This weekend could have been a little stranger, if say I had been visited by Jimmy Hoffa. Instead, I went to the wedding of a former high school classmate over the weekend. This involved traveling to the coast and staying for a few nights. Now that seems fairly normal, but let me explain to you why its not.

First of all, let's start with the whole connection thing. The said former classmate was NOT a friend back in those days, nor now. In fact, he could have been responsible for early coining of the term "douche bag" when referring to losers. In this strange turn of luck, he just happened to be marrying the sister of Betsy's best friend. The tie in was that Bets' was going to support her friend and sister. I tagged along for reasons ranging from curiosity to wanting to get out of town for the weekend.

If High School taught me anything, it was to never be shocked when something unexpected happens. Now, I was being a silent observer for the most part. The rumor through the mill was that my old classmate wasn't the best of characters still to this day. This was coming from sources close to the bride and groom. From everything I saw, he was just your average guy now and didn't go out of his way to ruin your day anymore.

I entertained the thought of humiliating this guy in front of his entire family as revenge for the humiliation I endured over a decade ago. Perhaps I would grab the microphone and tell the story of how he ridiculed me for being a "Computer Geek" back when I was a Freshman. Maybe I would slip some ex-lax into his coffee. But, being the respectful and unmotivated individual I am, I instead played along with the chorus of well wishers and being cordial and congratulatory.

Thank goodness I don't often run into people I went to High School with. I certainly don't go out of my way to attend their weddings. There were others there I went to school with, but didn't recall the names of and was just fine with that. Bets' and I had a good time, but I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was a blast from the past I could have done without.

Back to the normal work week. I can't sleep thanks to not eating right all weekend and a double shot espresso after dinner this evening.

Normally,
Gregsta'

I finally decided it was time to delete my MySpace page. I keep in touch with all my friends the traditional way, so the MySpace was not only redundant, but a source of wasting time and snooping on what my friends and acquaintances were up to in their lives. A serious waste of time.

I only feel bad that I never got around to reconnecting with some people who found me (or I found). Truth be told, since I hadn't made much effort in a year, I probably wouldn't have all of a sudden picked up and started dialogs with any of them. Not to say I dislike those long-lost friends, I just don't have the interest of reconnecting at this time.

This is a result of my quest to simplify my life where possible. While I watch the world around me get increasingly and unnecessarily complex, I doubt highly that there will be substantial long term benefits to doing so. In my mind, I would rather partake in a rich and meaningful existence – uncluttered by noise and complexity, than to immerse in too much fad-driven technological craze.

We'll see how it goes, but making things simple never made anyone go insane. Right? Right?

Heading to the beach tonight for a wedding.

More to come on that.

Freely,
Gregsta'

New laptop today. IBM T61. Super Sweet.

Gotta go. Installing things.

Gregsta'

Lessons I Learned Yesterday

1. Interior Designers think too highly of themselves
2. No matter how many people you make happy, there will always be someone who's pissed that you made so many people happy
3. The shirt I'm wearing looks good on me (thanks, Bets'!)
4. Windows requires too many updates
5. Telecom is really fucking expensive

Lilyingly,
Gregsta'

I love watching movies when people don't laugh at the things that make me about fall out of my seat.

Let's take Hot Fuzz – from the Shaun of the Dead folks. To me, it was fucking hilarious. Gory, yes.There were enough references to other cop flicks in this film to keep any cop film buff intrigued. But, for the average person, the references just fell on deaf ears and the shock of gory murders and injuries was what they remember best. So, needless to say – my future in-laws must now think I'm really weird – laughing at such a gory movie.

Bets' is studying this morning. I think I'm going to go back to bed and get a few more winks before getting up and doing much else. It's Sunday after all.

Gregsta'

K-Mart detains woman for purchasing the wrong shoes
As soon as we stepped outside the store, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to face a serious-faced young man who identified himself as store security and asked me to step back inside. When he said the shoes I'd purchased were in the wrong box, I followed him inside, promising my family I'd be right back. Instead, I was led to a windowless security room in the back of the store, detained for an hour and accused of deliberately switching a more expensive item into a cheaper box. The adult flip-flops, it turned out, were $24.50, and the box had been for a child's size nine, with a $16.50 price. My stunned protestations and explanations were summarily dismissed. My driver's license and credit card were temporarily confiscated, I was told to expect a civil notice of a fine by mail, and finally, I was advised never to return to the store.

This is fucked up – a woman makes a perfectly honest mistake and is treated like a criminal. I guess this just goes to show how fucked up this world has really become. I think she ought to file a unlawful detainment suit against K-Mart. That's the equivalent of corporate kidnapping. If that were to happen to me, I'd open fire on the fuckers.

Time to go fuck up the local K-Mart.

Pissed,
Gregsta'

It was another interesting day. Gooch visited the office to help out for a day, phones were deployed to users and we managed to get quite a bit done. Tomorrow is another day. Bets' is upstairs studying and I'm just getting done with cleaning up.

I wish I had more to write. I'm tired and going to bed.

Gregsta'

Fall is here. Leaves are starting to hit the ground in my neighborhood.

Bets' started school today.

This is our last full week at the office with our old phone system.

Gooch visits the office tomorrow. Sushi was today.

Last beach weekend for a few weeks awhile was this weekend.

I guess the more I think about it, I don't miss summer too much. Sure, I'd like to be lounging on a beach in Mexico or Costa Rica, but I'm not.

Gotta make dinner and hit Putters later.

Gregsta': Brief

It was bound to happen eventually. Construction workers ruptured a gas line downtown right around rush hour.

As you might have guessed, I couldn't get my car out of the garage, as they had evacuated the building for safety.

I got home just before 7:00 this evening. I'm about as pleased as one can be.

Time to start looking for a job that isn't in the middle of a construction/war zone.

Delayingly,
Gregsta'

Microsoft is funny with promotional videos. Observe:

If you need help getting your lunch to come back up, this might help.

I'm glad that they made some improvements to their marketing campaigns.

At least they've gotten away from this on moderm promotional materials .

Tubingly,
Gregsta'