else is going on...um...work sucks. I really am starting to hate it there. The work is fine, but the people are just starting to get on my nerves. The management is incompetent, and my coworkers are either lazy, annoying, or dumb; or some combination of those three. Thankfully, I'm only going to be there for another 2 months. Then its time to move! I will miss the DC area a LOT. But I do enjoy setting up a new apartment...and I'll be with Behtia all the time, which I'm looking forward to immensely. Plus I'll get to hang out and bond with my in-laws. Me and Behtia's sister's husband, Jimbo Baggins, are talking about chores such as splitting logs at the cabin. A suitably manly bonding experience. Also, as I understand it, my future father in law and I, and perhaps Jimli the Dwarf, all like listening to ABBA. My own flesh-and-blood brothers do not. Of course, I despair of the music tastes of everyone in my family with the exception of Mom, who likes classics such as Simon & Garfunkel and so on.

Ok, 45 minutes til auction end, what else can I talk about...umm...Behtia is coming next week. We've got some stuff planned like the Eddie Izzard show, of course, trip to Ikea, maybe see IRON MAN (Na na nanana...nananananana NA NA NA), couple other things. Hopefully my guitar will be fixed when she's here so we can share in the victory of a quest well completed. Then I can serenade her with song. Chicks dig serenading. It would help if I could play more than 2 chords, though. Speaking of things chicks dig, I ordered the chainmail neckties for the wedding, and they should be here in a couple weeks. Awesome. The armorer gave me a discount for being a long-time customer. I would have bought them anyway, though. Cause they're awesome, and I want to share these with my bretheren. I'll tell you the virtues of a chainmail tie:
1. Not a clip on, but is on a chain around your neck, so doesn't need tied...much faster to put on.
2. Always at the same length, so you don't have to retie 4 or 5 times to get it the right length.
3. Doesn't have an extra skinny tie end that will flap around.
4. Does not blow higgledy-piggledy in the wind. At ALL.
5. Will not wrinkle.
6. Will not get stained...whatever it is you can just wipe off.
7. Matches ANYTHING.
8. Versatile...can be worn casually, formally, doesn't matter. Good for all occasions.
9. Forget tie clips. You can use refrigerator magnets.
10. Chicks DIG chainmail. Its a thing. I have had literally dozens of women, most of them strangers, walk up to me, ask about my tie, and then ask if they can touch it. If a woman is a foot away from you, holding your necktie, it gives a fairly good 'in' to get to know her, yeah?

Ok, 30 minutes left on my eBay. This is turning into quite a long blog post. Umm...so after the Rock Band 'Brothers Grimm' got its first gold record, the band has slowly parted ways, perhaps forever. Right up until we get a 'where are they now' special. Or a reunion tour. On the upside, I've achieved the rank of Sergeant Major in RainbowSix Vegas 2. I kick butt. Charles is all about the sniper rifle and stealthy kills. William is all about explosives and traps and the element of surprise. My strategy of choice is to get a big fricken machine gun with lots and lots of bullets and just shoot everything. You go with what works for you, I guess.

Today I cut open my finger on a piece of wire. Little safety tip from Uncle Fliven: don't cut your finger open on a piece of wire. It HURTS. And BLEEDS. I was replacing 2 of the leather straps on my rucksack and was using a thick gauge wire to widen and smooth the buckle holes I had just made, when the moisture from my hands made the hand slip through the wire. Could have been worse if it had caught all my fingers, but it didn't. Just caught my thumb on the way by. Which means my record remains of never having been cut by a sword, despite being a sword owner for 20 years, and only been cut by a knife once, despite being a pocketknife owner for 23 years. Plus working in a knife and sword store for 2 years. This must be my mutant power or something...invincible to cutting implements guy. Sweet. Now, if we want to talk about wire, cans, saws, pencils, rocks, paper, cats, and sledgehammers, that would be a different story. The good news is that I got the rucksack fixed. Its the only thing I own with the strength to be able to adequately store and transport my 50 lbs of chainmail. Which they do NOT have at Target. So we couldn't register for matching sets. Lots of other neat things, though! I'm excited.

15 minutes left. Does anyone know where I can find the opening theme to Contra? I want to use it as my ringtone. Or possibly Double Dragon. Never mind! I found it. Awesome. Now whenever anyone calls, it'll be like I'm playing Contra. If I input the code do I get 30 free minutes...?

Only a few minutes left. I'll sign off now.