Pátek in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

Got an e-mail from one of the jobs I applied to several months ago. It started with “Over 350 applicants were processed”… so that’s how I am so unemployable right now. There are hundreds of people applying… some likely with excellent experience… some likely with no experience… and me: not excellent experience, not a lot of experience, just a few months in a place that is notorious for being awful. Ah well, fingers crossed for the others I guess?

Last night Wife asked when we should start packing. I was confused until I realized that she meant “Packing to move.” Yeah. We both are kind of chomping at the bit to get out of here, it would seem. Funny thing is… because “can’t be worse than here” I’ve been applying to some jobs I never would have tried before.

My day is supposed to be busy… but I’ll admit that I can tell I’m already going to get in my own way. I woke up early today to get a jump start on things… but I only got to work about 5 minutes early just because it took so much mental coaxing to get me to leave and come to the office. So I can easily imagine that issue continuing throughout the rest of the day. Taking my 22 Item To Do List and (if I’m lucky) only finishing 13 Items on it.

For a final random blast into the Internet Ether; Today is the 22nd Anniversary (to the day) of the movie Star Trek Generations. As it was the first Star Trek The Next Generation movie; it is the first Star Trek movie I remember being excited to see. Until this morning, I genuinely thought it was the first Star Trek movie for which I was alive. My my my how wrong I was! There are only two Star Trek movies that predate me (“Vger” and “Kaaaaahn” affectionately). The humor… the due date of my birth was set to be after “Search For Spock” was released… but I was born weeks early and beat “The Search for Spock” by approximately 28 days! So I’ve been alive for almost every star trek movie. That is actually a bit of a sobering thought. (And of course… even this brings a bit of depression to the soul about The Place I Live. When you were a child, did you ever try to talk to your parents about something you loved and could see in their faces they didn’t get it or thought it was silly? That’s pretty much every day here. The few people I do see, if they ask me about my hobbies or interests, are quickly turned off by how someone can enjoy such frivolous things. Because hobbits and wizards and science fiction are simply… not practical. Whereas sports and farming and the weather are “easily grasped, generally accepted” and thus ‘normal’ things to like. Genuinely another reason why This Place is more difficult now than it would have been previously. In Law School, I met an abundance of people similar to me… we could discuss the Silmarillion in the same conversation as Transphasic Torpedoes. I had found people like me! And now, out here, it is the same ancient and long dead stereotypes. No, D&D isn’t more nerdy than Fantasy Football. No, CosPlay isn’t sexualized escapism… at least no more so than wearing your favorite football player’s jersey while chain drinking all the Bud Light in your home. No, Comic Books aren’t pornography. No, it isn’t a waste of time to contemplate temporal ethics, but I love that you made a hilarious pun without realizing it.)

For those dreading Thanksgiving due to Family Politics: Civil Thanksgiving Tips.

As it is on everyone’s page (seemingly) I shall complete The Survey

Is there anybody you just wish would fall off the planet?
No, strangely. I don’t want anyone to just fall off the planet. But at the same time, I would not be averse to a Death Note on some folks if I knew in advance that it would be genuinely positive for the Greater Good.

How do you flush the toilet in public?
Our office bathroom FINALLY got a new toilet. Granted, the bathroom door still doesn’t lock (which has created awkward moments) but we no longer need to hold the lever down for 2 minutes!

Do you wear your seatbelt in the car?
To such a degree it could be legally described as an act of such a reliable and habitual nature as to be considered an evidentiary assumption

Do you have a crush on someone?
Always at least a few… because yes, celebrities count

Name one thing you worry about running out of.
Patience, Money, and Sanity

What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble?
Honestly, when I was still competitively swimming, I’d get Tom Cruise. When my muscles left but I was still thin, I would get a few David Boreanaz. Nowadays..... nobody.

What is your favorite pizza topping?
MEAT

Do you crack your knuckles?
I am constantly cracking everything. My body is such a mess from Fibro that at any given moment I can crack my neck is 3 places

What song do you hate the most. “Shots” by LMFAO and Lil John

Does just mentioning a song make it get stuck in your head?
Not typically; but I’ve trained myself in a method for removing songs from the head. If I have one stuck in my noggin’ that I need to get rid of, I can internally sing/hum “Sanctuary” by Darling Violetta and the other song is gone.

What are your super powers?
Usually, the ability to successfully function and compete with able bodied humans while I am experiencing considerable pain.

Peppermint or spearmint?
Both; but it depends in which form.

Where are your car keys?
Left front jacket pocket

Whose answers to this questionnaire do you want to hear?
This is a Group Think survey. People will do it if they wish to or “because everyone else is doing it”

What’s your most annoying habit?
Depends on who you ask. So would say it is my untidiness. Some would say it is my dourness. Others would say other things.

Where did you last go on vacation?
Depends. If work conferences don’t count as vacation (work conference: 6/2016)… and if family reunions don’t count as vacation (6/2015)… and family funerals don’t count (5/2016)… and family weddings don’t count (5/2012)… then the last actual vacation I ever went on was sometime around 2006.

What is your best physical feature?
My legs… maybe

What CD is closest to you right now?
Emotionally closest… I’d have to say MxPx “The Ever Passing Moment”
Physically closest… I’d have to say Booking Room Evidence

What things can always be found in your refrigerator?
Cheese, Milk, Eggs

What do you believe/practice?
I am Christian. While I am certainly going through a crisis of faith these days, I think that terminology still holds true.

What color are your bed sheets?
Blue, Green, and Red… like the Republic of Karelia

Would you rather be a fish or a bird?
Despite my swimming history, I’d say Bird. Just seems to be considerably more freedom and considerably less risk of being eaten.

Do you talk on your cell phone when you drive?
Never. I hate talking on the phone anyway (like, to the point of developing a complex) so really never.

What are your favorite sayings?
I have a few but I still like “Each person feels pain in his own way, each has his own scars.” by Haruki Murakami in Kafka on the Shore “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” by John F. Kennedy “Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.” by Martin Luther King Jr.
““We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” by Abraham Lincoln

What song(s) do you sing most often in the shower?
It has been a while since I sang in the shower, but usually something from Broadway

If you could go back or forward in time, where would you go?
IF I could do a “redo” I’d go back in time; otherwise, I’d go into the future to discover from Future Me which mistakes need to be avoided or changed.

What is your favorite Harrison Ford movie?
TOUGH call… “Presumed Innocent” is a great one, “A New Hope” is good, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” is great, “Working Girl,” The Frisco Kid.... so many good ones!

What song is currently playing?
The empty howling of the winds battering the mostly empty building I call my office

What song do you wish was playing? “Why Should I Worry” by Billy Joel

How many kids do you plan on having?
I do not have any children at present. I would be perfectly content with the two kids and a dog motif but… it looks more and more likely that neither of those things is in the cards for me.

If you could kiss anyone who would it be?
There are a number of different answers I would have to this question… but I suppose the answer should be my wife

What do you do when no one is watching?
Hate myself, sadly

If they made a movie about your life, what actor/actress would be you?
I’m not good about knowing actors my age… I’d think Sam Riley or Casey Affleck

Would you rather die in a blaze of glory or peacefully in your sleep?
I would rather die in a blaze of glory. Especially the less it seems my life matters, the more I want my death to matter

Coffee or Tea?
Really not a coffee person, so tea

Favorite musician(s)/bands you’ve seen in concert?
Saw 311 in Concert, love them. Saw Audio Adrenaline in concert, love ‘em. Saw Sabaton in concert which was awesome

Have you ever been in love?
I sure hope so!

Do you talk to yourself?
More often then I probably should

AND NoJoMo18

Tell us about your favorite game, video or board?

SO MANY! Which is another huge reason why being in a place with no humans (especially no humans that enjoy socializing with a 32 year old nerd) is so tough. Because.....
Apples to Apples
Cards Against Humanity
Strek Trek Scene It
Clue
Munchkin
Defenders of the Realm
Pathfinder
Dungeon World
Bang
The Island of Doctor Necreaux
Vampire The Masquerade
Arkham Horror
The 7th Dynasty
Drinking Quest
(AND THOSE ARE ALL “BOARD” GAMES! Let alone video games. Are you crazy?!)