I just went back through the site, trying to find something that I'd posted a few years back. What a pain in the ass. I definitely need to come up with a "search by term" function, because going back post-by-post is ridiculous.

And yes, I know my last version of the site didn't have that either, but at least on that version I could search by date, rather than having to scroll through pages of numbers.

H: What are you gonna do for lunch today?

Doozer: CHOW DOWN

H: On what?

Doozer: FOOD MAN

H: Caps lock key broken?

Doozer: I CAN'T HEAR YOU, SOMEONE KEEPS YELLING

I don't know what the root cause is, but I woke up this  morning with a sore throat, a mild cough, and no voice. I went in to work, but after an hour it was painfully obvious that if I can't talk to people, I can't do my job. Not to mention the fact that I might be contaminating the entire office.

I made sure my project team knew I was leaving, and then talked to the branch manager. I let him know that if he needed to reach me, I'd keep my company cell phone on. He paused and looked at me for a minute, realizing the irony. I stared at him for a minute, then looked at my phone, shut it off, and left.

It's June 5 and it snowed today.

Global warming? Go fuck yourself.

This is what I do for a living. I'm the waiter, chef, hair stylist, movie rental guy ... except that it's real life, and it's hundreds of thousands. And the people are serious.

Part of the reason I haven't been posting as much lately is because of work. I've recently received what might seem to be a promotion, but is in fact a horrible nightmare. It's kept me from spending a lot of free time posting and doing inane randomness online.

In times of economic turmoil, such as we're experiencing these days, one might think that a "promotion" is a good thing. Job security and whatnot. Now, part of the reason I'm using quotes around the word is because there has been no change in my compensation, so I'm hesitant to call it a promotion. Instead of extra money, I've been given a lot of extra stress, so maybe it evens out that way.

The problem is that I've sorta asked for it. I hadn't been used in a capacity that I was happy with for the last year or so ... filling in on other projects, not really being of full benefit to my own career or improving my value with the company. So I'd started talking with some people higher than me to see if I couldn't nudge things back into my intended direction. Instead of a gentle tap, I got a massive shove, and now I've been pushed ass-backwards into a position about 2 steps above what I was originally looking for.

Not only did they put me into a higher position of responsibility and authority than I expected, but they also did it at a time when a lot of shit needs to be taken care of.  Emphasis on LOTS OF and SHIT.

So now my days consist of dreading going to work, then going to work, fighting with clients most of the day, then going home, stressing about the days fights for a few hours, then stressing in anticipation of the next day's fights, and then falling into a restless sleep knowing that it will all start again the next day.

I'm not sure how long I can/will go on like this, but I'm pretty sure something's going to give sooner or later. I just don't know whether it will be sooner or later.

Last Tuesday I got a concussion while playing hockey. It wasn't from a body check, but somehow my head hit the ice. I don't remember what happened, but my teammates have said it sounded like someone put a bowling ball inside my helmet and dropped it on the ice.

My brother (who plays on my team) took me to the emergency room at the hospital when I started asking the same questions over again, and I wasn't apparently answering some basic questions to his satisfaction. It's been nearly a week now, and I'm not getting headaches much anymore, but there's still some sensitivity. That game that we were playing was our last game of the season, trying to make the playoffs. It turns out that we DID make the playoffs, but I won't be playing due to the accident.

So that's my excuse for where I've been lately. I WAS still able to enjoy a great Easter weekend with my family, and Eric got to spend some quality time with his grandparents which I think they all enjoyed.

Oh, and GTA4 is pretty much hogging all my free computer time still. Stupid game.

I came across this quote the other day, and I liked it so much I needed to repeat it here.

It's looking more and more like the Oilers will actually make the playoffs this year, but I still laughed my ass off at this video.