The Holtonian

Happiness can be found in a bottle!

I've searched the planet for happiness, and at last I found it.....

It appears to be in this magical bottle!

Weekend thus far

We made a McKay's run yesterday and I got a good haul for some stuff I didn't want anymore. I got a Ryan Adams cd which was cool, Oni (a computer game), spiderman the dvd, and Ronin the dvd, and the wife got casablanca. I must say getting Spiderman was cool. It was a brand new copy for 7 bucks widescreen and I'm psyched about it cause I've only seen the movie once. Ronin I've always thought was one of those movies that was really cool and nobody knew it was. Its got the best car chase scene since any Steve Mcqueen movie. Plus it has a very Mission Impossible feel to it. It was 5 buck or so, so I deem it cool. Oni is a kind of a weird little game that is anime and basically you're this chick that goes around beating people up. I played the demo and deemed the game for 5 bucks was good. plus I know it will work on my computer so I should be good. Crabb dawg let me borrow Tron 2 but not sure if it will work on my computer, I may just hang on to it till I get a new one cause the way he described the game makes me think I'd really like it.
   We watched the new Peter pan last night, it was OK, not really all that great in my opinion. Frankly I had a hard time following it. Plus the love story between peter and wendy is really creepy. I'm sorry but kids shouldn't A. Kiss B. Fall in love till like 20. Plus the movie had this campy Manheim Steamroller esque soundtrack that was just cheeze wiz.
   

Blastor and Wolverine vs Destro and Spidey

The ultimate showdown for master of the universe. My money is on blastor, but Destro has a mean left hook.

This was brought to you by Holtonbored Interprises

Wolverine comes to the Aid of Spidey

Wolverine Takes a Chunk out of Trex, and yells, "You're extinct bub!"

Courtesy of Holtonbored Interprises

Long lost friends, building a table, and dirty sailor talk

Today I heard from two friends I hadn't heard from in a long time. James Deruyter and Jon Murton. Both of which were supposed to be groomsmen but James had to back out due to his teaching English in China. He's been over there for about a year now and I got a few emails from him which was really cool. He was always a guy I looked up to on the hall as he was more mature than I but also was a superb video game player. He whiped the floor with me time and time again. He's teaching English over in China and seems to really enjoy it. He's a natural teacher as he sort of not only can convey complex ideas in a way that makes you interested and enjoy his explanation, but he can also teach by example, which to me is always been the best way I learn, well that and learning by failure.

Jon's moved up to Wisconsin in order to explore the northern midwest. I wish he'd move back to the south just so we could hang out more but he seems to be like the Incredible Hulk, wandering until he finds a home. He was another good friend of mine at school, one who really challenged me and helped me through some rough times. Also helped me to adjust to the ragingly complex dynamics of life at a small college. He was one of my groomsmen and the last time I saw him was at my wedding.

I spent the bulk of the night working on a work bench in the basement. I pretty much just took some 2x4's and a piece of ply wood and started sawing and screwing things together. Came out ok, still needs more screws though. And its like I always say, "When in doubt, screw!" (My wife is currently dying of laughter over that quote.)

In the interest of appeasing Scott, work was good today, I busted it. I feel like I always write when I've had a bad day at work so I figure I ought to assure those who think i hate my job...
"Ca dinga ca chinga ca stinga, You know what that means...." If you don't know what that means I suggest you rent Cabin Boy the movie. One of the greatest and worst movies ever made. For the record "Ca dinga ca chinga ca stinga" means "I kissed a girl" Its sailor talk.

Not much to speak of

Man I hate mondays. Work was ok, but I just didn't feel it today. I wanted to go golfing or sleeping or anything. I actually looked forward to getting home and busting out yard work. I really enjoyed my yard work today, i put on some headphones, jammed, to the Clash and Moby (yeah weird combo) and just dug holes. I'm trying to get a stone walk way to the front door and got it done which is cool. Hopefully over time the stones will set in and the grass will grow around it and it will look swank.

The crabbarino's are coming up for the weekend. I'm pretty excited as we haven't hung with them in a few monthes. Don't think we'll go golfing though, probably just hang out and go out to dinner or something. Also the fact that I finally have a day off from work is pretty cool. I haven't had one in a long time. I took a day off when we bought the house though i was working harder that day than I would have at work.

ALIAS SUCKS!!!! or at least that finale did

OK, i'm a huge alias geek, its one of my wife's and mine favorite shows. But that was the worst season finale I've ever seen. Worse then the last seinfeld. Not only was no closure given, but more questions were posed than were answered. IF anything that should be a second to last episode because that was just plane crappy! I'm so annoyed. I need closure people! Vaughn got his closure! WHERE"S MINE!

And the fact the morons at ABC aren't putting the show back on the air till january means all us Alias geeks have to weight 8 monthes to find out what happened to sloan, what was on that paper, and whether or not Marshall will pull through??? Guh, though I am pleased to go to abc's message board and see all the fellow geeks just as up in arms as myself and wifey. I hate summers! All the good shows are now done and I'm stuck with crappy reruns. Guess I'll read or something.

Continue to read to if you want to know weekend events

Wife and I just chilled this weekend. We went out with the roe's last night for some pizza and the two of us caught Return of the King at the 2 bucker. It was good to see it again one last time on the big screen. RTK was definately my favorite. Then we had the roes over for some gaming this afternoon. It was great time of settlers and josiah belittleing me. Also their dog got into our leave pile and got about a 100 ticks on him. Apparently we have infestation in our yard. So come on over folks!

School of Rock rocked

The wife and I just hung out by ourselves tonight. Its been nice, we haven't had a weekend to ourselves since we moved into this money pit. She worked on some curtains while I watched the School of Rock. Which was awesome. Though I was bummed that they used one of my favorite Ramones songs: "Howling at the Moon" which I was planning on using my own movie, though I doubt I'll ever get my picture off the ground what with the unions and all, stupid unions screw everything up. The best part of that song is the righteous use of Harpsicord which I feel is an instrument that needs to be used more in musical stuff. Also the Xylaphone, i might not be able to pronounce it or spell it but that doesn't mean I don't think I can rock it. Not sure what I mean by that, but musical people listen up! Use the Xylaophoner, it'll get the place rockin, especially if its one of those Flawsome wooden ones.

I plan on sleeping and workin a lot in extreme ways this weekend, extreme sleep? I think thats an X game... should be.

On another note, check out this website, its pretty good for a laugh, celebrity look alikes and all that jazz. Check out dela reese, man i can't tell which one is which. Though I've always thought she looked more like chewbaca myself.

Blastor Gets an Extreme Makeover

Before:

AFTER:

Man, I need a life.

I found myself in the middle of nowhere

Somewhere about about 27 miles outside of Topeka I found myself. Then I realized I was in Kansas, and I wept because, though I had found myself, myself was in the middle of no where.

Picture courtesy of Pedro

Spidey Lifts Me Up When I'm Feeling Down

If there's one thing I hate, its gardening. Ooooh I hate it! Thats what I've been doing for the past three hours. There's only one thing I hate more than gardening, myself, but thats cause I have a low self esteem, stupid Chris! STOP HAVING A LOW SELF ESTEEM! Sorry Chris.

Work was crappy, just one of those days. But do you know what Spidey says?

"ROCK ON HOLTON, YOU CAN DO IT!"

The Most Beautiful Site on Earth

The Cliffs of Moer, the most beautiful piece of Earth I've ever seen, picture courtesy of Pedro Holtore.

My Junior year spring break I went with Josiah, Mason, and T-Willy Willison to Ireland. Roe and T-Willy missed this site, so enjoyed it with the Mase-dawger. I'd say it was the most fullfilling part of the trip, but fresh guiness was a close second. This picture was taken at the main spot of the cliffs and behind Pedro, if memory serves me, is a tower that has been retro-fitted into a cool little gift shop. And if you squint and look really closely, i mean get your eye to the computer screen you'll see another tower at the end of the cliffs. Ok, you probably can't see it unless you know its there. But its there and its about a good 10 miles or more to the end of the cliffs, and that tower is completely just a shell of a tower. The Irish kept the towers there to act as defense against invaders, though I don't think the American Indians were going to be coming over and posing any threat to a bunch of Irish hooligans. But anyway, its a great picture and way better quality than what I came back with. Hats off to you Pedro.

Spiderman Vs T-rex-----Cholto Figures out the Picture blog

Well as you can see I figured out the picture thing.

I call this piece: "My spider sense doesn't tingle anymore."

CAN SOMEONE FOR THE LOVE TELL ME HOW TO PUT PICS ON THE BLOG!!!??!?!??? And Holton asks for more money from Corporate America

So I've been taking a massive amount of pics with my digital camera and I've asked numerous people numerous times how to put pics on the blog but alas no one seems to answer me. I feel like i'm shouting for help and no one cares. ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS HOW TO PUT PICS ON ME BLOG!

Saw big fish this weekend. Great movie, really could relate to the father son dynamic. Plus the symbolism was terrific. I'd say one of my favorite movies of the year though i never saw in the theater so that sometimes affects how i view movies. I may take the wifey out for Rerun of the King at the 2 bucker. She hasn't seen it yet and I only saw it once opening weekend.

Work is good. I had an interview with some higher ups today. They asked me what I would change, or "what is the least favorite part of my job?" My answer: "PAY" I told them that for what the job entails the pay doesn't match. My job is basically sorting through the mess of Corporate america and trying to make sense of nonsense. So at times I feel like a trashman. And basically I just think that a job of such an undesirable nature should be paid an honest wage. Who knows if they'll take what i said to heart, though i figure telling them the truth couldn't hurt too bad. I told them i still really liked the job, which is true, just thought It deserved more than it paid.

Pedro drives his Traveller into Town

The weekend was pretty hectic, as is the case when my brother Pete aka obscene gene, stops by with a few hours notice. We had small group dinner friday night and basically wifey entertained the adults while I played with the 3 and 5 year old kids of a buddy of mine. It worked out good that way, wifey' relates with adults and I relate with kids so it was like hanging out with my peers so to speak. Most of the time I just ran around in circles while they chased me, thats one of my favorite games, I call it "running around in circles to see who passes out the first" I've never won.... meaning I always pass out.

Then Pedro rolled in about late o clock. We had some beers, a stank old Anheiser Busch World Select which is Bud's attempt at an up-ity snob beer. Its not great, not bad, but I'd rather have a Honey Brown any day. HB's the best american beer in my opinion. Sweet, good body, and only about 5.50 a six pack. The only thing else that holds a candel to that is natty ice, which is known to cause uncontrollable diarea or E-D.

Pedro got this new car a year ago from some snake oil salesman while training out in the Nevada desert. He was driving by a farm and saw this International Harvester Traveller circa 1972ish. He couldn't resist, bought and told the farmer he'd be back in a year to pick it up. He picked it up a week or so ago and drove it cross country, stopped in St. Louey to pick up some stuff for us and drove it here. He asked that in return for bringing stuff if I'd fill er up. I figured it'd be 40 bucks maybe, with high gas prices and it being an SUV. Oh no, it turned out to be 65 dollar tab and over 30 gallons of gas. The thing has more gas than fat man after a meal at Bubba's Chili Shack. It was worth it though, for the gas grill he brought us. It's a sweet pit and we've used it twice already, nothin better than animal flesh cooked good and hearty on a bbq pit. Makes a man feel like a man. Here's a pic of the car....

Pedro and I toured around town saturday doing a bunch of erands i Had to do. It was great driving the behemoth vehicle, rarely do you have an opportunity to drive a vehicle that actually looks down upon a suburban. The best was driving by kids in their brand new 4 runners, pathfinders, and other lame-o flame-o SUVS and watching their faces go from cocky to embarrassed. It was awesome, they just knew if the Traveller were to go head on with their car that the Traveller would be unphased and their car would be a pile of crappy plastic. The traveller was a definate ego booster, and for this low self esteemed boy, it was a day I felt better than anyone else. Sound pathetic? It was, but fun too!

Then Sunday we went down to Atlanta to see the inlaws and inlaw grandparents. It was great and good food too. It was the mudder in law's b-day and i used the opportunity to bum some tools off me grandpappy in law. He has more tools than Home Depot and has the good old fashion kind.

I hate the Lakers

I hate the lakers, the end.

Turning off the News, and Turning to our Faith in Christ

We had the Roe's over for dinner, we figured they'd be a bit busy as they prepare to trek to VA so we figured a meal was in order to help them out tonight. Roe was saying how depressed he was with the whole capitation thing over in Iraq.

I must say it got me bummed too, but frankly my feeling is its hell out there and that guy knew it and he took his life into his hands with going over there. I mean this is Iraq folks, it ain't Disney Land.

My brother is possibly going over to Iraq in the 4th mobile infantry, he's currently in California gearing up for it I think, going through training. I must say I'm sad that he's going over there, but frankly he wants to go and its what he signed on for. Thats what people I think have to realize is that no one is forced to join our military, its completely a volunteer thing. A person wants a job, they join the military, you gotta realize that fighting a war is part of that job. Even if your a reservist or a national guardsmen, fighting is your job. Hopefully you won't have to do that job, but right now we're in the middle of something that requires men and women to pick up a gun and do what they signed up for. I don't mean to be crass but I come from a long line of men that served their country. My grandparents in WW2 and Korea, my dad in Vietnam, and now my brothers. I chose not to go into the military, mainly because I found a wife and knew that if I joined that there would be a possibility that I could go to war and not come back.

On another note this war is not Vietnam, it will never be Vietnam. There is no draft, there probably won't ever be another draft. Don't compare this war to Vietnam, its different.

And another thing, don't believe everything on TV. I mean think about it, TV can't be telling you the whole truth and nothing but the truth 100% of the time, I mean there is just only so much story one can tell in a five minute blip on the nightly news and there is always more than one side to a story. My oldest brother just got back from the middle east. He told me while over there, "Chris don't believe everything you're seeing on TV." 99.9% of Iraqies are happy we're there, and a crazy .1% is f'ing it all up for the rest of them. IF these .1% would stop Jihading all over the place, and just picked up a freakin shovel, and started putting there back into rebuilding their freakin country we would have already left by now. Thats why they are so stupid they think if they attack us we'll leave, no that will just make us stay longer, if you want us to leave ignore us and build your city back up that we had to blow up because you kept shooting our men.

I've stopped watching the news pretty much all together. A month ago or so I just got tired of hearing all the negativity about Iraq and nothing of some of the positive going on over there. I mean come on folks, something good's gotta be happening over there??? Why aren't we hearing about it? I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I just can't believe that there's nothing positive going on there that CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, or any of the other networks can't seem to find.

Also i like how none of the news people thought it important to talk about the UFO's seenin Mexico this week. I mean thats some pretty cool news. Granted it was only via Infared and it could have been some birds flying around their jets, but still the story sounds really dang cool.

I dunno, the news sucks these days. I mean Kerry is still a dill I wouldn't vote for him ever. And Frankly Bush, I just don't really trust him, I don't respect him, never have, and just don't really want him running my country. Its not that I think he's the sleaze like Clinton was, its just more that I don't think intellectually he's the guy for the job. Plus I really wish he'd sort of plan things out better, not Iraq mind you but his policy. I feel like a lot of his policies he just sort of pulls out of the air. I don't know, I thought about running for it but i'm too young.

I don't mean to be so blunt, though it is sort of who i am. I just feel that people choose a path in life,(My Calvinsim sort of kicks in and goes " that is to say God predestines a path for them") but to speak unCalvinistically for a second, we choose our path and we must walk it. I've chosen a path to be a tool of corporate america and start a family. My brothers have chosen one of service to their country. We sort of just have to live with the choices we make. The murder's in Iraq that decapitated that man are gonna have to live with that decision and face the judgement of God as well as the soldiers that participated in the humilation and torture of POW's who will face that same Judgement. I too will face judgement but by the grace of God and faith in Christ and his work on the cross and triumph over death I know that my wrong decisions/sins will be forgiven. And in the end God's will will reign supreme. We just have to have faith in God, especially in these trying times.

Bloggin in Secret

A buddy of mine at work asked me about bloggin today, and I explained to him the blogging world to him and the different types of blogs and all that. He sounded interested, however I stopped short, no not the move Mr. Kastanza pulled on his wife, but stopped short of tellin him of my blog. Though i consider him a good friend, one of the few guys I'd like to hang with outside of Corp World, I just figured the less coworkers that know I blog the better. I've never written anything that could get me fired... in my opinion, but I feel like my blog is semi-private way of communicating to people, even though I let my name and most of my private life be public. I dunno know. I'd just hate for some of the people I work with to read it because of the possiblities of them knowing stuff about me, that necessarily i don't want them to know. Complete strangers, I have no problem with, and pretty much those that i know who read this blog are usually people I know and or trust and or don't know at all. Am I making myself clear?

Well for instance, I told my brothers about my blog, then my dumb brother Hunt told my parents. No offense mom and dad, but knowing you read my blog makes me scared. but anyway i bore of this topic....

Wifey's job hunt is seeing some progress, which is cool. We're still hoping for Covenant mostly because we love the school and also the convience factor can't be denied. But some sales jobs have called her and she's interviewing for. Pretty exciting consider how hard the job market is these days. In the mean time she's just sticking to the house wifey stuff and doing a dang good job of it.

Workaholic gets rewarded with a pokemon character

Go my mighty spy bot, go and destroy whatever it is you want. Moo ah ah ah. I have downloaded spybot to hopefully curb the porn popups on this crazy comp.

Today was a workaholic's dream. I busted it out at Corporate America and then went to the Apartment and busted up the apartment loading what i could in the sentra, and then came home and mowed like it was 1999. It was back breaking and i got tired of the mower dying on me so i flipped it over and saw that there was centuries of caked on grass. I did what any neanderthal would do, picked up a stick and scraped the stuff off, and when my stick failed i dug in with my bare hands and cleaned my mower good.

It was rough but i got the whole big land mowed. I also found some cool toys. I found a samuarai sword which was cool and Blastor, a pokemon character. I know what you're thinking, "Chris its sad you knew what the name of the pokemon toy was..." And i can't agree with you more.

Chattanooga Coffee Companies: The Good, the Bad, and the Crappy

Me and Scotty walked down to the new Starbucks. We're adament Greyfriar's loyalists but alas the Greyfriar crew has snubbed the idea of making new stores and relied more upon www.rarecoffee.com and whole selling the java instead of opening the neighborhood coffee shop on every corner. Strouds in the Chattanoogan serves Ian's Brew but alas it doesn't taste as good as the home grown stuff for some weird reason and closes at 3 PM which is just dang annoying. So if you need that cup of coffee for the afternoon pick up you have to go to the Greyfriars competitors.

And, I don't like Chattz, they're basically a bunch of hacks from what the Greyfriars crew has told me. I've only had one cup from there and it tasted a bit like an arm pit as far as I could tell. So I don't trade with them.

So Scotty and I took a break from the Corp. world to get some java at the new Starbucks that opened up at the Reed House. I must say the coffee wasn't bad, it was typical Charbucks, but not that bad. I enjoy a charbucks every now and then. My theory on coffee is that American coffee is like charbucks, over roasted. Its my idea that Americans like their coffee a little over roasted or if you will, well done. Greyfriars has been accused by some coffee snobs of under-roasting their coffee and thus in their opinion, that is bad. To me coffee is like a steak. You can order it rare, medium, or well done. Charbucks is the well done and it tastes good for being well done. Greyfriars tastes good too, though it has a strikingly different taste that brings out different flavors that the medium and well done roasts tend to destroy. So to me there is no real way to roast, its sort of depends on whats your cup of tea.

Back to the adventure to Charbucks

What worried me more about the coffee competition for Greyfriars, was the fact that the shop is freakin huge. Greyfriars pretty much has the corner on the market for late night coffee shops for covenant students, pot heads, and socialist intellectuals that don't know anything. I mean all those folks hang out at Greyfriars and it provides a nice mix of odd personalities. Well Starbucks' place makes Greyfriars interior look like the underground bunker Hitler died in. It was pretty plush and was steakin huge. As big as my house for the most part. Though Greyfriars still has them beat on the free refills, and for students, pot heads, and socialist intellectuals that don't know anything---free refills will always keep them all coming back.

So Greyfriars still has the market on the free refill thing which is cool.

Oh, and while on the topic of Chattanooga Coffee shops: Rembrants i in my mind has always been kind of lame. The coffee is alright, nothing to plop down a buck fitty for. The deserts are good in the sense that they're fancy, but they don't taste good. Like a lot of fancy food it goes too much for visual taste and lacks the pallet impact that i desire. Plus they have that lame-o flazamo refill bucket where you're supposed to drop a few quarters in for a refill on your joe, yeah right. I've never paid for a refill there. I don't necessarily feel bad about it because frankly I feel their product isn't even worth a buck fitty and it certainly isn't worth 25 cents for a refill. Sometimes I'll plop a pennie, other times I just jiggle the coin box to get the desirable sound that makes them think i paid. Plus they make flavored coffee which I find to be an abomination and against both the laws of nature and physics, which are somewhat interchangeable.

There is also that Perky Pirana, i went there once b/c i was at the aquarium and in need of caffine. Wifey got a espresso mocha drink that tasted like my shoe and i got a cup of joe that tasted like Joe's shoe. It was the worst coffee i think i've ever had...

Stone Cup: Its ok, I like the one out at the mall cause its always hard to find a coffee shop to hang out at malls. But I liked it better when it was the Blue Angel, that was a cooler name. If they changed it to Stoners Cup that'd be funny.

Then there is the newbie on the block, well starbucks is techinically the newbie but... Bad Ass coffee. Which to me is just distasteful. Not because the word "Ass" offends me, it doesn't. But a friend of mine who is a former school teacher pointed out the problem from a teacher's view, and also from a parents. As parents/teachers we teach our kids not to say bad words like "ass" you sort of try to break kids into those type of words and hope they can make it at least till high school or so before they use it in their daily vernacular. Well He being a former teacher who used to take his third graders to field trips to the aquarium pointed out the fact that if you go to the aquarium from say Calvin Donaldson you would most likely drive right bye BAD ASS COFFEE... and imagine a bus full of kids reading that sign and trying to keep them from saying "Ass"... it'd be impossible.

School KID: "ASS!"
Teacher: "hey stop that!"
School kid: "But the sign says and i was just reading the sign...."

I mean who was the moron that let that name pass...? Corker, were you "Corkin' it" when they asked you to allow that??? And don't give me that its named after a donkey crap, because frankly it won't fly with me. Because if it was named after a donkey then call it "Donkey Coffee,' "Mule Coffee," or "Wannabe Horse Coffee." Anyway, from what i hear their coffee is crap anyway.

Any who, Now where did I put those folgers crystals??

St. Louis Sports Talk... and Hockey

So the Cardinals are bumming right now. Bummin big time, they're losing a series to the Xpos... thats lame. I'm always frusterated with St. Louis sports because frankly they have a great venue, great fans that pack the stands out but don't get the super big stars that they can afford. Like they didn't even try for Pettite, Clemens (Granted they were going to Houston w/out a second look) but Maddux, Wells, Hampton, Shilling, these great pitchers traded teams this year through trades/free agency and the cards did even pursue them. Its like they don't want to throw down the big bucks to win it all. All they need is one freakin old timer ace to give the young pitching a leader to follow, a maddux if you will. I mean Morris is awesome and some of the other pitchers are decent but they need a guy who's done the distance and can show them how to win the big games... ah whateva. I still like Rolen, Morris, Matheny's cool, and Poo hole. I mean these guys are dang good and Its cool to see them tear it up. It annoys me that lankfords back frankly. I've always considered him sub par. This guy who could be great but isn't and won't.

In hockey news the Lightening are tearing it up. ITs pretty cool but lame too. I read a great article on Yahoo sports lamenting the changes in the NHL from the changing of the divisions from the traditional names to the blah Western and Eastern Conferences. Also the flight of canadian and northern teams to southern, non hockey towns. Nordiques, Whalers, North Stars: these were great teams with so much history. And really does Atlanta need a team? I mean even the sports teams that have been there for a long time have trouble getting people to go to games, even when they win i.e. The Braves. I've been to a few Thrashers games, it was fun but it was like watching a minor league game, not because of the action on the ice but because of the gimics and distractions there to entertain the non-hockey enthusiast.

Plus with the union threatening strikes and canadian teams on the verge or at bankruptcy it is really sad to see how the nhl is just not doing well. Say la vee.

I must say I'm hoping for the Flamers to win, I think that'd be good for Canada, they deserve a good win. Plus i like Craig Conroy, he's cool, former blue, one of my favorites. Not great, but a hard worker, and what he lacked in raw talent he made up for in hustle and determination.

I reflect upon my experience at Covenant's Graduation

Today was covenant's graduation. It was aight. It was neat to see some of the guys I mentored take those final steps... oh wait i mentored no one. In fact I probably had little to no impact on the guys except for encouraging more video game play and telling the guy on blackwatch to enjoy ever precious minute because once you graduate its over and life hits you in the face like a wet noodle!

Yeah, its funny graduation is this huge celebration to people. Looking back I wish I could just tell Prez Neilson, "Uh actually i don't want to go to the real world, um I'm gonna change my major and take another 4 years of my life to hide from the real world."

Listen up you fresh grads, life ain't fun afta school. I mean it can be but working ain't as fun as studying. You don't do your homework, no biggie you can make up for it. You don't go to work, you're fired. Plus my video game playing time is no more, as compared to college time. Not when there's bills to pay and lawns to mow. I feel like Billy Madison and want to run up to all the fat grads, grab them by their jowls, and tell them to "Cherish it!"

Yeah graduation ain't no celebration, its more like a kick in the you know what. Now when I got a job four monthes later, then it was time to celebrate.

What Music You Should Be Listening to: Holton's Picks for Good Fun Listening: Today's Selection: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

I just got done spinning Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Into the Great Wide
Open and I must say that it was the best Heartbreakers album. I'm a pretty
big Petty fan, I mean I don't still buy his new cds, just because I'm not
big into what he's doing now. As he's aged he's sort of tried to be a little
more opinionated and his voice has gone from a redneckish type of
California/Flordia sound to a washed up wanna be Bob Dylanite. Especially
his last two albums, they came off as real Bob Dylan esque. But his earlier
stuff has the fun loving stuff 80s and 90s. Into the great wide open is
really a great album with hits like Into the Great Wide Open the classic
song about a musician's attempt to make it big played by Jonny Depp in the
video--very classic. Also it has Learning to Fly hwich would be the other
single, but the ablum has a couple good sleepers in it that are really
classic. King's Highway, Out in the Cold, and Makin' Some Noise are really
great songs that make you feel good. I also like the song Two Gunslingers
which seems to be song about two gunslingers who decide to take control of
their life, and stop fighting despite the social pressure around them and
the crowd desiring a gun fight. It kind of makes you want to stop being a
gun slinger and just take control of your life, right now, oh yeah.
But anyway, I recommend it. I pretty much see myself as a backwards
hipster. Hipster's try to get people into new edgy hip music, I try to get
people into hip cool music from ten years ago.

Keyless Chuck Drills are the Power Tool Industry's Biggest Prank on the Consumer

I hate curtains... correction I hate hanging curtains. I also hate, with the core of my being, key less chuck drills. Do me a favor don't ever buy a key less chuck. Every time I've used my key less chuck drill the drill bit comes off. So i try to hold the screwing thing to tighten the chuck and strip my hands of the precious flesh that keeps the insides in and the outsides out. It was a wedding gift from the father in law but I'm not too grateful for this gift, i'm grateful for the thought, but i sort of just want to give him the gift and be like, "I'll get my own thanks." I'm that frusterated with it. I sound like a spoiled brat i realize, but are your hand bare from having the flesh torn off from trying to tighten a chuck? Do your drill bits fly out while trying to drill a simple hole? Of course not, why don't these things happen to you? You bought a keyed chuck drill. I commend you.

Comic Book reflections

I saw the ad for the new spider man tonight and it amazes me everytime. I mean I've seen the trailers but it just sends a wow down my spine. I wasn't even a big spider man fan when i was a kid. I thought he was kind of a wimp, I mean just when he was starting to kick some butt he'd run out of web, I was always like, "Yo spidey bring some reserves for the love!" Thats why I liked Sam Raimi's creative license of making the web slinging a spidey super power, I thought that was a good touch, it makes him a little more dang cool and powerful.

My favorite superheros were more on the DC side. I liked Batman just because he was cool. I got into him when the whole Bane Crisis came. Basically Bane was this steriod muscle man that broke Bruce Wayne's back, wayne hires another superhero Archangel to fight bane, archangel wasn't into the whole fight fair thing and outfitted the bat suit with these gun like gloves that shot tiny bat blades. And basically he went to town on bane and the bad guys. Which didn't make Wayne and co. too happy since it wasn't the typical batman way of doing things.

I also got into Superman when he died. I thought that was really cool but when he came back to life i thought it was kind of dumb. I liked how they cloned him and made Superboy, he had a cool attitude, wore a leather jacket, and had telekenisis power which was cool. I got out of comics when I realize that there were twenty pages in a comic book and only about five of those pages contained story on them the rest were ads and junk.

Xmen was another cool comic, mainly cause it had something for everyone. It had the bad guy who was good (Wolverine), the nerdy guy (Cyclops), the hot chicks, the quasi homosexual canjun (Gambit), and beast who gave fat hairy people hope that they too could make a difference.

Cable the Modem and I hate my Job

I got my cable modem. I figure i can afford 10 bucks a month for two monthes and then cancel it. Though it will be tough going to either no internet or dial up. But for now I bask in the fastness. ON another note, if you've tried to email me at work chances are i didn't get it. I think my employer, Evil Corporate Company, has cut my access to outside email from everyone. I haven't received any, and People tell me they email me daily. So its annoying. If you need to reach me try holtoch@hotmail.com.

On another note, wife's still not heard back from covenant, there kind of stringing her along right now and thats a bit annoying. Well house work calls, Friends was ok. Funny, ended way better than sinefeld. Though my whole theory is, its just a show, so no big deal.

Wife's Job Update and Other stuff

I never got to write about the wife's old job situation. My wife worked for
one of the bigger and better known realtors in the city. The guy's a real
turkey, but for fear of her getting fired we never really talked about her
job stuff via blog. But basically the guy is like Denny Crane. Ever watch
the Practice? Well they've put this awesome character played by Captain Kirk
(I forget his real name) and he's the hot shot lawyer in town and before
every sentence, and at the end of each sentence he says his name, "Denny
Crane." Its really hilarious. He'lll be, "Your honor, Denny Crane, I OBJECT,
Denny Crane." Its really genious and he's really made the show even more
funny and cool.
Well if you've seen the show you know who I'm talking about, and
pretty much Denny Crane was my wife's boss. Basically they found out one way
or another that my wife had interviewed for some other jobs and basically
fired her before she could quit, which I've been informed is illegal in some
manner of way. But being poor and he being rich we're really not gonna
pursue it since he can hire better lawyers, and we frankly just don't care.
It was pretty sudden, but we weren't too upset. Its given the wife a lot of
time to stay at home and work on the house, though the loss of income wasn't
desired. She's currently waiting to hear back from covenant about an
admissions job which she'd be perfect for and they'd be brain dead to not
hire her, but we'll see. But if she doesn't get it she's pretty much just
gonna go to Tortilla factory or something to just have something to do until
she finds something more permanent. She's having plenty to do now though so
all is good.
On another note i had a dream last night that I was on survivor, oh
we oh we oh we eh, thats the survivor song.... sort of. SO i was on survivor
and I was sort of the odd man out because all the other contestants were my
friends. On one side I had one group of friends, mainly my blackwatch
friends and on the other were my more catacombian friends and i had to
choose who to vote off and basically which ever group i chose from was gonna
go after me hard core to vote me off since i was the swing vote. But I had
immunity. It was a real catch 22 thing going on.

More Holton Posts

OK, I'm getting bad here, My poor blog, i miss you.

This weekend was Extreme Holton Makeover: Home Edition. So the floor guys
left friday not close to being done, wife had a lingre shower planned for 3
pm the next day and we had not even begun to fix up the house.
We busted it down though, Holton style. I put the face plates on all
the outlets, sawed some wood for the valances (Before this weekend I didn't
know what one was either---do a google search on it), hung a towel rack, put
up Roman Shades, put up one balance, finished mowin my never ending lawn,
trimmed a tree, moved rocks to make a stone path, raked stuff, moved
furniture, moved stuff from the apartment, and basically did everything but
sleep. I was up till 3 friday night and up at 6 saturday morning. The floor
guys were out by 1:30 by the skin of their teeth, i had cleaned up after
them and moved furniture with the help of a young Mac es Preston Esquire,
and Jesse Theodore Logan. I was putting down couches as the women were
walking in the door.
I ran out the door, went to Jesse's and vegged on the Halo action,
it was great.
Then went to Blackwatch and sort of sat amongst the chaos of the
room cleaning at Covenant, it was kind of fun to watch it and not have to
worry about it.
So pretty much the house is looking great, some of the doors don't
open, some don't close, basically because the change in the height of the
floor, nothing the Holtonian can't rememdy. The Roe's helped us move the bed
over yesterday, but it wasn't work, it was fun, lots of fun. But basically
it allowed us to spend the night over at the house so that was nice.
Work's ok, i got a two cent raise for next year. They showed me how
much i was making for 04 and I almost went, "But its the same???" I actually
couldn't tell the difference for the first few minutes. "Oh thats what that
number is... I thought it was tax or something..." Say la vee. I told Roe
that he should put a web cam in my cube so all the guys at coptix could tune
in, that way they could go, "It could be worse...." I like my job, the pay's
good, but the pay doesn't match the job, I'll say that. Its like being a
trashman and making 5 bucks an hour. 5 bucks an hour ain't bad, but I'm
picking up trash, I should make more, trash is not fun. Though I make the
most of it, mostly by pretending I'm playing video games when I'm working. I
pretend the systems i work with are actually Warcraft, Command and Conquer,
and Unreal. That way when I'm actually typing and working with numbers I
think I'm shooting the bad guys and saving the world. Its amazing what an
over active imagination can do. Right now I'm actually pretending I'm
playing solitare... not sure why, solitare's boring. Any who, back to
playing Red Alert 2 in my head.

I'm Back; Catch up with the Holton

I figured I should maybe start emailing myself blogs, as I never seem to
post anymore. I have a lot to bring people up on as far as the trans doings
of the past weeks.
First off We got our house. Its great, we worked on it all weekend
two weekends ago. We put in crown molding in the living room and dinning
room, quarter round on the floor to give it an elegant look, painted the
living room and dinning room a nice yellow color with the help of the Roes
and the in laws. We painted the kitchen red which looks cool, the master and
bathroom are green now and we also shored up the stairs in the basement
which were falling apart. This was all in the first weekend with the help of
the inlaws we really busted things up, it was great.
The people who sold the house compensated us for the carpet, we had
asked them to stretch it, but it was so old and dingy that it could not be
stretched. So we were a little bummed by the crappy carpet, but my parents
most generously gave us some moolah to have hard floors put in. Well, what
started off as something small and easy has turned into the biggest ordeal
of our lives. Last week wifey began pricing the local wood men around town.
We wanted someone who would bring in the wood, install it, and be out in a
few days. We wanted prefinished as it doesn't take as log to install and has
more coats of varnish than unfinished. (We were informed that unfinished
wood can hold only 4 coats of finish whereas factory made finished has 7
coats of finish). We were shocked to see that the average price for wood men
was 4,500, which was way out of the budget. And unfortunately most wood men
only deal in unfinished, basically my theory is they figure they can charge
more for labor with unfinished cause they'll do all the finishing. So we
went to South Eastern Salvage on Lee Highway and were happy to see there
wood was cheaper than any other wood in town. Problem was they don't
deliver, don't install, and don't let you open the box of wood before you
buy it, its basically a gamble. But unable to afford anything else we went
that route and saved probably a 1000 bucks on the wood. We got 630 square
feet for about 2000 bucks. Then we found a floor guy that said he could get
it all installed for a 1000 bucks, Rocky Sanders is his name, and flooring
appears to be his game.
So we went with Rocky, mostly because i like his name. Rocky
Sanders.... its really fun to say. Well I pulled up all the carpet in the
rooms and found that in the living room there was the remains of a lamanent
flooring. And for those of you who don't know, a lot of lamanent flooring in
the olden days had asesbetos in it, and asesbetos is a big cancer agent,
that the fibers get in your lung, you lung can't get it out and then it
turns to cancer, and you die. SO its pretty dangerous stuff. I call rocky
and ask him if it needs to come up, he said, "Nah, should be fine." A few
days later rocky rolls up wednesday morning and first thing he says, "Oh,
thats gotta come up..." Well thanks rocko that info could have been helpful
yesterday. Fearing the price he'd charge to pull it up, we dismissed him and
the crew for the day and i took a halfday and set to work scrapping the
crapola up. I called in the Mac Crockett, Stromo's, and Future Mrs. Lutz to
help and we spent all night scrapping this stuff.... till 11PM!!! We only
got half done too.... it was very defeating... now i know how the alamo
people felt.
So rocky and his crew show up today... they tell us, "We'll pull up
the rest and charge 50 bucks for the first two hours and 15 bucks for every
hour afterward..." Thinking that it wouldn't be hard.... five minutes later
they tell us, "Yeah it can't be done...." So they ask me if i care if they
just lay the wood on top, I say, "As long as it poses no health risk...."
They say.... "Better ask Rocky..." Rocky says it will so he suggests laying
down a whole new floor... ply wood and then putting the hard wood on top of
that.... so thats where we are now. My wife is currently driving to lowes
with Rocky and his crew to buy the ply wood and hopefully by days end we'll
finally be well on our way to a floor....
OY VE! If you want to know how I feel, watch Tom Hanks in the Money
Pitt.... tahts pretty much me right now. All I need now is to fall through a
floor and get stuck.
Other news needs to be brought to the blogging community about our
lives.... my wife's employment... but that will be next blog.