Drunk Brandon

Krista sent me a pic of us back at the end of 2005, right before I did my on-site interview with Capital One. Just now realize how... different... I look. It's amazing. But don't take my word for it:

End of 2005:



Last week:



Not sure what I weighed back then, but, yeah... I think it's a slight improvement.

If anything, it's more motivation for me to stick with my new weightlifting routine. Been 6 weeks so far and I haven't fallen off yet - even got my 3x a week while I was in Va. Beach.

Be careful with your hair when going to see GWAR. Case in point -




Before seeing GWAR on New Year's Eve:



Immediately after seeing GWAR on New Year's Eve:



After returning home from seeing GWAR on New Year's Eve:




The next day - after washing my hair 6 times.




In conclusion, fuck you GWAR. Great show, but you assholes turned my hair pink.

Accidentally turned on the week 9 podcast for couch to 5k, so I went for half an hour today. So, hey, I skipped a week. Though I think I only went somewhere between 2.8-2.9 miles, that gives me some good hope for being able to finish a 5k. Not that I have one in mind, but just in case.

Nothing else interesting going on over here. Work's still crazy, and I've now been absorbed into Fallout 3.

So, good stuff for me - I stepped on the scale a day or 2 ago, and it came in under 200 lbs. This marks the first time that I've been under 200 lbs since before i discovered alcohol. This also puts me at -30 lbs since I've started this whole "let's not be an unhealthy lazy bastard" routine.

Also, just finished my 25 minute jog to cap off week 6 of couch to 5k. It feels like forever ago when I was struggling with the jumps from a minute to 90 seconds to 3 minutes, but that was just about a month and a half ago.

Jogging in the cold is also weird. I started off actually being a bit cold, but about 5-10 minutes into the run that was gone. That'll probably change for the worse once it goes from the mid 50s to the mid 30s.

Though, some bad news on the couch to 5k front. My favorite source for C5K mixes, Podrunner Intervals, looks like it needs to shut down in a few days. Very sad, as it's pretty much what got me through the runs. I don't think that I'd be sticking with the program if I had to put together my own mixes. However, I did pre-download everything from the 5k, 8k, and 10k programs. I'll have to grab a few fixed BPMs mixes as well. Anyone either know of other good interval podcasts or tools that let you easily analyze BPM and will let you chop together MP3s into mixes?

Work's going alright, though I'm getting thrown head-first into a very ugly project. Hopefully, once that's done, I'll be able to get back to training up the new guy and getting him in a good place to take over the work I shouldn't be doing.

So, finished week 5 of Couch to 5k about 15 minutes ago. Basically, it was "jog 20 minutes straight". If you exercise regularly, that probably doesn't sound so bad. When the first real physical activity you've had in over a year started about 5-6 weeks ago, it's a bit harder. So, I'm feeling good. A bit congested from running outside in the (relative) cold, but good otherwise.

Tried setting up some wall shelves last night. Failed miserably twice, so it's time to go to Lowe's, get some better screws, and try again. After that comes hanging the wall mirrors so that I can get to my good bedsheets. Then, finding places for the two good things I got from Target on clearance (nice wooden wine hutch for $30 down from $120 and a good wine-themed wall clock for $13 down from $50). Boy, doesn't my life sound exciting?

In actual excitingness, Trivium concert tonight w/ Krista. Yay!

Off to pass out.

I remember thinking that the 90 second segments were difficult. Just finished the 8/8, and I even had a bit left to speed up at the end. The 20 on Friday doesn't sound so bad.

Also, some random surreality last night. Went to see Buckethead in concert. Hadn't listened to him before, but it good nonetheless. Highlight was probably the medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the Star Wars theme music, the Imperial March, then the itsy bitsy spider.

Well, off to shower, then Penny Lane pub.

Week 4 complete - and, if http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/ is correct in its mileage, then I'm doing somewhere between 2.5 and 3 miles in 30 minutes. Not too bad, since a third of the workout is walking. Week 5 looks like it'll be interesting. Going from intervals of 3/5/3/5 minutes to 5/5/5 to 8/8 to 20 in the same week - we'll see how it goes. Though, I will have to say, I was worried about the switch from 1.5/3/1.5/3 to 3/5/3/5, and it ended up being pretty simple. So, let's hope that this next week isn't quite as bad.

Scale says 205. So, that means I've lost 10% of my body weight, and I have no idea where it went. But hey, as long as it keeps wanting to fall off, I'll let it. I'll buy new clothes if I need to.

Looking forward to heading to Ohio State on Tuesday. Though, because of that, I'm going to be out of town for Krista's birthday. So, we celebrated yesterday. Got her a Canon Powershot S5-IS to replace the Powershot A630 we bricked in our resuscitation attempt post Dragon*Con. Also went to The Melting Pot, since... well... Who's going to go there just because they're hungry? Well, that and Krista has wanted to go there for a while. So, check that off the list.

Well, off to the Carytown Food & Wine Festival. Om nom nom.

Weight - down to 210. Also discovered this morning that I no longer own a brown belt that fits me. Granted, that's one of those problems most people wish they had.

Running - Completed week 4. Pretty big jump from jogging 9 minutes of 20 to jogging 16, but I made it without any real problems. Second 5 minute jog was a lot slower than the first, but that's to be expected. I also just discovered that a lap around the pond is .58 miles, which made me realize that I'm doing a lot more than I originally thought. Hell, I did a decent bit over that for my first 5 minute jog.
Campus - Headed to OSU October 7th through the 12th. Keeping on my diet and exercise routine may be difficult there, but I can do it. Will also be very nice to catch up with some people that I haven't talked to in a while.

Music - <3 new Trivium CD, the more I listen to the new Metallica, the less I love it. Still 1000x better than St Anger, but I think that a tape recorder brought into the bathroom with me after a Mexican food binge could be at least 3x better than that POS.

Apparently these things called "Watching what I eat" and "Starting to jog" have some ancillary benefits. For a while, I was floating around 230 lbs. Checked the scale this morning, and I was just below 215. Definitely makes doing the aforementioned tasks a lot easier knowing that I'm seeing results.

Speaking of the jogging thing, just started week 3 today. Jog/walk for 90 seconds each, jog/walk for 3 minutes each, repeat. The jump from 90 seconds to 3 minutes is definitely noticeable. Made it through, despite the abdominal pains towards the end of the first 3 minute portion. That did really slow my speed, but hey, I still finished it.

In other news, new Trivium CD. Yay! Double yay - Trivium and All That Remains at The National on October 18th.

Well, dinner time. Feta burgers - yummy!

Still running. Two down in week 2. Still working to get Krista caught up.

Running when it's cooler outside is a lot nicer.

Spinach salads kick ass, though it seems silly to go to Costco weekly to buy more spinach and mushrooms.

One of my *friends* suckered me into the Warhammer MMO. Let's see if I can keep playtime to a minimum. I did a good job with my last WoW run-through.

Not much else to say - but yeah, didn't fall off the wagon yet, so to speak.

C25k week one complete. Now leveling to week 2.

Observations -
1) The week definitely got a lot easier as I went along, in both the time actually running and the after-effects. First day, my legs were sore for 2 days. Second day, my legs were sore for one day. Third day, no soreness. I guess that's why they up the difficulty after run 3. I'm wondering if I'll be sore once I get into week 2.

2) I apparently don't know how to breathe correctly. Krista pointed this out to me - apparently, when exercising, you're supposed to do in-through-nose, out-through-mouth. My default is most certainly not this. As an aside, this my help explain my dry mouth shortly after running. However, now I have to concentrate on breathing while running. Well, at least it's something to focus on aside from "I'm running - this kinda sucks".

3) Sometime between when I last weighed myself and yesterday, I lost about 12 pounds according to my scale. I don't know if I trust this, but I don't remember exactly the last time I had weighed myself, so it's entirely possible. Regardless, I don't really feel like I lost 12 pounds, but I hope that a) I did, and b) the precipitous weight loss continues.

4) It's surprisingly hard to find something to eat at most restaurants that isn't absolutely terrible for you when you're thinking of calories. I lucked out when the Fraud group decided to go to this sports bar, as they had a decent Asian Chicken salad. If they would have gone to their original location (a sit-down Chinese food place), I would have been boned.

5) Either nobody at work knows who Captain Hammer is, or at least nobody is willing to out themselves as a Dr. Horrible fan. Wore my Captain shirt to work today and nobody said a thing. I'll have to try my luck at some "indie" bars around the area, or at the worst, Hot Topic.

So, yeah, decided to run over my lunch break. I discovered a few tings -

1) Humidity is evil.
2) A podcast with somebody talking every once in a while is a lot nicer than a random tone to let you know when to speed up.
3) Humidity is the devil.
4) Lunch running kills my productivity in the afternoon.
5) Regardless of 4), I'm probably going to start running over lunch once the temp drops and/or we have less daylight.

But hey, my motivation has held out for 3 days so far - pretty shocking when I still don't know where it came from. Here's to hoping that it sticks with me.

So, yeah, last time I wrote was a friggin long time ago.  Let's summarize that bit of time, shall we?

Job - got promoted, got a new boss, he transitioned away, got a new boss, old one is coming back, started focusing more on the Fraud work.  Good times, good times.
Car - parents bought me my granddad's old 2005 Sunfire.  I slapped an Ohio State vanity plate on it, so now it says "(Block O)K WTF".  I LOL'd
Apartment - moved to a new apartment.  This one is larger, better location, not infested with kids, and they let you drink poolside.  All in all, very nice.
New Orleans - Went, was fun, got drunk, lost my wallet, dealing with a bunch of charges I didn't make.  Still sucks.
Dragon*Con - Amazing, as per the usual.  Reprised my Tusken (except this year it was 501st accurate) and my Jayne (complete with fuzzy hat), along with a Captain Hammer (i.e. black shirt with an iron-on plus black gloves and combat boots) and a Spy from Team Fortress 2, complete with Borat, Christopher Walken, and TF2 engineer disguises.  Oh, and also the "gentlemen" pose.  Had tons of fun, drank a lot, took pictures, made some new friends (waves at pallagia  and tenner ), and came home with a fresh case of post-con depression.

Instead of wallowing in a pile of blah for a few weeks until it blows over, I instead decided to take the negative energy and use it for good.  tenner  told me about this "Couch to 5k" plan, so I figured "What the hell, let's give it a shot."  I haven't regularly exercised for nearly a year, so I figured that it's be better to start with something I hadn't done before.  That has the added effect of me not trying to push myself to get where I was before, like I tend to do when I swing back into lifting weights.

On top of that, adding all of the crap that I'd eaten before the con (since neither sadirakitty or I wanted to go shopping), at the con (since the food is either WTF-expensive or bad for you in that special way that only mall food court food can be), and after the con (since neither of us wanted to cook).  Holy crap, my diet is terrible.  Combine that with regular lunches out with co-workers and it's amazing that I don't weigh more.  So, I'm going to combine that with the whole running thing.  The inner geek in me knows that it's a lot easier to cut a few hundred calories a day than it is to work it off.  However, exercise has other auxillary benefits that my body has been missing.  Combining the two should hopefully have good results. 

So, simple first steps there - I'm going to severely limit my habit of going out for lunch, and instead come home and eat there.  I'm also pushing us to not go out for dinner nearly as often as we do.  Hopefully I can limit our restaurant dining to maybe once or twice a month, but we don't have any set goals there.  We have already been cutting the "hidden" calories that love to creep in to our diet (e.g. we drink diet pop, have light salad dressings, sour cream, yogurt, skim milk, etc).  We do need to work on our snacking, though... Hopefully we can shift snacks to lunchmeat, fruit, and lower-fat cheeses as opposed to chips.  We've still got some work to do here, but I think that a more gradual approach will lessen the possibility of failure.

So, I wrote this at the end of my very first Couch to 5k experience.  On paper, it sounded simple.  Brisk 5 minute walk for warm-up, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.  When you aren't in shape, this isn't so easy.  I made it, yes, but with the help of a C25k podcast - I have a feeling that those are going to be crucial.  Adding to the difficulty was my decision to take Toki along with me.  Holy crap, was she confused at not being able to stop and sniff every 2 minutes.  She had a really hard trouble understanding why I kept switching paces, as well.  Something makes me think that Toki won't be coming out with me on these any more.  Regardless, it was kinda nice to actually work up a bit of a sweat from just running.  I've got to work the bugs out of my system, but I think that I can handle this.

As a way to keep myself accountable, I'm going to make an effort to post after each workout.  According to www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml, I should have 3 of these a week.  Next step is planned for Tuesday, pending weather.  So, if nothing is posted by Thursday, get on my case. 

Until Next TIme,
Brandon

Soooo, yeah.  I haven't posted in forever.  However, I just had enough stuff go on in a short period of time to make me want to post.

Let's start with the earliest.  Krista and I just got a new puppy a few weeks ago.  She's a Nova Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever.  She's about 4 and a half months old, and she's named Toki.  5 points if you know what that's from.  Here are some pictures of the insanely cute demon:








OK, so now that you're sickened by cuteness, I'll dive into some of my recent happenings.  I went to New Orleans for work about a month ago.  That was fun.  I learned to love drinking from a plastic container on bourbon street.  I also learned that something named a Hand Grenade will absolutely KICK YOUR ASS.  Upon arriving back to Richmond, I found out that it contains the following:

1 shot white rum
1 shot gin
1 shot grain alcohol
1 shot vodka
1 shot midori.

Yeah, getting a large one of those, then one to go... Bad idea when you have work in the morning.

Also, last Friday I had an experience, to say the least.  I had a fun day out at a winery in Northern Virginia, so I drove up there.  Drank some wine, won some money from wine trivia, and had a good time.  Unfortunately, it was raining, so we were delegated to indoors.  Regardless, that finished up around 2:30, then i started my drive home.  Too bad I missed my turn and ended up hitting 495 around 4 PM... On a Friday... In the rain.  To say it was a clusterfuck of traffic would be an understatement of the highest order.  So, instead of dealing with that, I went to a restaurant and killed some time.  It ended up being around 7:30 or so when I hit the road.  After I drove about 30 miles or so, I noticed that my battery and ABS lights came on.  I pulled off at the nearest exit, stopped somewhere, called my dad for some advice, then ultimately said fuck it and started my drive home, hoping that it wasn't anything bad.  Well, when I was talking to my dad my cell phone died.  I drove another 5 miles down the road, then my "trac off" light came on... Then my speedometer stopped working.  Then the rest of my lights came on.  Then my headlights went waaaay dim.  I tried to punch it to the nearest inhabitable exit, but that wasn't happening.

So there I was - 8:30 PM on a Friday night, 60 miles from home, on I-95 south, in the rain.  With a dead cell phone.  In other words, fucked.  I stood outside hoping for a good samaritan, but knew that there was no chance of that in the rain.  So, I opted for screaming my head off.  It sure helped with the stress.  About a half hour of that led to a cop stopping by, lighting some flares, and calling AAA for me.  An hour or so later, the tow truck showed up.  I lost my AAA card for a while, so I didn't even make it in to the nearest inhabited area (Fredericksburg) until about 10:45 or so.  Thankfully, the tow truck driver let me use his cell phone, so I called Krista and had her come pick me up.  She comes up, we get home, and it's like 1 AM.

The next day, I call the place where the tow truck driver dumped my car.  Apparently their lot is retarded, and the way he dumped my car was blocking 3 spots.  To make matters worse, there wasn't anybody there to leave my keys with.  So, I had to have Krista drive me back up to Fredericksburg to give them my keys.  I ask them to charge my battery and take a look at my car to see if there's anything else besides the alternator that needs work, and give me an estimate.  So they do that, call me up, say it'll cost ~$400.  I balk at that a bit, but on my drive there I decide that a tow + repair in Richmond would probably cost more than that.  However, once I showed up, the guy I was talking to went into the thickest Indian accent ever.  However, I did make out $1009, as in how much they wanted to charge me to replace the alternator and the battery.  My BS-o-meter went off the scale, so I told them that I was just going to drive it home.  He said that I wouldn't make it a mile, but I said "I don't care, just give me my keys".  So, I grabbed my keys, paid them their $25, and hopped into my car.  I turned off the A/C, took the face off the stereo, and pulled the fuses for my headlights - no need to waste battery power to run those useless daytime running lamps.  I made it from Fredericksburg back to Richmond - about 50 miles - without any trouble.

To make it even better/worse, my car started just fine on Monday when I took it to a reputable shop.  They charged me $300 for the repair.  I was tempted to call that rip-off location and tell them I made it back to Richmond when they said I wouldn't make it a mile.  I told my dad about it, and he said that he should just drive down and shoot those guys for trying to pull that kind of shit.  Gotta love Dad.


So, back to some good news - I finished my Tusken costume for halloween.  Hope y'all like it:






Sooo, yeah, that's it.  When something else remotely exciting happens to me, I'll write about it.  In other words, see y'all in 6 months or so.

One last thing - Ping Julie - I've got the D*Con '08 room already booked - in Thursday, out Monday.  I'll see about pulling some strings (with my "Silver Elite" Status) for late check out on Monday.  It's $165 a night this year.  Also, look into picking up your D*Con membership.  They're $50 until 11/15.

About a week and a half ago, my boss asked me if I'd be willing to go to New York for a week to work.  Apparently, the people at the bank we bought (North Fork) needed some data help from me.  Now considering that I've never been to New York City for an extended period of time (only once on an uber-touristy trip while I was in High School) and the place is about 25 miles east of Manhattan, I jumped at the chance.  I then find out that they wear suits and ties every day.  Since I only own one suit, I head out to Men's Warehouse and buy another.  Small price to pay, right?  

So, now it's Saturday night and I'm at my hotel, waiting to head back tomorrow afternoon.  Here's a summary of my stay:

Saturday
I get in, head to the hotel, then look for places that sound like fun on Citysearch.  I pick out one place in particular - Lucky 13, in Brooklyn.  I pick up a railroad schedule, and head to the train station... Well, I tried to at least.  I missed the 5:30 train, so I went to Starbucks to kill some time.  Leave there, then I can't for the life of me find the train station.  I finally spot it after driving around in this little town for almost half an hour, missing the 6:30.  From what I was told, the station was easy to find... Apparently they were wrong.  I had also heard that you can drink on the train, so I picked up a 6 pack of Sam Adams at the gas station before I went back for the 7:30.  I hop on the train, then I realize that I didn't have my bottle opener, and Sam Adams bottles are not twist-off.  Fuck.  I debate trying to use my belt buckle, but I figure that it'd be best for me if I didn't look like I was trying to get intimate with a beer bottle.  So I hop off the train, carry the 6-pack around for a bit, then just drop it off on the street and walk away. 

Now,  I didn't know the exact address of this place, but I did know it was on 13th.  I also knew it was by a subway.  However, I couldn't figure out the subway (and couldn't find a subway map, either..), so I was screwed there.  I decided to just walk there.  So here I am, I've been in the city for less than 12 hours and I'm walking through Brooklyn alone at night.  Luckily, nothing happened to me.  I finally find the bar, walk in, order a beer, try to open a tab, and they say it's cash only.  I look in my wallet, see that I have $8, and say "Fuck."  I then switch down to PBR, since it's only $2 a can there.  Once that's done, I leave for the nearest ATM, then come right back.  I have a great time at the bar, wailing along to Strapping Young Lad and Lamb of God on the jukebox and talking to a bunch of random people.  Then, they say "Last call!".  I look at my watch and it's 4 AM.  Shit, they really know how to party in this city.  I head out, attempt to hail a cab and fail miserably, so I (drunkenly) trek back a mile and a half to Flatbush.  I'm starving, so I stop by Dunkin Donuts at like 4:30 AM for "breakfast".  I then walk to the train station, and see that the next train back to Farmingdale leaves at... 6 AM. What the hell!?!?!.  So, I sit on the train station steps, drink my coffee, eat my donut, and wait.

... Next thing I know, a cop's waking me up, saying that I've been here for a long time and should get moving.  I look down at my watch, and it's 6:30.  Again, I find myself muttering "Shit".  I then tell the cops the most obvious statement of the year - "I missed my train."  They tell me that another's leaving shortly after 7.  Once they walk off, I check for my stuff.  Wallet - check.  Cell phone - check.  MP3 player - check.  Sunglasses - check.  Car keys - check.  Holy shit, I passed out in the train station and wasn't robbed.  I wait for the 7 AM train, hop on, then we head to Jamacia to switch trains.  I wait for my connection, and in my drunken, drowsy stupor, pick the wrong one.  I ask the ticket-taker on the train what I should do, and he says "Head back to Jamaica.  There's a bulletin board that will tell you what you need to know."  So, it's now 8 AM, and he wants me to wait for the next westbound train, hop on that for one stop, then take the correct train back out?  Forget that.  I get a cabbie to drive me halfway across Long Island at 8 AM, and put it on the corporate card.  I get back to the hotel at 8:30 and pass out.  Great start to my trip.

Sunday/Monday
Pretty boring.  I drive into the city and end up in Union square, so I bum around there for a bit.  Monday, I head to work and go out to this uber-trendy place by where I work for happy hour.  Apparently for this place, Tanqueray is a well liquor, and Gin and Tonics made from it cost $11 normally.  Hell, if Tanq's that expensive, I'd hate to see how much something NOT in the well costs.  I leave after a quick dinner and a few drinks.  I get a few tips of places to check out in Manhattan from others at the bar.

Tuesday
Work, then I drive into town after I missed the 6:30 train, and didn't want to wait for the 8 PM train in.  So, I park at (where I thought was) a few blocks from the bar that was recommended to me.  I ended up being about 15 blocks from the place.  Oh well, more walking isn't a bad thing.  I head into this bar (McSorley's), and it's pretty cool.  Unfortunately, nobody was there.  So, I grab one of their beers and continue wandering.  I stopped at a bunch of bars, and most of them were cash only.  Again, what the fuck is this?  I'm trying to use my per diem allowance on my card, and I can't.  My favorites were McSorley's, Cheap Shots, and Identity.  But, back to my story.  I eventually make it to this place called Identity, and they actually take my card.  I have a beer or two, then look at my watch.  It's 1 AM.  I'm drunk.  I have to be at work at 8:30.  My car is here.  This is bad.  At this point I switch to red bull (which the bartender was buying for me) and water.  I sit in the bar, BS with the bartender girl (who thought I was 30... sometimes I think this goatee ages me too much) and a few other people at the bar, including the stereotypical gay asian guy.  Last call comes and goes, and I'm still feeling a little too bad to drive.  So, the group of people I was chatting with at the bar and I wandered looking for food at some diner that one of them heard was good.  We get there, it's 5 AM, and the place is closed.  Luckily, we were like 2 blocks from my car, and I felt good to drive.  So, I hopped in, got back to the hotel without a hitch, and then looked at the clock.  5:53.  Shit on me, I have to be at work in 2 hours.

Wednesday
I wake up 2 hours later, hop in the shower, then try to make myself look presentable.  Stop in the cafeteria, buy a fruit salad and 2 cans of red bull.  Down them immediately, then start nursing my coffee, diet coke, additional red bulls, and anything else with caffeine that I can get my hands on.  I feel miserable, and the people at work are all amazed that I'm still awake.  I head home a bit early, but I'm so doped up on caffeine that I can't get to sleep until like 10.

Thursday
Get to work, end up finishing everything that I need to do for the week around 2:30, so the guy at work has me give him my cell phone number in case they need something more, and says that I'm free to leave.  SWEET!  More free time in the city.  So I look for places in Manhattan that sound interesting, write a few down, and head to the train station.  Miss my train by a few minutes, so I catch the next one in.  Actually figure out the subway, so I take that down to the Lower East Side, where all of the places that sounded cool were at.  I check them all out (let's see, No Malice Palace was pretty cool, Ace was alright, Vazac Rest was surprisingly cool for a place I just wandered into - they had Clutch on their jukebox and the [female] bartender bought me a Jack and Diet after having only two pints of Yuengling, a couple other places sucked hard, and then some place was really cool, but I can't remember its name, and only have a vague idea of where it was.  I leave a bit early, thinking that I might catch an earlier train to Farmingdale.  Doesn't happen.  Next train leaves at 5.  I hop on it, then almost miss my connection, but a cop wakes me up while I'm sitting on the train and tells me where to go.  Make it home around 7.

Friday
Wake up at about 11 for some odd reason.  Decide to head into the city early and explore.  Get to Penn Station around 4, wander up 5th street, see Central Park for a bit, wander all over the upper east side, and finally get in contact with a friend of mine from college who lives up here.  He tells me he's going to get out of work around 9, so I chill and wait for him.  We get out, decide to head to the Lower East Side (see a pattern?  apparently that's where all of the not-so-insanely-expensive places are).  Check a few of those out, then he gets the great idea to go to a strip club.  I say that I don't want to pay for blue balls, but he's adamant about going, saying that he's not paying for blue balls.  We go in, I'm not spending anything, he's blowing cash on lap dances, strip club beer, etc.  I buy a beer so that I don't look completely out of place.  I end up telling like 6 of the girls that no, I didn't want a massage or a lap dance.  Surprisingly, I found that to be the best part of the night.  Last call comes.  We leave, he mentions something about needing pussy (in other words, he blew a bunch of cash to get blue balls) and wanders off.  I head back to Penn Station, immediately grab a train that's heading to Farmingdale, then get in around 6.

Saturday
I wake up at about 11 to my phone telling me that I got a message.  Apparently, my friend didn't make it in last night, and they found my number through facebook and called me at about 6:30 to figure out where he was.  I call them back, and apparently he got lost (and I thought he was heading to the nearest subway stop) and confused, then fell down and got even more confused.  Police found him, drove him to the hospital.  Also, my feet were friggin sore.  They realized that I had probably walked a good 6 miles the previous day in shoes that aren't made for such extended jaunts.  So I've stayed in the hotel room today.  That killed my plans for heading back to Manhattan this afternoon, but whatever.  I've spent enough cash as-is.  Furthermore, this gives me plenty of time to pack up, relax, etc.

So, lessons learned from my trip to New York City:
1)  Last call is at 4, and the trains don't come back until 6 or so on weekdays.
2)  There is more than one eastbound train.
3)  Don't drive into Manhattan.
4)  A lot of bars are cash only.
5)  Don't pass out in public.
6)  Telling strippers 'No' is good fun.
7)  NYC cops are surprisingly helpful.
8)  (If you work at North Fork) You can do breakfast + lunch for $5
9)  Don't stay out till 4 when you have to be at work at 8:30.
10)  When I come back for a vacation, I'm staying in the city and not renting a car.
11)  You don't need much sleep when you're in the city that never does.

So, yeah, that was my week.  Loads of fun, but once my lack of sleep really registers with me, I'm screwed.  Oh well, at least I didn't go out today.  Trying to pack while dead tired and/or drunk would suck.  Fun times, fun times.

I've noticed a big difference in license plates between Virginia and the rest of the US.  Namely, I have seen a LOT more personalized license plates down here.  There are a lot of stupid ones, like STOPH8N, MISTAHB.  There are also some funny ones, like CYNICAL, NSAINE, GOT MOJO, IM LOST, and some others.  However, I've noticed a very disturbing trend:  there have been some license plates written in leetspeak.  In fact, in the last few days, I have seen both ROXORS and ROFL.  I find it kind of scary, personally.  A little funny, but mostly scary.  There is also someone in my court that has fuzzy D20s hanging from their window (and no, it's not me).  Nerdiness follows me wherever I go, I guess.

 

Speaking of nerdiness, I'm pissed that I'm going to miss Dragon*Con.  Granted, I haven't gone before, but I was hoping to have done so this year.  It may be for the best, however, as I still need a few essentials for my Jayne costume.  Most notably, the knit cap.  It's just not Jayne without the cunning cap.  I really don't wanna half-ass my first costume.

 

I also need to take care of the knife and its holster.  I know what kind of a knife it is, and where to get it, but does anyone know what the typical con rules are on weapons? It's going to be holstered, but I don't want to catch crap for having a real knife. Also, I still need to figure out how I'm going to craft the extra pieces for the airsoft pistol in order to make it look close enough to the movie, put these extras on the gun itself, and make it still fit in the holster.  Luckily, I've got everything else covered for that costume, and when it all comes together it'll (hopefully) look pretty badass.  I'll still probably throw together a few extras when I get some time, but it's nothing that's seriously necessary.

 

I also might want to come up with additional costume ideas.  Shaun (of the Dead) would work fine if I could find a cricket bat, but that's REALLY HARD to do in the US.  Nobody plays cricket, thus no stores sell the bats.  Beyond that, I don't have any good costume ideas.  Working with the goatee is rather difficult.  Well, on the bright side, I'll have about 8 months before con season rolls around to think about this and do some more work.

 

Work's going fine. I actually have responsibilities now, which is good.  I've been traveling between Richmond and McLean about once a week.  Let me tell you, having a shuttle bus between the two campuses is great.  It's a lot nicer to put in headphones and close your eyes for 2 hours at 6:45 AM than it is to deal with the traffic on 95 close to DC.  I also just got my corporate card.  That'll come in handy when I head back to Columbus to help with Campus Recruiting (which is October 5th.  I'll be in on the 4th.  Mark it on your calendars)  Speaking of work, if anybody knows anybody that is looking for an analyst job, let me know and I can try and hook them up.

 

Richmond's nice.  The new hire group at Capital One is a fun group as well.  I've already earned my namesake down here, as there's now a rating on the inebriation scale known as "Brandon Drunk".  It fits between drunk and trashed off your ass.  In other words, you puke multiple times, but you give the person driving you home ample warning so that they can pull over and let you puke outside of their car.  Not that I'd know anything about that, of course...

 

I do miss some stuff about Columbus, though.  Columbus wins hands-down in the food department.  I miss The Dube, Thurman's, Schmidt's, North Market, BD's, and the Fish Market, among others.  The bars around Columbus have a lot better specials, too.  Hell, some of the bars down here don't even stock Red Bull! 

 

Buying stuff for a new apartment gets expensive quickly.  My first paycheck (which was actually paycheck * 1.5) went directly to paying off the credit card bill I incurred since I've been down here.  Hell, I still need to buy a couch.  After rent gets paid off, maybe I'll be able to buy one with this check.  Hopefully, after this I'll be able to actually start saving money.  Of course, I'll probably find some stupid things to spend my money on.

 

Finally, a big Fuck You to Citibank.  I loved their Dividend Platinum Rewards card.  I got 5% cash back on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases, and 1% back on everything else.  But I just got a letter in the mail that they're "restructuring" the reward program as such:  now it's 2% back on gas, groceries, drugstores, convenience stores, and utilities.  So, in other words, not a damn bit different than what anybody else offers.  And I'm going to lose a decent bit of cash from that.  Those assholes.  Oh well, guess that means I have to go back to rewards card shopping again.

 

Time for sleep.

 

To anybody directed here from sadirakitty 's LJ post, here's a great place to put replies.

Now, back to taking some notes on Jayne's serenity outfit.

the Observer Test finished!

you chose BZ - your Enneagram type is FIVE. "I need to understand the world" Observers have a need for knowledge and are introverted, curious, analytical, and insightful. How to Get Along with Me Be independent, not clingy. Speak in a straightforward and brief manner. I need time alone to process my feelings and thoughts. Remember that If I seem aloof, distant, or arrogant, it may be that I am feeling uncomfortable. Make me feel welcome, but not too intensely, or I might doubt your sincerity. If I become irritated when I have to repeat things, it may be because it was such an effort to get my thoughts out in the first place. don't come on like a bulldozer. Help me to avoid my pet peeves: big parties, other people's loud music, overdone emotions, and intrusions on my privacy. What I Like About Being a Five standing back and viewing life objectively coming to a thorough understanding; perceiving causes and effects my sense of integrity: doing what I think is right and not being influenced by social pressure not being caught up in material possessions and status being calm in a crisis What's Hard About Being a Five being slow to put my knowledge and insights out in the world feeling bad when I act defensive or like a know-it-all being pressured to be with people when I don't want to be watching others with better social skills, but less intelligence or technical skill, do better professionally Fives as Children Often spend a lot of time alone reading, making collections, and so on have a few special friends rather than many are very bright and curious and do well in school have independent minds and often question their parents and teachers watch events from a detached point of view, gathering information assume a poker face in order not to look afraid are sensitive; avoid interpersonal conflict feel intruded upon and controlled and/or ignored and neglected Fives as Parents are often kind, perceptive, and devoted are sometimes authoritarian and demanding may expect more intellectual achievement than is developmentally appropriate may be intolerant of their children expressing strong emotions Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele The Enneagram Made Easy Discover the 9 Types of People HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages You are not completely happy with the result?! You chose BZ Would you rather have chosen: AZ (THREE) CZ (ONE) BX (NINE) BY (FOUR)

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 25% on ABC You scored higher than 0% on XYZ

Link: The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by felk on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test