A Hell of a Mess...

Too damn busy for my own good

Sadly, I think this is going to become a pattern in my life for a while.

The state of Nevada has a biennial legislature that meets for 120-day session beginning in the first week of February in odd-numbered years. While February seems far away for a lot of people, it's looming for myself and the people in my office.  The preparation for the 120-day session, sadly, takes at least 120 days beforehand.

The big part of my job right now is in doing revenue projections.  For fear that I kill people out of sheer boredom, I don't think I'll go into great detail about that.  Suffice it to say, though, that overtime has been a theme lately.  And while I do enjoy the getting paid aspect of it, giving up my Sunday to be in my office for 9 hours isn't exactly my idea of a relaxing weekend.

Nonetheless, that's the way life will be for a while.  During the last legislative session (when I was working for the Nevada Assembly as a proofreader), there were a couple of stretches where I worked 15 or 16 days straight.  This go-around, with more responsibilities and the like, it'll be more like 50 or 60 days in a row.

Once I have some more time, I'll sit down and review the first CD I put on The Shelf of Crap back in 1993 or 1994 - "Fabio After Dark."  Today, though, I'll share the story of the woman in Sacramento who found religion in her Mexican food.

http://cbs13.com/seenon/local_story_293010847.html

The only question that remains: how long until she puts it on eBay.

Introduction to The Shelf of Crap

Not too long after I started college (the first time), I began a sojourn through pawn shops and thrift shops looking for cheap music.  My eighteen-year-old self learned two important lessons:

1. Much of the best music ever made was only ever released on vinyl.
2. Much of the worst music ever made was only ever released on vinyl.

Strangely enough, I was drawn to both categories - so my music collection reflects a lot of...well, everything.  For every album/CD I was buying by an artist like the Beatles, I was buying another one by someone like the Village People.  The best (worst) one I bought during those early phases was a disco record, complete with a color book designed to teach people to do the Hustle.

(Sadly, I don't have that album anymore.  I hope that the new owner has put it to good use.)

Otherwise, the crappy music is still a key part of my music collection.  In some ways, it's the part I'm most proud of.  And despite the fact that most people my age (and gender) would be ashamed to own CDs by Ashlee Simpson or the Spice Girls, they are both existent in this collection. 

In fact, they all have taken up residence on the top shelf of my CD rack.  This shelf is The Shelf of Crap.  The category that is named for this shelf will be devoted to a tour through this portion of my collection.  From the obscure to the ridiculous, from the horrid to the passable, an album will be featured here every so often.  (The shelf currently sits at about seventy different albums -- mostly CDs, but a couple of LPs and cassettes are also part of it as well.)

If there is any lesson that can be taken away from this collection, it would probably be that music executives will put out just about anything by anyone.  And, more importantly, there will be idiots such as myself who will buy it.

I hate fantasy football...

...because tonight, it apparently hates me.

My team was down by one point going into tonight's game - the undefeated Bears going into the University of Phoenix Stadium to give its own version of night schooling to the hapless Cardinals.  I felt particularly good about this, because my opponent had a receiver for the Bears, and I had the Bears' kicker, as well as their quarterback - Rex Grossman - who I figured would put up a couple of touchdowns and give me a victory this week.

Until, of course, he did this:

14-37, 148 yards, zero touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 2 fumbles lost.

Never mind that the field goal and three extra points Robbie Gould got should have been enough for me to win, even with a marginal performance from Grossman.  Rex couldn't even give me pathetic, though, let alone marginal.  That line gives me negative 10 points, and combined with the 6 I get from the kicker, my team loses by five.

It could have been worse, though.  I could be a Cardinal fan, suffering a coronary as the result of defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory yet again.

Speaking of coronaries, whoever thought Fried Coke was a good idea?

What happened to me?

Once upon a time, in my younger days -- I believe that it was 2000 or so -- I decided that I didn't need a cell phone and decided that I would never buy one.

I bought my first cell phone in February of 2003.

At some point after that, I discovered that people were blogging -- lots of them.  And I thought to myself, I could never do that.  Why the hell would I want to put myself out for the world to see?

Well, a couple of years later, I guess I have the answer to that question.  I'm putting myself out for the world to see -- well, because I can.

I figure that there are a few people who know me who will be reading this, who will have some idea of what to expect as this blog evolves (or devolves, depending on your point of view).  For everyone else, though, I figure this is a good place to start with just what to expect from this blog (and what you won't see from it).

You'll see general observations on life -- the stupidity that abounds around us on a daily basis.  You won't see me discuss religion or politics, though.  Not that I don't have an opinion or that I don't care -- I do, on both fronts.  I don't want this to be a place where people come to argue and try to change minds that aren't going to be changed simply because I or someone else argues a point in front of a computer.

It should also be noted here that my job (as an economist) is for the nonpartisan staff of Nevada's state legislature.  In a lot of ways, talking politics to me now is like taking my job home with me.  And we know how many people feel about that.

You won't see me discussing ex-girlfriends (other than in passing) or specific details regarding my past relationships.  I have an ex who made an entire post about me in her blog one day a couple of years ago -- more than five years after we had broken up.  In fact, this ex dedicated a portion of her website at some point to every single ex and every single relationship she was ever in, talking about what began and end it, and the general and specific faults she had with the person and the situation.

Considering that I've been married for over six years now, bringing up the past serves, in my opinion, no real purpose other than to bring back feelings and issues that are long in the past.  That doesn't mean that I don't think about things in my past or wonder what could have been different.  What that really means, though, is that it's my business -- not dirty laundry to be aired in this little corner of the Internet.

And in all fairness, I don't think that airing my side of the story on an ex or a relationship is fair to someone who cannot defend themselves by posting their side of the story, unless they came here to rebut it.  I didn't design this blog to become a shouting match -- not for myself, and hopefully not for anyone else.

(And no, I'm not giving the link to her blog, so don't ask.)

This blog is going to be like most blogs in some ways.  I'll talk about my life -- my family, my hobbies, and whatnot -- but I'll also talk about my observations of the world around me.  Essentially, I'm doing this so I can do something fun for a little while each day.

I just hope that it's as fun for you to read as it is for me to write.