I was napping just now and called to mind where I was a year ago today.
I had a great Indian dinner at Guru Palace then joined by my married friends to see Bolt in 3D.  Ran into a girl who gave me two free movie tickets (good for future visits); one who had attended classes with Willy and whom I personally had not seen in six years or so.

At that time, I was wondering how I was going to afford a new place; I was trying to move to either the East Windsor area and have a small house.  At the same time, I was applying to the job I now have in Newark and wondering if I would live with my Aunt in Jersey City (which would have been pretty crazy knowing what I know now... barely 5 months into my employment went she passed away.  Forty-Days memorial coming up Wednesday).

I wasn't ready for a woman in my life, I felt.  Things were out of order; I wanted to have that place first.  I had a stable, highly secure job but I knew I was going to have to sacrifice it if I was ever going to be able to afford moving out.  I knew that where I was there was no advancement.

And that brings me around to a year later.  Single, but a week from closing on the new condo.  I was awakened imagining what brought me to my future place as I daydreamed awake in bed of being alone in my living room sitting on the floor in front of my couches enjoying the daylight dripping in as I prepare for my day of work ahead.

The entire process from that day until today has been all worth while and completely unpredictable.  I can honestly say I've enjoyed the element of not knowing the future.  I fear the future; I fear failures.  Perhaps for a while I won't need to worry about future failings and enjoy the year that is to come and let what will happen happen as it intends.

Since I've diverted my NetFlix to my new address and I am strongly considering getting HD over the air (that means with an antenna... YES you can do that!) I thought I would take full advantage, with my free time, of the Movies on Demand that I'm paying for at my Dad's place.

Couple nights ago I finally saw "The Fifth Element" from start to finish.  I was better leaving it to mystery, I think.  Part of me says, "before there was anything like Star Wars, the original Star Wars must have felt like watching this... without a map to anything that this Sci-Fi movie is like."  But at that, it doesn't strike me as having the "weird but... oh shit, super-entertaining" factor that, say, "Time Bandits" has.  Is it cruel to laugh at midgets and mockeries of God/Satan/Creation in its glory for ninety minutes?  Maybe.  Can you be anything but disturbed at watching hammy acting coupled with lousy editing for that length of time?  Again, maybe.  Perhaps I needed to be younger to enjoy this movie.  Late Nineties I first saw it; the part where Leeloo types in "WAR"... I literally walked into my cousin's apartment in Jersey City where they were rewatching this moving as it played in the background and we got ready for a night of partying.  "Now she learns" I remember this guy Joel saying.  And by the time it was over (like what, 10 minutes or 15 minutes later??) he commented, "She's Captain Planet and the Fifth Element is "Heart" just like Ma Tee."  Okay, that didn't spoil the plot or anything now that I've seen it from the beginning.  Still, I'm almost ten years... maybe more... removed from that time.

Today I watched "Pineapple Express" and can't figure why folks didn't universally see this as brilliant.  I heard that you either love it or shut it off/walk out of the theater within minutes.  Dude, Gary Cole definitely kept me in the flick the entire time.  It was like a Kevin Smith movie in some ways without preaching any message... I thought Ed Begley, Jr. was hilarious.  There weren't any aspects I didn't find hilarious, even the Item #9 sequence... the insinuation that good kharma would lead one to become Jude Law... a concept outright rejected.  Awesome.

I picked up my car from it's 105K mile maintenance, had the timing belts replaced which fixed my power-steering issues and seems to have made my clutch more responsive as well (or the engine more responsive to the clutch... it had been slipping more than I thought).  Righteous.  On the way home, I hit Target and found Tim Tams which I've been wanting to Tim Tam Slam for about a year (a little while before we met British Kate in NYC last year).  Video of my adventure now being posted.

Didn't find his or her own behavior immature.

Tonight, I met up with a couple guys I've made friends with recently.  Last time they saw me, I made an embarassing display with some local girl who we thought was MAYBE 22.

Well, they text me that she's at Clydez tonight where we had agreed to meet up.  I texted back, "Bullshit."  But as I parked directly across the street (in one of the tightest spots I've ever tried to parallel park in... and the closest I'll ever get to parking in front of Clydez in 20 years), sure enough there she was!

They had been shot down trying to approach her and say hello.  I can understand.  I walked up to her after getting my beverage on and first thing I did was tell her I want to apologize for last Thursday night.  She thought she was out of hand as well.  She asked if I went to school here at Rutgers and I said that actually I am WAY out of college, am 34 in fact, and that's why I want to apologize.  I'm too old to be so rowdy at a bar.  She let me know she is 29, just got out of a relationship, and was out to blow off some steam herself.  She also went home embarassed to have made such a scene thinking I was probably still in college, too.

Maybe we are a little older, a little wiser, and get a little carried away from time to time.  Still, I think it's a good ending to know we should be more responsible; age not being an excuse.

Luck is shining on you today, and if you review your budget carefully enough, you will find serendipitous extra funds at your disposal. Think long term with this windfall. Before you head out to the mall to spend it, consider that big-ticket item you've been saving up for. This money could go a long way toward getting it in your hands. Hold off spending it until it can really be used in a powerful way. Skip the baubles and go for the gems!

Details to follow on the night.  Having Hotoke in New Brunswick, all you can drink sake for the first hour.

What I get done today?  Well, did a lot of online shopping at Target making like a registry of stuff I wanna spend my 10% off coupons to buy for my new place.  Things like a reversible cast iron griddle/grill and iron press for making paninis, non-skid chair pads which I intend to use on the dining room floor instead, possibly Ottomans.  Also noted some shelves I want from IKEA (they don't have to be THAT sturdy... they are more decorative which is why it's neat they are categorized as shelves/room dividers.  Also got my hair cut.  Let's see what cooks on my day off.

Well, a disappointing update.  I had a great time, Dennis and Bogy were there to hang.  I didn't get picked for karaoke later on at Harvest Moon so that was a bummer.  The rest is stricken from record; I blame the sake of which I had at LEAST 15 shots but lost track of very early on.

Verizon Wireless called me at lunch.  I'm always leery of "them" calling as they always want to offer more minutes and a new contract.  Sometimes, they want to verify my SSN at which point I decline the offer; I mean, how easy is it to get my phone number and ascertain which provider I use... and my home address?  They could simply get that from any sweepstakes entry form I fill out.  That's bad news.

The pitch here was actually they see I don't use all my minutes and offered 200 fewer minutes for about $10 less LESS the 20% discount I got from my previous employer when I signed up for the plan in the first place.  Awesome!  That's closer to $15 less per month!  That's a half-tank of gas or a couple drinks at the bar each month; a week's worth of more lunch at the cafeteria (well, 3 days if I get a full meal instead of side orders).

Also, I've verified that I have healed my broken toe/foot.  I am able to jog on it now with minimal pain; I can hop on the one foot and spin in place, I can bound back and forth across the room on the one foot, I can make quick cuts as if playing basketball and change direction quickly barefoot now.  I should be back to jogging in a couple of weeks; I'm on pace to begin jogging around my complex as soon as I move in.  I guess just keeping good padding in my shoes, leaning off it when possible, getting good rest, and finally "setting" my toe helped a lot.  Maybe I'm a Doctor and don't even know it.

As I began to say, I guess I should begin with Wednesday night.  I agreed to meet NBDS for a Wednesday meeting Dennis called since he was in town.  I left early since my shiftmate gave me the okay to meet them at a "decent" hour.  By the time I reached Route 1, it was diverted to a single lane just after Exit 130 on the Parkway.  For many, many miles... past Oak Tree Road almost up to Skylark Diner.  Feels like many, many miles even at 11pm.  But what really got my goat was that a giant traffic truck with one of those arrow signs on the back took up the right lane on the bridge that leads to Loew's New Brunswick.  Sitting on the line between the middle and left lanes was a cop car pacing this truck holding traffic to a brisk 15 miles per hour over this bridge all the way to the exits for Route 18.  Surprise, surprise, that's where both STOP allowing on the LEFT lane to pass onwards to Route 1 South.  Fucking bastards, why didn't they leave the left lane open for us the whole time if they were only intending to block off the two right lanes heading towards Route 18?????  So I had to wait for some reasonably light traffic to continue passing, then I could drive AROUND to the left lane and through On The Border/Houlihan's/Sears' parking lot to Ryder's Lane and take George Street into New Brunswick.  Got to see my friends for an hour; by then the Yankees had lost Game One 6-1.  Still was nice to see them while I could.

Wished I had the chance to see them again Friday since Gopi and his wife came out for a group dinner that Cindy and Kate organized but I remembered that it was Kirsten's birthday and I said I'd do a drink with her to celebrate.  I got to see her and her husband (along with lots of other friends I don't see very much of anymore) at the Gonzalez house for the back end of a Halloween party.  I dressed up as an impression of Japanese JPop Pop stars donning the famous red leather pants.  Mine was not the scariest costume, believe it or not.  A couple of my friends were really tired so I gave them a ride home; they left a credit card and a tray of dessert in my car, though, in their rush to get to bed (they had a family gathering in NYC on Sunday morning).

Sunday I didn't do much of anything.  Watched Slumdog Millionnaire; pretty good.  Rested up.  Today I rested up, gave my friend back her credit card, and thought while I was in town I might redeem one of my two remaining free sandwich coupons at White Castle.  I instead opted to finally hit Pizza Hut for their $5.99 lunch buffet.  Turns out, that's really a $3.99 lunch buffet.  Price was reduced.  It's actually $5.98, though, if you buy a drink ($1.99) which I did.  Totally recommend it; all the pizza you can eat along with a simple spiral pasta in red sauce if you want, bread sticks (also unlimited), and even an apple crumb pizza dessert.  I'm still full.  They just keep constantly restocking a bunch of medium sized pies on a set of hot plates.  A dollar more also gets you a small salad bar; no room for that.

Let's see.  I guess I should go back to last Wednesday first.  Fought with my Lawyer again who knows less and less about my impending closing every minute.  They wanted me to give a number of how much credit I'd rather receive instead of having repairs done.  The nerve, even today they were unaware I had given in and given them a reply as to how much credit I'd be willing to accept.  I think they just want me to do all this legwork myself; next time I either need to just use my Realtor's people or do ALL the work myself because I'm doing everything over and over and over and being asked the same shit over and over, too.  For example, today my Lender springs upon me whether or not I decided to use escrow for paying taxes and insurance.  I don't remember WHAT I signed... just I signed whatever I agreed to in the first place.  Gees.

I brought laments similar to this to the attention of my friends Wednesday night since they asked how I am faring in these matters.  Truth be told, they couldn't be less helpful about it.  Sorry, guys if you are reading this, but as I said it isn't the first time I've voiced concerns and gotten conflicting advice.  Especially to be made fun of later because I don't know (off hand) how much my taxes are... I explained I don't worry about the breakdown of things as much once I've resigned to pay a FULL amount and the FULL amount is fine with what I've budgeted since I've erred on the conservative side all the way.  To me that kind of thinking is like me asking how much sales tax is on a car... I don't know; I know the APR and how much my monthly payment is (0 at this time).

Along with this, I keep having to chase down ridiculous amounts of information on this place I don't live in yet and have to provide this information AND PAY FOR a year's worth of insurance (I realize this is somewhat standard now, but damn it was a pain in the ass just getting a quote to work with first!) before I can be loaned the money I need from my lender.  How far away is the nearest fire hydrant?  Are walls built from Fire-rated Dry Wall considered "Firewalls"??  If they HAVE to inspect the property anyway, why can't they just estimate it for me and find out for themselves how far the damn hydrant is?  And why does nobody ever call my realtor for information she can provide (such as the name and phone number of the Condo Association)... why do they keep calling me asking ME to find this shit out?  I mean, I had my lender call me asking for that number not because he wants it but because my lawyer wants it... my lawyer who has been faxing back-and-forth my contract with the realtor!  Does that make any damn sense??

Hopefully we close on time because this really bugs the hell out of me and makes me lack focus in a lot of ways.  For one thing, this blog was supposed to be about seeing my friends on Halloween.  Blog to follow... now...

Yesterday was my workmate's birthday so I covered for her making today my only day off.  Well, there was the unexpected death in the family last weekend which caused me to miss work Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm still a little bummed but keeping me busy is helping.  I didn't see my Aunt every day; I will miss her at times when I am gathered with my Mom's family.

Today, on my one day off, I took advantage of two different KFC's since there is a promotion today of getting one free piece of Kentucky Grilled Chicken.  I went to the drive-thru in East Brunswick and also walked up to the one in North Brunswick while doing some other bargain shopping.  Both drumsticks.

In East Brunswick, I stopped by a new favorite place called Harmon's Face Value.  They have other locations as well.  I got something in the mail; a $5 off coupon when you buy $20 worth of stuff.  Easy to do; they have lots of disposable stuff like replacement razors for my Gilette Fusion and heads for my Spin Brush.  Also, some refills of stuff I like.
Found what is my new favorite licorice soft chews made by Hershey .  I like Black Panda but find it too filling; like it has too much molasses and flour.  This has corn syrup instead of (I think) cane sugar, but I'll take it.  It's not HFCS.

In North Brunswick, I stopped by Marshall's Home Goods.  They have the same stuff as in the Home Goods over by Wegman's in Woodbridge.  However, in stock today they had something I saw in a Macy's ad so this will save me some dough.  They have a very large cutting board with a built-in (and REMOVABLE) collapsible silicone colander.  I like two-in-one, I like space savings, I like silicone, I like Bamboo.... I like them both for $25.  Also, got a Lazy Susan (bamboo... or looks it) with a removable glass cutting board.  I'm not too crazy about the wine and cheeses picture on the glass cutout, but I can flip it over... or cover it with real cheese, whatever.

Went to White Castle Tuesday, ordered Buffalo Cheese Sticks. Got 3 coupons with questionnaires about Sticks, filled one out (still have 2). Each one good for 1 slider, chicken, or fish sandwich. Redeemed today and got survey for 2 sliders. Found ...nickel in parking lot. That was lunch.  I filled out that survey, redeemed it for the 2 free sliders on my way home and out printed ANOTHER survey for 2 free sliders.    While I have had back-to-back surveys before, I've never gotten 2 in 9 hours time and never used 3 free sandwich coupons in a row.

First and foremost, my Aunt is terribly ill.  Seems we may lose her.
When I got home at midnight, my folks were not home.  Mom called before coming home two nights ago, Thursday night.  I had had some Taco Bell alone and let the dog out.

This morning, I was awakened by my lawyer who is doing good work on my behalf fighting to have my windows fixed at the new place by the sellers.  However, he's not doing his diligence with me and I lost it on him because he was completely unaware that my closing date, per HIS own handiwork in the addendum he added AND references in his back and forth correspondences with the sellers and their attorney, is a MONTH away and not a WEEK away!  This causes MUCH confusion with my mortgage broker prompting more phone calls to me and I have to have the REALTOR step in and re-fax everybody the current contract.

Work was going okay, I was getting some paperwork done, applying for home insurance.  I take a break at 8pm to find out the bad news about my Aunt.  We fear the worst, it looks like the worst.  I have an anxious cry alone in my office... by the time I am through crying I see my monitors begin to pester me.  I do as trained and then it turns out much worse; a power outage had taken quite a bit of our functionality down.  Luckily, I was back together in my head but had to stay at work until 1am before I could comfortably leave my relief who came aboard at 11pm.

I have been restless and mostly awake since I got home some time past 2am.  I have work again tonight (3pm) and then I can visit my Aunt on Sunday, per my Mom.  Prayers to my whole family.

Finally got around to seeing "The Terminator" after seeing each of its sequels over the years.  The movie is really, really good.  It has a good sense of humor about it self; makes fun of itself a LOT in the police station scene.  We even get to see how Arnold carefully chooses his response of "Fuck you, Asshole" from a list of all possible responses... how do you not vote for the guy to be Governor?  Terminator:  Salvation makes a whole lot more sense now, too. 

I'm 45 minutes into Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and I realize I should have watched a Steve Martin movie every day of my life.  This is my new life's mission.

That said, I thought Frank Oz was only about muppets.  This movie and The Man with Two Brains have proven me oh so wrong.

A girl I am into was taking a personal lesson from Tom Morello on how to play a strange, five-stringed harp.  It was six feet long, had LEATHER strings, and when plucked sounded like a harpsicord.  It sat on the ground sort of like an empty bed frame.  It got a lot weirder from there.