http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm A Chimp's Oasis en-us Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:23:41-0700 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:52:00-0700 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss mariebmk@yahoo.com mariebmk@yahoo.com http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/8/28/Talks-at-the-Park-with-Antwon Yesterday I went for a run at Greenlake. There is a 2.8mile paved trail around it. I have a 3.1mile race on Sunday and wanted a practice go to get me warmed up. I finished in 20:27. Right where I want to be. My best time for the race coming up is 20:46 so I want to beat that. After the run I sat down behind my car in the parking lot to work my abs while I was still pumped. A car goes by slows for no apparent reason then moves on. I finish up, then stand up just as the car has circled back. A black guy in his late 30s or early 40s is driving. He pulls in next to my car and says 'sorry about that man.' 'Didn't want to run you over.' I said ' no worries.' (Thinking...there should have been no reason he would have ran over me anyways). We will call this guy Antwon...cuz he looked like an Antwon. He had a mid-90s Honda of some sort. It was black, with tinted windows. He was wearing a bright orange muscle shirt and a backwards hat. The conversation went like this: Antwon: "you should be doin' your exercises over there in the grass or something. What are you doin' them here for anyways? I'd do my exercises in the grass." Justin: "yeah thats true." (thinking fuck you). Antwon: "of course Im not doin' any exercises. I'm here to check out the ladies. Seattle has some fine ladies. Asian ladies. Thats what I came up here for in 2001. 2001 man. You from here?" Justin: "No I came out here in 2005." Antwon: "Where you from then?" Justin: "Indiana" Antwon: "Indiana huh. I lived out on the East Coast. Came out here to get away from all those stuck up bitches. Beautiful women here in Washington. Don't get me wrong, I ain't a predator....would never force myself on a woman.(shakes his head) There are 10 more women for every one that isn't interested." Justin: "true. Enjoy yourself man, I'm taking off." Antwon: "Yeah you too." crazy stuff Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:52:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/8/28/Talks-at-the-Park-with-Antwon http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/7/29/I-Pity-the-Fool Having promised Patience we would watch a baseball game together I jumped on the opportunity when this season the Mariners were going to St. Louis to play the Cardinals. In baseball the American League and the National League teams rarely play, so this scenario may not happen again for some time. The adventure began when I got on my flight, but it didn't hit me that I was on vacation until a stupid bitch on the first flight brought my attention to it. A few connecting flights were taking off soon after we landed. I was about ¾ of the way back on the plane. People behind me, trailer trash, started complaining that people should go faster. This irritated me as I also would like to get off the plane, but realize that it must be done in an orderly fashion to be most efficient. When the white trash mother and her son butted past me I let it go, but then the stupid bitch behind them did too, and actually made contact with me, bumping me back into my seat. WTF! I got out behind her and when we got to the walkway between the plane and the terminal, she slowed down. WTF Why would you slow down if you were in such a hurry?? It is because her boyfriend was behind me, and he wasn't a rude piece of shit, he had let me out of my seat. She glared at me as a passed and as I walk by in disbelief that she is mad at me, I hear her say 'fucking douchebag' to her boyfriend in reference to me. I turn and look back at her, but she isn't making eye contact, and as I turn back her boyfriend says 'he heard you'. And she said 'I don't care.' At that moment ***graphic please skip to next paragraph if you don't want to read****At that moment I felt like plucking her eyes out with fishhooks, throwing a glob of fiery napalm at her face, and eviscerating her with a rusty spoon all at the same time. I truly hope that bitch dies horribly. My mood immediately did a 180 though when Patience picked me up and we were on our way to see the A-Team. That's right the fucking awesome A-Team. I did have to chase her down the road a ways as they wouldn't let her stop. We grabbed some food and played some skeeball prior to the start of the movie. Gave our winning tickets to some kids = good karma. Her coworker showed up with his wife. Patience made me ask him about his tattoos. Apparently he was very embarrassed about them, so of course I made it awkward by asking. The movie rocked. Whether you were a fan of the TV show or not you will enjoy it. Afterwards I was reacquainted with Santo and Boo and Freya, and met Hobbes. All wanted to be petted at the same time. The next day was Saturday and Patience took me to see the Botanical Gardens and the dinosaurs! On our way we shaved our heads into Mohawks for Lisa. It was hot at the Gardens. Not pansy warm like Seattle gets, but fucking hot. I had forgotten what that kind of heat was like. The highlight of the walk through the Gardens was our being followed by a strange man in a superman shirt. He was everywhere we were, even in the MiddleEarth section. It was creepy. We went into the adjoining restaurant to get some food and refreshments afterwards. There was an option of a 'bucket o beer' on the menu, and the Jeebis had to have it because he was on vacation. We went to Patience's sisters afterwards and had dinner. I made a new friend, Elliot, she thought I was cool. She can't talk yet, but I could tell. Afterwards we went with Patience's friend Meghan to a beerfest, where we met up with more of her coworkers. This was an awesome time, as it was a mudpit. They tried very briefly to walk in their flipflops, but it was pointless. I took my shoes and socks off and just walked barefoot. There was about 1-3 inches of mud and water all over the place. They were smart and got big plastic sandwich bags from the grill and put their purses in them. Unlimited beer and good music made the event a blast. Apparently I was shown the St. Louis Arch that night...but to Patience's great disappointment, and my obligation to consume said unlimited beer, I did not remember it. The next day was Patience's turn to get her drink on. We went to Grafton, Illinois with her friend Meghan as our tour guide. Just as hot as St. Louis if not hotter. Patience drank her fill of wine and proceeded to tell me I need to watch my ass if I go to New Orleans, that one street is safe and the next is not, so I can't just run off. The town ended up being a potential perfect spot for her parents to retire too. Again it was extremely hot. It was like walking in an oven. It was all good because there was a random homemade pirate ship on the Mississippi. (I did NOT dip my head in the river here...not as clean as in Minnesota). We did hit up BW3 on the way home, and I had a long island ice T for old times. On Monday I tried to go for a run in the morning with Freya....3 things happened. She got worn out and stopped running because of the heat. She took a crap in someone's yard, and thirdly, I just left it there hahahahaha. We may have gone 1 ½ miles. We had lunch with Christina and Elliot and played Left 4 Dead, which I sucked at. I miss remotes with a directional pad, and only two buttons 'A' and 'B'. That night we went to the Cardinals v. Mariners game. I finally saw and remembered seeing the Arch in all its glory. The game started off great. Ichiro hitting a lead off homerun, and after the top of the 1st inning it was 2-0. Things went down hill from there and we ended up losing 9-3. The good news was that I had a beer for about every inning, so it took away some of the pain. We went to a local bar afterwards. Backing up, let me explain we were at the game with several of Patience's coworkers. Coworkers, who she had informed that I get crazy and loud at baseball games. I was told that there was one guy there, the husband of a coworker who people did not really like. Of course this guy decides to make me his best friend on the walk to the bar. I definitely got the vibe he was a douche, but whatever, I'm enjoying the evening. Once at the bar, I did a few somersaults to liven things up. The first one only Patience saw and I should have left it at that haha! No one would have believed I had done one then. After a while the douche guy comes up to me and wants to fistbump, and yells out 'white power'. I stare at him and say 'what?' He repeats himself 'white power man...white power' I am confused and say 'what do you mean?' He holds his forearm against mine and says 'white power' again, indicating we both have white arms. I say 'what about Jerry?' (Patience's coworker who is 10 feet away and is half black.) He says 'Its fine, Jerry's cool.' I turn around and walk out of the beer tent back into the bar. I really really would have liked to smash that guy's face in, or set him up with the 'rat in the box' scenario to change his ignorant moronic ways. Patience told me it was better that I didn't try as he was probably carrying a gun. I forgot I was in Missouri. Lesson learned. We left due to my inability to be around the guy anymore. The rage was great. I punched a brick wall later, and recounted the story over and over on our walk to the car, but apparently I wasn't putting it in perspective and it sound like I was just chanting 'white power' in downtown St. Louis late at night, as we passed several black people. Not smart. Patience got to see a bit of the crazy side of the Jeebis. I apologize for that, it was triggered by the bigot but I at least didn't run off. She was smart and somehow got me to think I was role playing Left For Dead in the parking garage to distract me. Tuesday I flew back to the west coast. Lisa I expect your trip to rival mine! crazy stuff Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:52:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/7/29/I-Pity-the-Fool http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/7/22/Hello Hello Kitty !!!! I will have a new story soon. It will be my adventures into Patienceland. There will be a sequel titled 4th of July in Eddyville. Followed by a third story involving white water rafting. Jesus I wish I had a laptop. When did they invent those? 1988?? I need to catch up. I did get a new computer at work! 5 years in...and finally an up to date model that has speed!!!! My Iphone...speedy last year, now is becoming irritatingly slow. Not sure if it is due to the new update I installed or the abundance of people now on the network. Maybe it is time to say fuck you Iphone like I did to myspace, and get a droid like I did facebook (and in fact folks it is getting close to time to say fuck you to facebook...but i'm to old for twitter so I don't know where I will go...off the grid I guess!) Jeebis out!!! And all y'all can always count on the jeebis if you need to do a shot! or a crazy mission! When I'm 89 and you say let's hit the mall and have a diet coke...I'll say saddle up motherfucker! Let's do this! Jeebis... the man Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:07:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/7/22/Hello http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/6/24/Memorial-Day-Weekenddelayed Hello all! The jeebis says good day to y'all. Lots to update on. Once I get a laptop and am more mobile, I plan on not letting so much time lag between entries. As it is I am not at the computer very much. Most of my internet needs are met by my phone. I have taking a few baby steps towards going back to school. I bought a PCAT study book. I looked at the dates when the test is offered, and a few schools and their requirements. My only fear is that I have been out of school too long, many of my classes may not count anymore...we shall see. If that is the case maybe I will say fuck it and redo everything...undergrad classes too! You can't do that Justin. Why would you want to do that? To me there is no reason not too...other than my car payment. **Sarah Eddy! Copy and paste the rest of this post as it spells out another adventure of ours. Brian Anderson and his girlfriend Laura came out for Memorial Day weekend. Sarah drove up from Oregon and Brett drove over from Queen Anne, and we all rejoiced. Friday night Brian, Brett, and I did a f*cking awesome cover of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, at Brian's favorite dive karaoke bar. Saturday Sarah came in...a little late as she got turned around and was lost in the hood...or as close to the hood as Seattle has. The bulk of the afternoon, after getting some Teriyaki, was spent driving around Seattle and looking for Mochi, the Japanese desert. Funny thing is we went about everywhere in the city except where we knew for a fact it was...the international district. We did play some awesome retro games at Pink Godzilla (Now Pink Gorilla). Sarah got a bubbletea from a bubbletea shop...but not just any bubbletea, this was a Christian BubbleTea store with scripture on the wall!!!! That night we went to a classic international film called K20:The fiend with 20 faces. Followed the next day by The Restless, a martial arts movie about a warrior who must save humanity by fighting the forces of evil in a netherworld between the world of the living and that of the dead. I believe Sarah gave it 2 stars. Chelle came back from doing work for Boeing in California Sunday afternoon, and in the meantime Brett, Sarah, and I went to pick up Brian and Laura in W. Seattle (my old hood) after they had returned from a night at the coast with some friends of his I dont know. I signaled to him where our car was by blowing my own personal Vuvuzela (this was before the World Cup issues, and it was cool) That night we watched Peter Jackson's (of Lord of the Rings fame) movie called Bad Taste. Actually only Sarah and I did, as the movie was so terrible that everyone else went to bed. Sarah and I lost valuable sleep and 2 hours of our life for not following suit. Sadly Sarah had to go back to Corvallis the next day. Brett went back to Queen Anne, and Chelle stayed home to recover from working so much. I took Brian and Laura to Snoqualmie Falls, where he proposed to her underneath the majestically cascading effervescent water...actually he did not propose, instead we hiked through the rain to the bottom and back up. Made a stop at the hippiefest known as Folklife at the Seattle Center, and then visited the Fremont Troll from '10 Things I hate about you' fame. Brian planned to keep this a secret, however Brett discussed at length Brian's shortcoming in not showing Laura this magical creation sooner. Just before Brian & Laura's redeye back to Chicago Chelle, myself, and the two of them grabbed some sushi, important because it was a double date, and we had mochi!! My apologies to those of you who participated in this adventure if my timeline is slightly off here and there with the details, it has been almost a month. If there were scraps of information of importance I left out,I challenge you to recap! ;p Next up...my visit to the metropolis known as St. Louis and our good friend Patience!!!! living in a hallucinogenic dream Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:02:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/6/24/Memorial-Day-Weekenddelayed http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/5/26/Youve-got-to-make-your-own-kind-of-music May has been a busy month. My last post was titled Indiana blog version 1.1. Well I had the intention of writing a flash sideways entry of sorts. Looking at different aspects of my trip. However I have forgotten how I was going to do that...so there will only be the 1.1 version. A little over a week after getting back Chelle and I went to Hawaii for four days....yes four days. We just wanted a short vacation and her parents had a time share on the big island of Hawai'i that we could use, so it was free. We just had to buy plane tickets and rent a car. Hawai'i (i insist on spelling it that way now) is expensive. Expensive to be a tourist, but cheap if you are a local...except for the $7.87 carton of OJ. I can adapt to drinking mango or passionfruit for $0.25 if I were to move there. A series of islands full of all sorts of tropical fruit and they import oranges. Crazy. We did a lot of snorkeling while we were there. The beaches were rougher...not sand...for the most part with nice coral reefs and all the aquatic life associated with them. Including turtles! Lots of turtles were seen. Chelle named one Sarah Eddy #1 and another Sarah Eddy #2. Sarah, this is an honor as the turtle is a mythical creature in Hawai'i and Chelle thought you would have much appreciated their presence. My favorite part was driving down to this secluded bay. At the other end is a memorial to Captain Cook. You can only get to it by some intense hard core hiking, boat, or kayak. We rented a kayak from some locals and rowed across the bay. The water was amazingly clear, and we did some snorkeling once we got to the memorial....at least until Chelle's foot was pushed into a sea urchin by the current. Luckily she had reef shoes on(aqua socks) and only one barb stuck in her foot. It broke off under the skin and was painful so we went back. The locals told her she needed me to piss on it. Yes!!! But she was not as excited about that idea as I was, so it didn't happen. Eventually the pain went away and the remnants of the barb have dissolved since. We went to a Luau and I had purchased a Hawaiian shirt at goodwill for the occasion, she pleaded with me not to wear it, so I didnt....of course everyone else did!!!! She apologized, but I said "no worries, I will wear it when we go out to dinner tomorrow night, when it's just the two of us." I rocked it like a natural so there was no reason for her to be embarrassed, I think she secretly was jealous she didn't get one too. We checked out the 'black sands' park, the 'place of refuge' park (where back in the day warring tribes could go for a 'time out' from fighting), and we went to the active volcano, but sadly could not get close enough to see lava. The trip went by way too quickly. But I figure I can grow out a Tom Selleck worthy 'stache, and move there as a forensic private investigator. This week was a sad week for me. I had to say goodbye to my two favorite shows: Lost and 24. They will find their resting place in my memories alongside X-Files, Macgyver, and Seinfeld. Out of respect, i have been listing to "make your own kind of music" by Mama Cass on repeat throughout this blog. If you are a Lost fan you will recall it was playing in the first episode of Season 2. Where they showed who was living in the hatch. Unfortunately, this song is only 2 and 1/2 minutes long....so you can see why I am in a hurry to end my writing as I have listened to it 8 times already. This weekend promises to be a good one. Sarah is coming up, Brian and his lady friend are flying out. There will be karaoke, SIFF, Folklife, chaihouses, random chinese movies per tradition, and tomfoolery. Brett and I will both be solo acts, as our significant others are not here. Chelle is in California doing flight testing for Boeing, and Matt is in Dubai. Until next time 'brotha. living in a hallucinogenic dream Wed, 26 May 2010 20:55:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/5/26/Youve-got-to-make-your-own-kind-of-music http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/5/5/Indiana-blog-version-11 Fucking sinuses. That's all there is too it. I fly back to Indiana and am there 4 1/2 days. No problems. Extremely high pollen counts this year. My dad has allergies(never happens)...and yet I'm fine. I hang out with Hobbes, and Brett's rather large cats. Including the one that seems sentient and I expected to start talking to me at any moment. I'll call him Garfield as he looks like him. It wasn't until we were descending into Seattle that my sinuses kicked in. It was fortuitous as I called in sick today, which I never do, due to some sense of 'duty'. Which after reading Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash I have a new outlook on. In it he describes how the Feds go to work day in and day out and are essentially workaholics out of some sense of duty to the government...but in the end there is very small gain for what they do and what they are put through. My dad also has worked for the same company for 31 years. He will be retiring in August. He is tired. He is fed up with the work ethic of his coworkers. Each year he has to deal with more and more people working the system to get time off at the expense of himself and others like him. He always works his schedule, healthy or sick, tired or not. But in the end, other than self satisfaction what has he gained from it? He isn't rewarded with prizes or extra salary. I started off just like he did with this ingrained sense of dependability to my job, and a hearty work ethic. But the effects are noticeable. I know it saps my energy, my enthusiasm, my humor, my health, and my happiness. I was rewarded with employee of the year for 2009 for my work ethic, and interpersonal skillz. But compared to when I first started working here, I feel like my outlook on life is a lot less happy go lucky, and a lot more cynical. Maybe it is just that I have lost the naivety of youth, and have been hit with some hard real life situations, but I think I just haven't found my life goal yet. I don't want to be a forensic toxicologist for 31 years(as much as the science interests me). I can't handle the monotony, I need change. The obvious solution that I keep coming back to is going back to school...for pharmacy. But when I get that degree and 5 years into the job I am reiterating this same post what would I do? I also can't reach higher within my current job, because I have no desire to be taken off the bench and thrown into a supervisory desk position. So I guess this is my response to your sermon Mona, on an individual quest for happiness. I am pretty sure I am not happy. Sure on the surface I am, but it definitely feels like something is off. It is like at some point in my life in the last few years I was playing Super Mario and I hit a wild card, I got flowerpower instead of a penguin suit. Now I can either push forward and adapt to playing with flowerpower, or I can find a way to restart the level and get a penguin suit....bubbling through is not going to be an option;p I have a great job(on paper at least) that is respectable and helps society. I am in a relationship with an incredible girl. I'm financially stable. I have an awesome group of friends. So either I am living in a parallel life to the one I should be or I have been watching too much Lost. And to conclude for now... I just want to a high pressure version of your 'nellie pot' (sp?) Scott. Spray some water through my sinuses and clear them out for good. living in a hallucinogenic dream Wed, 05 May 2010 15:53:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/5/5/Indiana-blog-version-11 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/4/1/Peanut-Butter-Jelly-Time I too will comply with Beth's request for blogging! The biggest accomplishment since my last post is that I have finally finished the giant container of peanut butter that was purchased for our cabin trip back in July! It is gone! All 64 or 96oz! While it should have been a simple feat, as I love peanut butter, I did purchase some chunky peanut butter here and their in the months between then and now. Still the tub of peanut butter is gone! Though I still have 6 frozen limeades in my freezer from our gathering. I've been doing some strength training for my running game. I developed some IT band issues last year. It would tighten up and pull my knee cap slightly out of alignment. Not visibly noticeable, but after 5-6miles of running I would receive some painful reminders from my knee that I was no longer 18 or hell 25 for that matter. Once in a while it would want to give out...not cool. If I were a sprinter not such a big deal, but as a distance runner I have a problem with running 6 miles...and then being forced to walk 6 miles home. Anyways I only made it 11 miles into the Seattle marathon in November before being forced to stop, then run/walk the last 15 miles. Willpower. After hitting the gym for lower body to strengthen the muscles around my knees I have done a 5 mile trail run in great time, a 3.8mile street race, and ran up 69 flights in under 14 minutes. I am once again ready for a 1/2 marathon, which I have lined up in a week and a half. The conclusion I have come to is that I am not as young as I like to think I am (this point is seconded by my inability to bounce back as quickly after a night of drinking, unless that is just me getting older and making false memories about what it was like when I was a kid, somehow I don't think my college hangovers were all sweet like candy.) If I can handle this race, then I am back in fighting form for sure, and will seek to make this a record setting year for medals. Michael Phelps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brought back nightmares of Kris chasing me in a lake in Alabama. Work is work. Still handling about 900 DUI and death cases a year. Testifying 2-3 times a month. Trying to increase my personal knowledge by reading toxicology papers on my own time. Feel like if I stop, I will start down the slippery slope of ignorance and stupidity that trapped so many Americans into voting for our last president, and for supporting the witch from Alaska. I do a few sudoku puzzles on my iphone everyday too, thinking it may heighten my mental acuity...just saying that may make many of you think i have already started down that slope. This is the guy that use to eat M&Ms before every exam because they contained soy lecithin...and somewhere he heard that it improved memory. (Any positive results I saw were probably do to the sugar) Chelle and I have been playing Super Mario 3 on the Wii. I am going to buy the new Mario game for the Wii in the near future, I have heard lots of good stuff about it. Brett is moving out of our apartment complex. We have had a good run here, and it puts into perspective that I have been in this building for 3 years! My lease is up end of June and I may be heading to Ravenna, which is near Greenlake and a Jamba Juice. Chelle wants to get herself a condo here in Ballard, and as I'm not ready to move in with her yet, and don't want to stay here another year, I will be following Brett's lead, unfortunately not to Queen Anne though. Don't worry Brett, I know the buses in this city, and can still find my way to your door drunk after a baseball game and ring the doorbell until you let me in before your neighbors call the police for me yelling Iiiichhiiirooooooo!!!!! living in a hallucinogenic dream Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:40:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/4/1/Peanut-Butter-Jelly-Time http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/3/5/weekend-retreat March! Spring, a rebirth of nature!....at least here on the west coast. Sorry everyone east of the Rockies. The west coast's favorite latino friend El Nino has kept it a mild winter and what looks to be an early spring. It was celebrated in true fashion with a road trip to Oregon. A preparty event did occur a few weeks prior when I purchased some plants including but not limited to cacti seeds and a carnivorous species. I immediately began feeding the ants that were exploring my apt to said carnivorous plant...not as exciting as "Little Shop of Horrors" or watching Chelle's frog eat crickets... So back to Oregon. Chelle ended up needing to work til 7pm Friday so i changed my plans and rode down with Brett, Matt, and Mark to see Sarah. Chelle went down to Portland later that night to visit some of her old high school friends. Mark drove us...and drove us all the way to within ten miles of Corvallis so we could stop at taco bell...it made more sense at the time. In retrospect driving ~4hrs and stopping when we have 10 minutes left seems odd. But it doesn't matter because we were in Oregon which is odd anyways...they don't let you pump your own gas and they encourage hitchhiking while you are still in kindergarten. Meeting up with Sarah we were given a choice of pubs to eat at. We chose Downward Dog....awesome right?? I saw nothing inside that gave credence to the name. There was a fake dog statue above the door and a living dog tied up outside...but that is all. Matt and Mark argued about drinking. I'm not a religious man, but I'd have to say that if I were to give up something for Lint it would not be alcohol. Call me crazy but everything I have ever heard from the bible leads me to believe that Jesus supports drinking, and was most probably drunk and or high when he wrote it....did he write it? Brett gave up something more sensible: dessert items. AFter dinner there was some lowkey travels to a bookstore, a breadstore, and a gelato store...and there was much rejoicing, except Brett never shared his bread on the trip;p Mark did make an effort to flirt with the gelato girl and swears he got a bigger scoop because of it. The traditional trip to Fred Meyer was made after that minus the Irishman Brian Anderson, who could not make it out because he had an expensive trip to Peru coming up, he was dating someone, and he needed to go grocery shopping or something. I grabbed a 6pack and Brett got a bottle in preparation for what was to come....Shark Attack 3. Shark Attack 3 is not your typical movie, I'm not even sure they made a Shark Attack 1 and 2, they felt this movie was so awesome it could only be called Shark Attack 3. It had everything you could want from a B movie. Terrible dialogue, gratuitous nudity, and evil business man, ridiculous special effects, and the best pick up line ever: girl: "i'm pretty tired." guy: "I'm still pretty wired. How about we go back to my place and I eat your pussy." Saturday saw us take a trip to the CoOp, but Brad! was not there, and we ate breakfast at Sam's. AFterwards we took a trip to Sarah's office/lab. Matt and Mark were introduced to her salamanders, as well as some snakes. After some coffee and a trip to a comic book store we headed back for some Venture Bros. (I later found out from Chelle's friend Eloise that the emblem on my Ragnar Relay hoodie is very similar to the Monarch's emblem) The tv watching was short lived as we were heading out to the the coast to check out the low tide at Seal Rock. Love the smell of ocean air. It was very peaceful along the coast and it was nice to get away from work and Seattle. We found some cool sea life, but no octopi. Heading home we passed 4 cops that had people pulled over or were waiting to. Ridiculous in Oregon to see 4 cops on the highway in 1hr right? We hurried back so that Matt and Mark could make some shrimp/pasta. I drank my beer quick because I needed to be in a special state for the movie we were about to watch...Howard the Duck...sadly the alcohol did little to make the movie funnier than it was. And why in the hell was it 2hrs long? That is too long for a movie about a duck. Sunday Sarah and I traveled back to the CoOp to pick up some Peanutbutter Panda Puffs cereal. I got a magic bean for using a reusable bag. It was then time to head up to Portland where we met up with Chelle and her friends at Powell's Bookstore, which is a hugely massive bookstore with tons of different rooms color coded by subject. We all went to a pub to eat lunch. There were a couple plates tots, while Chelle ate taco and I ate bleu balls, complete with the jokes you would think would apply to said situation. We dispersed afterwards, Sarah back to Corvallis, Chelle and I back to Seattle, Brett/Matt/Mark off to buy sunglasses? Noticeably missing from this trip were: 1. Brian Anderson 2. Crazy drunken antics 3. The shocking game 2 out of those 3...not necessarily a bad thing! haha! I of course wish Brian had been able to make it out. Cheers! corvallis Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:51:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/3/5/weekend-retreat http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/2/4/Sad-news My brother's trial was this week. He was found guilty of murder today. Here is the article if you anyone wants to read it: http://www.jconline.com/article/20100204/NEWS03/2040331/Jury-Lafayette-man-guilty-of-murder-in-friend-s-death I talked to my dad on Sunday...not sure what to say to him next time I call him. I was going to call this weekend, but i was pretty sure the 'murder' charge wasn't going to stick, and instead my brother was going to get 'voluntary manslaughter'. He isn't taking the whole situation to well understandably. My stepmom is taking it only somewhat better. Still seems surreal to me, like it isn't possible. Jeebis... the man crazy stuff Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:58:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/2/4/Sad-news http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/31/Oh-my-god-thats-the-funky-sht Evening folks. Had a relaxing Sunday. Finished World War Z. Did my laundry. Talked to my parents. 'Talked' to my 2 year old nephew on the phone. He said hello...but that was all. I am told that his new phrase of the hour is 'there he is!' regardless of what he is talking about. I also heard him yelling bird over and over while talking to my stepmom. So my brother goes on trial tomorrow finally. He is still being charged with murder....not sure if the jury will be given the option to charge him with manslaughter if they don't want to charge him with murder...or if it is an all or nothing case and he can potentially walk. My dad is definitely not handling it too well, but I can't blame him. I can only because i box that type of stuff away to deal with later. We should know at the end of this week or next whether or not he is found guilty. Crazy. Chelle is in Sri Lanka right now. Her grandmother is having hip surgery, and is in a pretty frail state. She lost her grandfather 6 months ago. They raised her until she was 6, so she has strong ties to both of them. The WA senate passed a bill supporting 'furloughs' or mandatory days off for state employees during the week to save money. It has to be voted on by the House. If it passes we will likely be forced to have i think 10-12 days off during the year unpaid...better than losing my job at least. My race in Phoenix is no longer happening. We needed 12 people and only had 8 confirmed. The extra cost to cover the other 4 positions was too much to make it worthwhile. Bummer. I contemplated going on my own and joining a random team, but instead will be taking the opportunity to visit Sarah and Corvallis for some much needed chill time. I saw "The Wrestler" on Friday night via netflix and went to the theatre to see Sherlock Holmes last night. Both are enjoyable. Highly recommend...netflix recommend...not theater recommend. Lost starts Tuesday. Final season. Be there. living in a hallucinogenic dream Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:42:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/31/Oh-my-god-thats-the-funky-sht http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/23/Hip-Flask Bought a hip flask today. Coolest purchase I have made in a while. Bought it at a shady smokeshop that sells bongs, cigars in humidified cases, and an assortment of knives. Complete with bums trying to purchase smokes on 'credit'...not credit cards but as in 'hey i'm good for it, i'll bring you the money next week'. Mona your 'friend' sounds pretty cool. Wild Turkey is fowl(that is a pun which sarah should find humorous)strong stuff. It will likely be what I put in my new flask, as that is the drink that I must partake of whenever I hang out with my friend Laurie and it leads directly to singing Sweet Child O' Mine in a karaoke bar. I will do a shot with him when I come out your way for that race in the fall. Update at work: A man was killed by a speeder being pulled over by a cop. The man had just ran out into the road from a house he had robbed. Update from the world of yahoo: A certain type of camera has been labeled 'racist' as an error message reads "Did someone blink?" when it has been used by Asians. True Story http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100122/wl_time/08599195464300 The same article goes on to say that facial recognition technology in hewlett packard computers are also racist as they fail to identify black people. I'm reading World War Z. Patience I recommend this book to you if you have not read it already. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a war vs zombies. Written from the perspective of survivors of the war. I had doubts at first about the style, but am enjoying it...and secretly wishing it were a prediction of the near future. Bwahhahahaha! Sarah...I see a Corvallis trip approaching...when would be good for you in the next few months?? I'm still planning on running a race in Phoenix at the end of February. It will be my 6th state where I have ran a race. Indiana, West Virginia, Alabama, Washington, California...soon to be Arizona. The goal is all 50 before I die. 6 states in 10 years...Good thing I still am under the mindset that I am immortal, like a highlander! Tomorrow I will be watching the NFC and AFC championship games...the winner of the two play in the superbowl in 2 weeks. Brett will be joining me. However I hope to convince him that tomorrow is the superbowl, and that they decided this year to have 2 superbowls on the same day back to back. Will he buy it? 50/50 chance I say! Depends if he reads this i suppose. I am rapidly approaching the midpoint of my 5th year in Seattle. Scary. What is scarier is i still have some of my textbooks from college on my bookshelf. Never know if some night I might say 'hey dude, how about a little organic chemistry or some statistics.' Jeebis... the man Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:59:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/23/Hip-Flask http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/11/Berserker-Bears A woman called the office last week and spoke with my supervisor. Apparently she is a widow, and her testing we did on her husbands remains did not satisfy her. You see we found no alcohol or drugs and she knows he does methamphetamine. Between bouts of clarity and moments of breakdown crying she told us how her husband often goes up into the mountains to shoot up meth. (I am pretty sure by the phone call that she did too). She said that the day he disappeared he went up to the mountain to do that cuz that's what he does. 39 days later his body was discovered...or what was left of it...you see he was eaten by bears. Whether or not they ate him while he was alive or dead i do not know, but she said it was bears...not a cougar or coyotes but bears. My supervisor looked the case up and saw that our lab tested muscle from the foot, which means we had to grind it up into sort of a shake since we test liquids (mainly blood and urine). At hearing the news of only receiving muscle from her husbands foot she went into a rage and yelled " those sons of bitches!!!" "My husband was 250lbs and all they found was 37 lbs of him!" "They only got two of his toes dammit." "I know they had more than that, they had his brain, and his penis!!!" "I know you could have tested his penis because it was big!!!" and then she started crying again. My supervisor was being sympathetic on the outside, but was dying with laughter on the inside. She told him she knew there wasn't any foul play since the keys to his new jeep were still in his pocket as was an unused capped syringe (so he didnt even have a chance to shoot up). But if those bears ate a baggie of meth....I bet they were crazy! Berserker Bears! Holy shit that would be a sight. The woman immediately stopped crying and said 'at least you didnt find any drugs, thanks be to god." And hung up. Currently digging me some Silversun Pickups and The Hives. Good tunes. Also ran 5 miles on muddy trails this weekend to redeem myself after taking a faceplant last week. Finished in 43:07, good pace for a trailrun....I pretended I was chasing after the Uruk-hai who had stolen my hobbit friends. Nerd for life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeebis... the man Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:21:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/11/Berserker-Bears http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/5/Crash Here is some advice. If you are going to double knot your shoes so you don't trip on the laces...make sure the loop of the shoelace is not so big as to catch your other foot in while running. That happened to me the other day. First time I have fallen while running (sober or drunk). Sure there have been some stumbles but this was classic laugh your ass off if you were a witness to the event. Slammed right down on both knees, both palms and my chin. Not sure yet if I am going to do the 1/2 marathon in Phoenix in a week and a half. I have something else lined up now though in Arizona. A Ragnar Relay. 12 person 202mile relay race set for the end of February. My friends Amber and Ward are in, and I might get Brian Anderson to join it. Prescott to Mesa I think is the route. Also did you know you can cut a kiwi in half and eat it with a spoon. I have spent my whole life peeling the outsides off...totally unnecessary. I'm on an old skewl Super Mario 3 kick right now. Downloaded it on the Wii and Chelle and I are kicking its butt. Jeebis... the man Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:54:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2010/1/5/Crash http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2009/12/27/The-end-of-2009 It's that time again. Time for the yearly recap. I sit hear in my apartment....apparently forgetting my english....I sit here* in my apartment and think back on 2009, the last of the single digit years I will see for a while. I do plan on being around for 2101. Tonight's dinner: George Foreman grilled mushrooms mixed with canned spinach, followed by a can of Trader Joe's clam chowder with a healthy helping of cayenne pepper. Washed down with a Green Tea Ginger Ale. I spent the last hour trying to configure my computer (from 2001) to the new wireless router Chelle bought for my apartment. She does not like to be without access to her celebrity gossip (or online episodes of Bones and Modern Family) on her laptop so added this accessory to my apartment. The problem is my computer only works when plugged into it, the router is not recognizing my wireless adapter from the days when I shared internet with Brett. Her computer works here, and mine sees the connection but won't commit! Some nonsense about 'windows was unable to find a certificate to log you into the network [SSID]' I will find a way! It helps that while i try i can google questions on my iphone. That is all off topic though, this is a reflection of '09. I am listening to 'Otherside' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to commemorate 10 years since I was in a computer lab at Purdue writing up a freshman biology report while the guy next to me had this song on repeat for over an hour...I will play it on repeat until this blog is done. Cheers to you computer lab dude. 2009 saw the beginning and ending of many things for the Jeebis. Biggest ending: The most obvious to myself is the end of my turbulent 2 year spree of drunken madness and mayhem throughout Seattle...and at times the streets of Corvallis. I thank those of you for putting up with me and/or egging on one aspect or another of my behavior. I had demons to let out, and am glad that i did so without dying or being arrested ....probably a lot to do with luck. You can only bang your head on walls and run through shady parts of town so many times before something bad happens...just saying my odds were decreasing daily. Biggest beginning: Concurrent to this ending is the beginning of my relationship with Chelle. A very favorable and positive influence on my life is this beautiful young lady. It is hard to believe we have almost been together 1 year. I'm sure you guys disagree by all the disgusting facebook profiles I put up....but then Brett and Matt have me beat there!;p Running: 2008 saw me run 4 1/2 marathons, 1 full, and the ragnar relay, as well as 3 5k races 2009 saw me run 4 1/2 marathons, 1 full, and the ragnar relay, as well as 2 5k races and a 5 mile race. ...not much of an improvment on the running front, I equalled what I did in 2008 but had worse running times as I was hit with a couple of injuries and forcing myself to run without training as much. Housing: I moved. OK just to the third floor and across the hall, but a somewhat more favorable living area....just wish I had a balcony. Transportation: I bought a car. F*ck King County Metro! They continue to raise their rates and the buses have many disadvantages that outweigh the advantages. I like that it greatly increases the mobility of the elderly and disabled, while also giving people a free ride around downtown, but no matter how hard I try to have patience I want to get to places faster. I will miss the stories for sure, and it did allow me to become more familiar with the city than I ever did by car. New states visited: California and Nevada. Work: My work environment has drastically changed and continues to change for the better. That being said I am happy being a bench analyst and have no intention on hanging up my labcoat for a supervisor/management position anytime soon. I will have worked over 900 cases in 2009 by the end of the week, and testified over 20 times, bringing my grand total up to 50plus. I broke 100 in my friends count on facebook. I had a full beard when I went home for christmas....which my grandmother did not approve of. I watched 5 seasons of Lost and became a huge fan. 2009 saw the end of my golden year when I turned 28. So my New Year's Resolution is to travel. 2010 will be the US tour, Chelle want's to travel internationally, but with the new 787 entering flight test status she will have a busy and unpredictable work schedule, so that will have to be postponed. In the mean time I plan on traveling the states solo to do 1/2 marathons. Brian Anderson came back to Seattle to run the race here in November, so I plan on returning the favor by taking a trip to Milwaukee. We both may be doing the race in Alaska in June. Mona how does the Philly 1/2 sound?? Kristin are you doing the Purdue inaugural 1/2?? Brett I have a medal rack to fill up and intend to do so in 2010. Now to turn off this damn song! Cheers! Jeebis Jeebis... the man Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:47:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2009/12/27/The-end-of-2009 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2009/11/23/Move-it-like-a-gypsy Congratulations Beth and Scott! I have decided upon two nicknames to be used by Uncle Jeebis. Either Liliana from Indiana or Lil' Rich...thinking i'll be going with the second as the first will probably get me kicked in the shins for the next decade. Mona...I got your email about your Birthday shenanigans. I will not be attending the New Orleans crazyness, and hope that does not mean I will be kicked out of the Monaverse. I salute you as a former General of Crazyness but have retired. When I make it to the east coast, whether by a race or just vacation, I will buy you a belated birthday drink shot of your choice, and one of mine! This is a blessed workweek for the jeebis as it is only 2 days in length. Sarah comes to town Wednesday and I will be reunited with my fellow Raider on Thursday morning to start cooking for the Thanksgiving Day Feast. Another fellow Raider, Brian Anderson rolls into town Friday morning. The man who has turned into a Milwaukee playa and is dating girls left and right will be back in the northwest. The plan was for him to run the Seattle marathon with me, however due to a knee injury he has dropped back to the 1/2 marathon, still no small feat! Although I am disappointed we will not be able to duke it out on the pavement as mortal enemies turned comrades I salute him for running 13.1 grueling miles (hahaha what he doesn't know and what i didn't tell him is that the 1/2 marathon follows the same course as the full...but the hilly 13.1 miles, not the flat 13.1 miles) Chelle is returning from a visit to her family tonight, which is why I have some time to blog as her flight has been delayed til 1145pm. While there her mother randomly told her that I should come with them the next time they take a trip to Sri Lanka. Apparently this is a big deal for her mother to say that about a boyfriend. I guess I made an impression back in June when I hugged her awkwardly and she kissed me on the cheek to the never ending amusement of Chelle and her brother. Chelle is moving to Ballard, and I checked out one of the apartments she was looking at for her since she was gone. It is a two bedroom and bigger and nicer than mine...only about $100 more than mine and it has a washer/dryer, dishwasher, and garbage disposal...I have none of those and mine is a 1 bedroom...WTF. I wanted it for myself, but am in a lease til July. Plans for Christmas are as follows: I will be getting tickets for the weekend BEFORE Christmas. This decision was made simple for me when I found out ticket prices on the Lords weekend are ~$800. The weekend before are about $400 less. So looks like probably Thursday 17th - Monday 21st. I am sorry Brett, but I am not going to be able to go earlier than that. I will of course be stopping by Indy to see Lil' Rich if you guys are around that weekend Beth and Scott. My parents are pretty sure they will be able to have my nephew that weekend too, and doubt they will get him Christmas is the other reason I am coming when I am. My brother is still in jail...his trial keeps getting reset...as of right now it will be in February. My dad plans to go to it. After a year I am no closer to knowing how I feel about the whole situation, I have pretty much ignored/hid it from myself...easy to do when I am across the country. I feel like I should support my brother unconditionally since he is my brother and think he would never intentionally do something like that, but he was drinking and smoking pot and his life is like a Jerry Springer episode so I am not surprised. I may never know the true story of what happened, and think the only way I will be able to support him is if he mans up and sticks to his story and takes his punishment. The sad thing is the person who will be punished the most in the coming years is my nephew. I finally caught up on Lost. I finished season 5 last night at 1am. Now I have to wait until 2-2-10 for the 6th and final season. Kris...Komrad...I hear you have a certain popular language software ...is this true or just in my head?? If so how easy would it be to get a copy? I don't want to mention the name of it in case oldgraycat is monitored by the man. I'm looking at getting Spanish and German....or if it is not that much harder to get...all the languages available. I can pay with cash or cases of sprite. Jeebis... the man Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:40:00-0700 http://www.oldgraycat.com/jeebis/client/index.cfm/2009/11/23/Move-it-like-a-gypsy