Here's where I work:

A public service announcement was just made by one editor stating the following: For those of you who care, "Surf Girls" is on MTV. And many folks changed their channels.

That is all.

Well, in an attempt to make my life/monetary situation better, I decided I'd change my car's oil myself this evening. Instead of paying $30 to Jiffy Lube or $25 to my dad's work, I paid $12 for the quarts of oil and the filter. Indeed, I know how to do this...it's really simple, honestly. Except when I do it, of course--nothing's ever really simple the first time it's been done by me in a long time.

I started around 7:30 or so, and recently finished the project up at 12:30. I called my dad twice for information, and the second time, he gave me the wrong directions, or I misunderstood him. I asked which way the oil filter is supposed to screw off, and he said counterclockwise. So for a couple hours I tugged and pulled and attempted to jimmy up contraptions out of tools not designed for use as an oil filter remover to get the damn thing to screw off. I decided to suck it up and go to Meijer and buy an oil filter wrench. Had to borrow Gerard's van to do so, and I knew he'd come back from his choir meeting, which he did. Thankfully, he has brains and didn't automatically call the cops thinking someone stole his van. :) While there, some middle-aged dude asked if I knew anything about cars, and I said a little. He wanted my opinion as to whether or not his idea to put grease in the front-axle boot (which had a hole in it) would extend the life of the bearings inside. I told him it would be better than doing nothing, I'd guess. That conversation lasted longer than I wanted. I paid and left.

I came back and used the wrench, but then figured out by looking at the new filter that, indeed, for hours I'd been trying to turn it the wrong way. Plus, the wrench was a piece of crap that didn't work right--it was too big and had this soft lining on the inside that was supposed to be grip, but wasn't gripping anything except my patience. So I had to call Luis to tell him (at 10:30 or so) to come out and bring his oil-filter wrench, because we're getting this thing off and done tonight. I couldn't drive it that way.

His wrench, a different design than the one I bought, worked to perfection, of course.

So, I wasted an entire evening trying to change my oil. But at least I'll know next time which way to turn the damn stuff...hopefully. My arms, neck and back are sore as hell, so now i know how my dad feels after a day of work (though he doesn't have to lay on the ground, the lift takes care of that). The shower I took didn't help at all. So I'm going to go to bed now...

More baseball venting...sorry.

Trade his sorry ass to the Cardinals now. We're booing because you guys are seven games under .500 or whatever and you suck, asshole. At least Magglio realized that a few weeks ago and simply admitted they suck.

I don't know how I stay a Sox fan when all they do, no matter what, is blame the fans. It's never anyone else's fault and it never will be anyone's fault but the fans.

"We can't have a good team because no one comes to games."
"We have a shitty park because the fans wanted it."
"We can't have a good defensive team because the fans want offense, offense, offense."
"We have to rename Comiskey Park so we can make the park better for the fans."
"We don't feel at home and have no support because the fans boo us."
And my personal favorite, from the above story from Buehrle: "They don't want you to give up a hit or throw any balls, so you just have to throw strikes every pitch.''

Isn't that the freakin' point, jackass? You throw strikes and get people out with solid defense and you hit the ball enough to score enough runs to win a game. That's baseball, last time I checked.

OK, look, I sympathize with the guy. Really I do. Some day, I'll have to miss work for my mother and father, and I can relate to that reason. So I suppose it's a good enough reason to miss the All-Star game. But still, having shelled out $250 for tickets to the entire weekend and being lucky enough to be sitting in right field, where most of his home runs will be, this pisses me off a bit. Still, his reason is better than faking an injury or just not playing.

Man was it cold for volleyball, but I was more prepared for it this week than last, so it wasn't terrible. However, the wind was pretty bad. Really, it cost us two games, because we played our worst against the wind. Still, as usual, it was fun. I actually played a lot better after we requested that they inflate the ball prior to the game. It didn't hurt nearly as much (though the ball was still a little underinflated) and I was able to actually get something on my hits. So that was cool. I also kicked up plenty of sand into my face on a few great diving hits...I had sand in my mouth, eyes, ears and nose...not to mention my shoes, which I left on this week and will probably proceed to leave on throughout, or at least until it gets really warm.

Otherwise, today was an edit-heavy day at work. Those aren't so bad. Much of the day at work was spent talking about the upsetting loss in softball the previous night. His thoughts, his actions during the event, etc. We found out that my coworker and high-school buddy actually broke his finger on a play, when he tried to catch the ball with two hands but put his bare hand in front of the glove too soon. They stopped the game because he was walking in, blood pouring from his hand. Someone asked me what was going on, and I held up my hand and said, "His hand is bleeding." Then I noticed blood on my hand, and looked at the ball, which had already been thrown back to me, and it had a nice splattering on it. I guess he broke the tip of his finger bone or something. That sucks for a journalist. :) At any rate, I hope all this postgame talk and "comforting", if you will, translates into a kickass performance next week, as we're playing another pretty solid team. We shall see, we shall see.

Well, stupid Blogger screwed my rant over last night. Basically, we were robbed of a potential win in softball when the ump made a completely incorrect call on a play at the plate that would have put us within two with two outs and myself and our other solid hitter coming up with two outs and a man on third. Our runner performed a perfect hook slide at home and his foot slid over the plate, but the ump had a bad position and called him out. We went nuts...we could have had at least six of us tossed (leading to two-game suspensions) even though the game was officially over. It was nuts, but warranted...he had blown 2-3 calls (depending who you ask) already. It's too bad too, because he seemed like a nice enough guy, he just didn't get good position. So we lost, 8-5 in a game that we could have won against a very fundamentally sound team of Japanese or Korean players...they yelled in their native tongue the entire game. It was interesting, to say the least.

Tonight, freakin' beach volleyball in 60-degree, wind-off-the-lake weather. Damn. It better warm up real fast.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I'm sure you're all depressed.

Here's something to marinate on that I was thinking on my drive home yesterday: Everything we do revolves around mercury and circles.

Went to Hawkeye's again yesterday, but this time for the weekly ritual of 10-cent wings. Nothing spectacular happened, so I'll spare the details.

I'm thinking of imposing a personal embargo on goods in and out of Andy's World in the efforts to save money. Now, that probably won't make a big difference, since I don't really go out and spend, spend, spend anyway, but we'll see. I'd like to get a part-time job at a restaurant or store or something for after work, but I fear that if I do that, not only will I have to stop seeing my friends, but it will cut into the only thing keeping me from keeling over and dying: my sports leagues. Of course, not going out, in and of itself, would help me save money, as would cooking and eating at home instead of out and about. But you try driving 45 miles in rush hour and then mustering up the desire to cook. It's not easy. If I could move closer to work or get a job closer to where I live, that would be great. But that's looking slim right now too. Oh well...I guess I'll just be stuck in this vicious, money-wasting cycle for awhile...unless I stumble across something.

All right, recap time...yeah, baby!

Friday: Went to Eddie's state tournament volleyball game and watched them lose. However, the fact that they made it that far with the record (25-14) they had compared to the other state qualifiers (like, single-digit losses) says a lot. Plus, they set a record for most consecutive state appearances with four in a row. Eddie played well in the first set, but then was on the bench the entire second set, for some reason, which is weird, because he's the team's equivalent of a basketball sixth man. It's because I was there to watch him, I'm sure. It always happens that way.

Went to kill time at the Hooters of Schaumburg, had a beer or two and a chicken sandwich -- normal fare when I go to Hooters. Also watched the first couple innings of the Cubs-Yankees game. Then I went over to Boogie Nights of Schaumburg for drinks and dinner (I forgot, which is why I went to Hooters...damn). It was buffet-style, prime rib and popcorn shrimp...it was a nice, nice spread, and all for $2 (except drinks after your first free one). It was nice, though I didn't eat anything, since I was full. That started at 4:30, and we left around 7:30 or so, maybe? I was stunned as to the fact that it was still light outside, though cloudy.

We weren't done, of course, and we went down to Hawkeye's in the city for more drinks and because our friend was tending bar. A couple of us decided to close the bar (at 2am) and go out to Dugan's in Greektown with our bartending friend and another one of the Hawkeye's waitresses. We did, though we didn't stay very long. I got home and went to bed around 4:30am. It was starting to get light out, and the birds were a-chirpin'. :)

I then had to get up for a 1:30pm appointment at Robert Jeffrey, where Luis always goes to get his hair cut. I was hung over, which was strange, because I had not been drunk the previous night...I guess it boiled down to the fact that I had just overdrank what my body could process and then got far too little sleep to help the processing along. I woke up and wasn't feeling well. But I drove to Luis' and was surviving. Until I got into his car, when I promptly threw up. After that, I felt a little better, and once we got rolling with my haircut, I was feeling much better. My hair was cut and styled by some guy named Martin, though he's not on the site (Luis says it hasn't been updated.). He talked about how my previous hairstyle hid my face and that he was going to cut it really short to open up my face. I think he also sided with Luis and wanted me to get rid of the goatee, for that same purpose. But I refused. :) So my hair is short and the idea is to make it messy-spikey with gel or pomade or something like that. I have to say, he did a great job though. It was funny, because there was one dude who was washing hair, and I was going to ask if he was with the hair-washers union or something, because that's ALL he did, and no one else really was doing it. It was just funny to me. Oh yeah, and the receptionist was hot as hell.

After we got out of there, we grabbed lunch, as I was feeling better, and then wandered over to the lake (to the totem pole on the bike trail, which is right there). We sat in the grass for awhile and relaxed and then decided to leave. I wanted to go home, take some Advil and a short nap, as I did still have a bit of a headache, before we went to the bachelor party for a dude at the Sun-Times who I met in San Diego and went to Tijuana with. They said to invite whoever, so I figured Luis would want to go. This Sun-Times guy is a drinking machine...for every one beer we had in Tijuana, I kid you not, he was drinking two or three. And he wasn't even blasted...or at least not showing the effects of it. He's a bigger, fatter guy, but he's not IMMENSE...he still shouldn't have been able to handle as much of the alcohol as he did as well as he did.

Anyway, we arrived...there was a good handful of Chicago sports media folks there...not a lot, and only one really "big" name...the Sun-Times' NFL guy, who was a riot. I met a guy from "Bear Report" who was pretty cool, and I already knew a couple of the Bears' beat writers and the one Sun-Times sports editor guy who was there. They had grilled burgers, brats and chicken breasts, which were fantastic...I meant to ask what they basted the chicken with, but I had no chance.

The guy who was running it, though, ruined the night for me completely. We walked in and I could see the guy was hammered already. But he was a funny drunk and I joked with him after paying for me and Luis. The strippers were on the way, they kept saying. So the first one gets there, and really, it's no big deal. Dumbass dude running the thing, after we were told explicitly no pictures during the show, takes a picture with his disposable camera. So bodyguard guy, of course, takes it away. Dumbass then spends the next 30 minutes or so begging the guy for it back. Then, when he gives up, he's standing to the side, no more than three feet from the stripper who is giving the bachelor a nice lap dance, and telling one of his buddies, "Yeah, we got another stripper coming, and she'll be better than this one." Someone heard and tried to diffuse the comment a bit by saying something nice, but dumbass says, "Well, you don't bring your A-game first." At that point, I was thinking, dude, shut the hell up...she's right here, dumbass. I felt bad for her, because really, that's damn rude. There was nothing wrong with her or her "performance" or anything.

But whatever. She leaves soon after with the bodyguard dude. Dumbass then comes over to me and Luis, who are sitting on the couch waiting for the next stripper. He's like, do you guys mind chipping in another $10? We got another stripper coming, and she'll be here any minute, and we don't have enough money.
Me: "Yeah, that's fine, if we're still here, we'll chip in more money no problem."
Dumbass: "Well, can you give it to me now?"
Me: "No, we'll pay you when she gets here if we're here."
Dumbass: "Come on, just give me $10 apiece. I'm not dicking you guys around."
Me: "I know, but I'm not sure if we're gonna still be here. If we are, we'll pay you. Why don't you go ask some of the other guys for money too, and we'll get ours ready."
Dumbass: "OK, five bucks. But just gimme it now, would you? I'm not screwing you guys over."
Dumbass's friend walks over: "Everything OK over here? What's going on?"
I think, great, there's going to be trouble, but it seems Dumbass's friend is trying to diffuse the situation with Dumbass. He walks away, while Dumbass continues to plead and gets $10 from the two dudes sitting next to us. Then tells them to get us to pay also. I repeat our situation.
Luis (clearly getting angry, says something intelligent, trying to overpower a drunk dumbass with his brainpower, which never works.)
Dumbass runs his fingers through his hair, and his arm, on the way down to his side, drunkenly hits his cup of beer, which proceeds to spill square on my shoe. It soaks through to the sock.
Me (still keeping composed, but really starting to get pissed off): "Dude, you owe ME $10 for ruining my shoes."
Dumbass, unaware: "What? Just gimme $5, man. Come on."
Me (a little angrier): "No, dude, you just spilled your fucking beer all over me. I'm not giving you any money now."
Dumbass looks down at his beer and at my shoe: "Oh."
Me: "Yeah, now leave me alone for a while and go ask someone else over there for money and then come back."
Dumbass: "Sorry man. (not exaggerating here...two-second pause) Dude, gimme $5 for the stripper."
Me: "Fuck you asshole. I'm done here. C'mon Luis we're leaving."

I have never, ever been so insulted on principle before and I was quite fucking pissed. I said goodbye to the bachelor, who was trying to hook up the PS2 to play porn DVDs for the guys (I think "Weapons of ASS Destruction" was on tap.). He didn't ask why we were leaving, but he was surprised. I did bitch to a couple of the guys I knew on the way out when they asked why we were leaving though...but man, was I pissed. If I had no respect for bachelor dude and my other acquaintances there, I would've fucking escalated things a lot more. Instead I figured I'd leave before things got hairy...because it would have been me that started them, I was so pissed.

So me and Luis went to the ol' standby again on the way home, Hawkeye's, partially because Luis had to go to the bathroom and because I could drink soda all night, which I did. I didn't have that option at the bachelor party, that I knew of.

Today I woke up and took the dogs on a long walk and then went to Home Depot to buy some Citronella plants, because there are swarms of mosquitos in my back garden, but of course, I couldn't find any. Instead, I purchased two nice-looking blue-daisy type flowers. But then it rained. I'll have to look into whether or not these plants actually work or not...I get the feeling they work just like herbs, where you have to pick the leaves and rub them on you or something...but we'll see. I need to do something though, because the skeeters are nuts back there, making my garden not a fun place to be now.

Ah well, that's enough talking...I'm gonna relax the rest of the afternoon and maybe play my new game, SimCity 4, and do some laundry probably. But who knows? :) Thanks for reading!

well, I was going to post a recap of the last two days' activities, but I'm tired. I'll do that tomorrow, which is really today, sometime, I guess.