Fron the last time....

"So the new job starts Monday.  The past 2 weeks have bben a mess.  Days like today make me wonder why I stopped drinking.  Today we transfered inventory from our vans to the new vans with the new company.  This includes parts, tools and laptops.  This became a huge nightmare as all the legal questions were answered and then changed.  There was an open conference call running all day for all the questions.  I never listened in but I heard that most of the day I was the focus of part of the call.  That's what happens when you start early.  After I was done half the stuff was changed.  Either way I got done early.  Tomorrow I drop off the van and MOnday I get picked up to get the new van.  There was such a discussion on the legal over this.  We can't be in one van since we aren't an employee.  We can't be in the other van after 11:59 Sunday night.  So there ends up being multiple trips back and forth. 

Your Mood Ring is Orange

Stimulating ideas Daring Full of desires

What Michael Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

I've been AWOL lately. It's been busy around here. School, the holidays and everything else just takes time.

Since last year we needed new living room furniture. What we had was from my wife's aunt and was old when we got it. Over the past few months it got bad and we finally decided we would buy something new. We spent a month looking on line and checking out stores. That really kills blogging time. We decided and bought a new set on March 23. So that meant we had to get rid of what we had. Sunday, the wife and I carried the sofa and loveseat down the steps to the curb for Monday's garbage day. I spent the day cleaning and scrubbing the carpet. It's so much easier when you don't have to move furiture while cleaning.

So, Tuesday I took the day off and finished cleaning. We got the new stuffat noon. Very comfy. The pic and link are set and color we got. We also added a matching chair and ottoman. We didn't get the tables.

http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/Showroom/Showroom.aspx?PageId=Showroom&Categor...

I haven't blogged much this past week.

Mostly I was sick. The whole congestion thing was driving me nuts. Now it's just a sore throat.

It took a while just to catch up on emails, finally I got that done. So I hope I can get back to the blogs.

I didn't write the article below but wanted it seen.

1. It mentions my fortress of solitude

2. The theater mentioned was torn down the year before I was kidnapped. That was the field where we were picked up.

3. I saw Bambi there.

MY VIEW

A bit of history is lost when landmarks fall

Updated: 03/05/08 6:35 AM

My earliest recollections involved countless visits to the show with my mother and one or two of her sisters — either the gum-snapping Aunt Stella or Aunt Mary, who baby sat my brother and me. It was exciting to pass through the mirrored French doors into the mysterious dark world of the theater, with its distinctive smell of freshly popped corn.

At certain times of the year it was even more remarkable. You might leave a heavy Buffalo snowfall with brisk winds and icy sidewalks to enter a tropical jungle adventure featuring Tarzan. Or in the summer, you might leave a sizzling sunny afternoon and step into the refreshing dark air conditioned world of the theater.

The Rivoli was there as far back as I can remember. In fact, my mother told me of how she would go there when she was a young girl to watch vaudeville acts on the stage. Once she had the courage to get up on the stage and sing a song in order to win a china place setting for her mother.

All of these memories — and now the Rivoli was being torn down. What a sad event.

The feelings I felt that day were not unique. I’m sure there were those who felt similar pangs when the beautiful Roosevelt Theater on Broadway and the Lafayette Theater downtown were torn down to create parking lots. And when the famous “one stop wonder,” Sattler’s department store, was eliminated. Over the years many “landmarks” all over Buffalo have been torn down. I’m sure there are justifications for each of these initiatives, but one can’t help but wonder how it is that buildings such as these seem to be cherished and preserved in Europe, while in our country the usual procedure is to tear down the old.

Several cities I’ve visited in Europe have a McDonald’s restaurant or KFC outlet built into old structures, thus preserving the flavor of the area. It is not only the historical value that is lost when a building is demolished. The environmental impact of disposing of the discarded building materials also needs to be considered.

The solution to the problem is certainly not simple, but examples are available of successful reclamation efforts. Baltimore’s recovery of its inner harbor area is one example of proactive efforts that have been phenomenally successful at not only preserving a historical area but also turning it into a viable resource.

Likewise, Cleveland has turned an abandoned railroad terminal into an office building and shopping mall. In Cincinnati, a large railroad terminal has been converted into a popular museum.

Buffalo has many assets in terms of its lakefront location and rich history. Indeed, some of the more recent redevelopment efforts in the downtown area seem to be sensitive to preservation considerations. I can only hope that this sensitivity becomes ingrained as redevelopment continues.

Hats off to the Central Terminal Preservation Corp., which as been doing a yeoman job at recovering and preserving one of the most revered landmarks in Buffalo’s East Side — the old New York Central Terminal.

Kidnapping

This was August of 1985.

After a baseball game in a field (I didn’t play) a bunch of us decided to have a refreshment. I believe it involved several cans of beer each. Or more then several.

Four of us decided to go to Burger King on Broadway about 5 blocks away. On the way there Weasel (that was his nick name) decided that he needed to stop near some bushes for a moment. We got to the end of the block where an old theater was just demolish and was now a dirt field when a cop car jumps the curb and pulls in front of us. Weasel was at the back of the pack and runs for it. One cop throws a rock at him, the other one throws us in the back seat. I had a nice boom box with me at the time. Remember this was the 80’s.

So there are 3 of us in the back and 2 pissed off cops in the front. They are pissed because one got away. We get driven around the neighborhood for a few minutes while they badger us for an address. I didn’t know it; I’d only been there once before. Dipwad gives up the address. We drive a little more. The police stop in front of a house where a woman is standing. He asks if we are the kids that broke her window. She turns looks at the intact picture window and says no my window isn’t broken. She looks at me and says he was just here and didn’t do anything. See; the year before I worked for the mayor’s summer youth program watching kids at the Polish Community Center across from the Burger King. So she knew me as someone that she (for some reason) trusted with her 2 girls. The fact that the cops lied to her about her own window kinda helped us.

But the truth never stopped the police before. So off we went. We go to Weasel’s place. The cops tell his parents that he’s being arrested. They go to the station. We go to an area that 4 white teens should not go in the summer on a weekend at 10pm. We each go let out at different places so we were alone. Two of us were let go in a different precinct. So, I and my radio run to an alley to figure out where I am. I get turned around. Once I get going to right direction I end up having a guy get in my face over the radio. I try to hit him with the radio and get jumped by his buddy from the side. They grab the radio and run. I sprain my ankle cause stupid me thought chasing them while drunk would be a good idea. I find my way to McDonalds, get a happy meal and relaxed for a while. After that it was a 2 mile walk home. That sucks with a sprained ankle. I get home around 11:30 and go straight to sleep. Remember, I was 15 and my mother was not home from the bar yet. Next morning I tell her and she and I report the problem but nothing was done and she didn’t talk to the other parents. Dipwad’s father was a bartender at the bar next to the station so he got dropped off 2 blocks from home. The next person about a mile away; then me about 2 miles away. Weasel was dumped the furthest. No report was ever filed by the police; that had this thing where they would randomly pick people up and just dump them somewhere. It was their way to tech people who was boss. None of the parents wanted to fight so everything was left alone.

Shooting

This started fall of 1988 and ended early 1989. I was told recently that I fooled all of you into thinking I’m a nice guy. From someone that knew how I was then it made sense to think that way. But, I’m not that person anymore. I was told I was controlling, I’d argue that one but not here. One thing is for sure I was quick to get angry. That has changed in the past 19 years.

One snowy day in November; I was taking the ex girlfriend home from the mall before I went to work. At the stop sign near her house 2 guys from down the street wanted to ski off the back of the car. It’s a thing people do, in the summer they would use skate boards and hold on to cars. We exchanged some words that ended with them saying F’ing make me; then I grabbed my crow bar* and chased them to their house. More words were exchanged by the ex’s house when they came out with their older brother. @ Nothing much happened at this time.

About 6 weeks later I was picking the ex up to go somewhere when a bunch of guys jumped out with baseball bats. They came at the car swinging. It was a one-way street with cars parked on one side. I started driving after them. I was driving the wrong way on the side walk chasing them down until they ran and hid in a back yard. %

Not long after this as I was going to pick up the ex I had to drive by the house where the guys lived. As I passed by I heard a loud bang. Then a second later another loud bang and the passenger side window exploded. I got to the ex’s, she got in and we went to my house and called the cops and my mom. $ She was visiting my grandmother at the time and got home just after the police got there. The police were no help and refused to do any paperwork. That should not have surprised me; it was the East Side of Buffalo and the police and politicians let it fall apart years ago.

* It was a crow bar nor a tie iron. 3 feet of cast iron. I kept it next to the drivers seat because you never knew when you would need to hit someone with a 3’ piece of cast iron.

@ Strange, I told her to get in the house before there was any trouble and she got mad at me. It’s odd that I can still remember her yelling at me from the other side of the car about telling her what to do. Perhaps after all this time that’s what she meant about controlling.

% That was fun!!! Driving in circle and the wrong way was just awesome. Dangerous and stupid maybe, but very fun.

$ I was 19 and still living at home.

It's above freezing in Buffalo today. I'm going to Erie, PA.

Makes sense to me. I love my job, hope I get some quality nap time.

Work has been slow after the post Christmas rush. No one shopping means nothing breaking. Sooner or later something will break and become an all day job. Tomorrow I have some camera work to do, I'll be getting help from the Rochester tech. Unless the weather changes.

I'll be back later all.

16 blogs in 3 days and still more to go.

I’m working on a couple in Word and will be sending them out soon. So far it seems people want to know about the kidnapping more then anything else. Oh well that is one I’m working on.

This weekend I’ve had a bad cough. Saturday morning I was up at 4:30 and tried sleeping on the couch so the wife could sleep. Sleeping sitting up helped but laying down was torture

I did make it too the gym for an hour on Saturday but not Sunday. This coming week will be tough to get there.

So this past week: On Tuesday Jimmy hurt his knee at Tae Kwon Do. It’s only a hyper extension but he’s still having pain. We stayed home Wednesday. Thursday was the usual I get to stay home for a little while when Lisa taught religion. Philip is one of her students and Jimmy helps out in class.

Friday was the dinner so I skipped the gym. Saturday Jimmy took class but he had some pain. This sucks because he has a Level test for Tae Kwon Do on Wednesday at 7pm. If he passes he will be a 1^st Dan level 2. That leaves at least 2 years until the next black belt test.

Sunday was not pleasant with Jimmy. Girl trouble but that will be a different blog.

Philip had a great time watching AFV this week. He couldn't stop laughing.

1.Kissed someone on your friends list? Only the wife
2.Dances in front of a mirror naked? YES
3.Ever told a lie? Of Course
4.Tripped on mushrooms? Nope
5.Done Ecstasy? Nope
6.Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
7.Been arrested? Technically No
8.Kissed a picture? No
9.Slept till 5pm? yes
10.Had sex at work? No (you meant with someone else right??)
11.Had sex in public? Technically no
12.Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes - today/no
13.Held an actual snake? no
14.Run a red light? No
15.Been suspended from school? No, but it was close
16.Totalled your car/motorbike in an accident? no
17.Been fired from a job? yes but was rehired in less then a minute
18.Sang Karaoke? no
19.Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? no - boy were there things I could have done
20.Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
21.Caught a snowflake on your tongue? yes
22.Kissed in the rain? Of course.
23.Sang in the shower? yup
24.Sat on a roof top? I occasionally work on roofs
25.Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? yes boy was I pissed
26.Broken a bone? No
27.Shaved your head? No
28.Slept naked? yes all the time
29.Blacked out from drinking? yes
30.Played a prank on someone? Yep, but not a nasty one!
31.Had a gym membership? Just got it 2 months ago and lost 25 pounds
32.Felt like killing someone? yes, all the time read my story
33.Made your boyfriend/girlfriend cry? yes
34.Had sex more than 9 times in a 24 hour period? close it was 7.
35.Had Mexican jumping beans as pets? no
36.Been in a band? no
37.Shot a gun? no
38.Played strip poker? NO
39.Donated blood? No
40.Video taped yourself having sex? Yes, several times
41.Still love someone you shouldn't? no
42.Have a Tattoo? no
43.Any piercings besides ears? Non at all

1.Kissed someone on your friends list? Only the wife
2.Dances in front of a mirror naked? YES
3.Ever told a lie? Of Course
4.Tripped on mushrooms? Nope
5.Done Ecstasy? Nope
6.Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes
7.Been arrested? Technically No
8.Kissed a picture? No
9.Slept till 5pm? yes
10.Had sex at work? No (you meant with someone else right??)
11.Had sex in public? Technically no
12.Fallen asleep at work/school? Yes - today/no
13.Held an actual snake? no
14.Run a red light? No
15.Been suspended from school? No, but it was close
16.Totalled your car/motorbike in an accident? no
17.Been fired from a job? yes but was rehired in less then a minute
18.Sang Karaoke? no
19.Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? no - boy were there things I could have done
20.Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
21.Caught a snowflake on your tongue? yes
22.Kissed in the rain? Of course.
23.Sang in the shower? yup
24.Sat on a roof top? I occasionally work on roofs
25.Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? yes boy was I pissed
26.Broken a bone? No
27.Shaved your head? No
28.Slept naked? yes all the time
29.Blacked out from drinking? yes
30.Played a prank on someone? Yep, but not a nasty one!
31.Had a gym membership? Just got it 2 months ago and lost 25 pounds
32.Felt like killing someone? yes, all the time read my story
33.Made your boyfriend/girlfriend cry? yes
34.Had sex more than 9 times in a 24 hour period? close it was 7.
35.Had Mexican jumping beans as pets? no
36.Been in a band? no
37.Shot a gun? no
38.Played strip poker? NO
39.Donated blood? No
40.Video taped yourself having sex? Yes, several times
41.Still love someone you shouldn't? no
42.Have a Tattoo? no
43.Any piercings besides ears? Non at all

For those that are used to my 5 am comments tomorrow I will not be around. I'll be on the road to travel half way across the state of New York.

I'll be back.

Car trouble

So, one day we go to the car for class and the battery is dead. Someone turned on the overhead light. (it was Jimmy Ahhhhhhhh) AAA got there quick, jumped the battery and we went to the second class of the night. We got there I parked but left the engine running to charge the battery. Jimmy went to class, I stayed in the car. Instead of pulling up to the door and parking in front of the building to talk to the 3 of them I decided I didn’t have anything to say and stayed where I was. On the way out Kevin started talking to Jimmy, Jimmy said he had to go and came out to the car.

I get home and I get an email from Kevin asking why Jimmy wouldn’t stay to talk to him. Jimmy was 12 at the time and just starting to get into how boys and girls are supposed to act towards each other as couples. Well, seeing Kevin and Carrie together while married to others bugged him. We had been talking and he asked me if they were together. It pissed him off that people would treat people they claim to love so badly.

Kevin and I trade emails, basically me saying he had an issue and I’d take care of it. Well that wasn’t good enough for him. He kept asking what the problem was. So I told him Jimmy asked if you doing Carrie. So then he blames me for putting the idea in his head because there’s no way any one can see what he’s up to. Then he says he’s not up to anything. Next he says we’re friends and why am I doing this to him. I try explaining that people see things and talk. He tells me to stop talking to people. I told him to go to hell.

Next episode the trouble starts.

For about 2 weeks everything is normal, well for us anyway. During the 2 weeks Michelle tells me she questioned Beth on what she knew about what was going on with everyone. Of course Beth had stayed out of it and didn’t know anything except what she saw at the banquet. Now why would Michelle question the people that talk to me??? To put it mildly I was pissed at her. Then she decides she wants to visit with the family. Lisa (the wife) was so against it. I convinced her because I wanted to know what she was up to. So for a week at class my group was expecting to hear about a fight at my house between the two of them. That Saturday Michelle and her 2 boys come over. She left her future husband home. They brought their own snacks, that seemed rude, like they thought we would starve our guests. They were over for about 3 hours. I made pizza for lunch. I also did the dishes after. Now remember at one time Michelle bitched that I didn’t do enough around the house. Since making lunch is not out of the ordinary for me I assumed this was no big deal. The boys played foosball, pool, and air hockey.

Brandon was able to piss of Jimmy bragging about how great he was at pool. Too bad the kid couldn’t play.

Michelle said almost nothing. It was the most boring time I ever had. I made her play a game of foosball just to get her off the couch. That Monday at class people were surprised by how it went. She comes over to talk to us. Somehow it got around to me not doing anything around the house. I reminded her that I made her lunch and cleaned up after everyone. Two days go by and she forgets, I think she gets me and her fiancé (also named Mike) mixed up. He plays video games all day.

We are coming to the end of the story. One more big chapter covering the last of January. Then there will be some emails I saved.