4:25

It’s 4:25 and I’m still at work on a Friday which is just absurd. In one sense it’s good because I have plenty of things going on that keep me busy but on the other it’s 4:25 on a Friday. I know there are people out there who work till 5 everyday on Friday and are bitching about me bitching. However, that is the reality of the situation. I will write though that I don’t have much to write about. As the owner of this blog it’s up to me to come up with material and when I don’t have any, and I haven’t wrote for 2 days or so, you get posts like this. It’s basically putting something up so I don’t feel guilty about going 3-4 days without posting because weekends aren’t typically high post days for me. As a completely random thought, I’m starting to question this no-shave November because I’m put in professional situations from time to time and my opinion is that no facial hair is most professional. Now considering I wear a hooded sweatshirt to work most days you wouldn’t think that would be an issue but I still question it. I’ll update a picture in short time so you can see how a real man grows facial hair compared to Sam’s crustache.

By |2012-11-09T16:32:26-05:00November 9th, 2012|My Life|1 Comment

Aging

Today marks the 29th year I’ve been alive. Some might see this as a joyous occasion worth celebrating but I’m not sure why survival deserves so much credit. Other people also like to use this as a day to “party” but I essentially treat every weekend like a party and today would be no different. I actually “party” today by not partying. Your friends send you messages like happy b-day and enjoy the day but if it wasn’t marked on Facebook would they even know? Not that this really bothers me but I know who my friends are whether or not they post on my wall or wish me a happy birthday. I’m the last person who would get upset at someone for not chiming in and wishing me a happy birthday. For me it feels just like any other day. 1/365. Age though is a good way to benchmark your life and I want to share some thoughts I have on it.

As you get older, you mature, and store valuable information that you’ve received throughout your life. Today at 29 I can make better informed decisions than I could at 18. One major noticeable change is money. When a company says that they made 30 million dollars this year, I can understand how big a number 30 million is from a dollar sense. At 18, I was grasping how much money a thousand dollars was. Your perspective becomes clearer with more life experience. This is a wonderful thing because it makes life more fun and complicated. This goes hand in hand with the way you think about life because your view should be constantly changing and adapting.

People are always saying how they wish they could be 18 again. I do not. I personally like being 29 and aside from maybe being 26, there is no age I’d rather be than what I am now. This view might change when I hit 35, but for now that’s how I feel. I’m in my same lifetime 17:30 5k shape. I still feel strong and healthy. I’m able to play sports the same as when I was younger aside from seemingly getting injured easier. I have more money and I respect it more even if I still make poor decisions. I can view younger peoples decisions with regard to what’s happened in my life and can take older peoples advice on how to move forward. It’s really a wonderful age.

The obvious thing that I don’t have in my life is any stability or building to a family. With no girlfriend and no place I’d call my own, I’m essentially starting from scratch at 29. There are some people who would be horrified at this. However, this is exactly what I’ve chosen to do with my life and I don’t regret a thing. The obvious pluses are that I have no baggage and haven’t made any mistakes in that regard. It also means I haven’t really lived. With all that being said, I still have, many years of my life to figure this part out. I don’t look at today as happy or sad, it’s just another naturally occurring event.

By |2013-03-15T03:14:44-04:00November 6th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

At any rate

An interesting weekend headlined by my matchup with the Rock in fantasy football. I am down 1.9 points moving into tonight’s game with Vick and McCoy on my roster vs Brees and DeSean on his. This is what the season is all about. One of use moves to 5-4 with high aspirations for the playoffs and the other season is almost at an end. For what it’s worth, I’d rather be in my spot but the edge, if any, is super slight. I pulled off W’s in Bake and Steve’s league and dropped another one in my pro league. A sad, but true, moment was my pickup of Heath Miller in Evan’s league which was honestly the highlight of my week.

We also won a football game on Saturday in lower than normal temperatures. We opened a 21-0 lead and the game was never really that close. Props to Bake for quarterbacking a good game and getting everyone involved. We took the 2nd seed with a 5-2 record moving into a playoff game this upcoming Saturday. From the looks of it, we should have a good schedule to the championship game.

It looks like we might be getting some snow on Wednesday so I’m hoping we can get a CK4cast sometime shortly.

By |2012-11-05T18:02:36-05:00November 5th, 2012|My Life|2 Comments

Blog Update for the Weekend

I didn’t do anything on Friday night because I was running a 5k on Saturday morning. I will have to write that it does feel good waking up on Saturday at 7:15, getting a hair cut, and then being a productive person as phrased by CK4. The race went off at 9:30 and I was pretty well prepared for a quick 5k. My first mile was clocked at exactly 5:40 and my finishing time was a 5:38 pace for a 17:38 which was good for 2nd place in the race. I was hoping to get under 17:30 but I was pretty pleased considering I kicked really well at the end and obviously had more left in the tank.
After the race, Ck4 and I played a round of golf at Walnut Creek which is undoubtedly one of the worst courses in the area. Without going into too much detail, I thought I played particularly well playing their par 3’s with just about every tee shot landing near or on the green. Neither of us put up a particularly good score so it’s not even worth mentioning. We had a football game at 4pm so we decided to have a a beer or two at Mad River beforehand. Fortunately the opposing team was pretty bad and we won handily. I went home and showered before heading to Baker’s for a Halloween party. I dressed up at Morpheus from the Matrix which was a decent costume but not many people even knew who it was. The glasses were really crappy and I they couldn’t be worn unless there was literally no facial movement.

I got back home on Sunday for football and this wasn’t one of my better betting weeks. I managed to drop a figure that I’m not going to reveal (unless you really want to know) but it was over 100 and less than 500. It’s hard to really be disappointed when I know I’m playing with house money but it was still money. After this week I’m up 100 dollars for the season which is a setback and now I have to be much more careful in the games I choose. I went 3-1 fantasy wise for the 2nd straight week and am making serious effort at a playoff run in 3 leagues. I’m 4-4 in 3 leagues and 3-5 in the other. The Wild Turkeys beat the Shee for a huge win and puts me right back in the thick of things with what I believe is my best team. Still surviving.

By |2012-10-29T15:32:41-04:00October 29th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

ForeGone

I’ve taken off work today to go golfing with perhaps my oldest known friend who just recently got engaged. It’s difficult to maintain friendships for this long for various reasons including location, feelings, and all the other curve balls life throws at you. Taking a day off to go golfing is a true luxury with an old time friend. What used to be seeing each other practically every day to the realization that life changes is perfectly natural. The best thing a friend can do for another friend is to feel happy when they’re happy. So I wanted to take this sentence and just give a huge congratulations to Nikkii and Chad on their recent engagement. I must also thank Ck4 for all his contributing efforts to providing blog fodder for over the years. Examples are here and here and here.

Today is also an interesting date because it marks birthday of my roommate from college. I noticed on facebook that he would have been 30 years old today. I knew him for all 2.5 years of college and we were roommates for the .5 year. I don’t know the exact cause of death but I presume it was self inflicted, perhaps accidentally. My first example was of somebody getting married and starting a brand new life with the sensation of happiness. This is the opposite end of the life spectrum. Have you experienced death in your life? A death of old age is something you are more prepared for but unexpected deaths can hit you differently. I’m going to be perfectly honest now because I just wouldn’t want to lie. My roommates death wasn’t a life altering feeling for me. We’d grown apart, mainly due to his erratic nature, and he let substances rule his life. It wasn’t the same friendship when it started. That’s why I wrote it’s important to appreciate days with people that you’ve known for a long time because there are no guarantees in life. You really have to live life in the moment.

My sister would scrutinize that last sentence due to my monetizing ways.

By |2012-10-25T11:48:15-04:00October 25th, 2012|My Life|1 Comment

Regret is inevitable

The feeling of regret is nearly impossible to avoid throughout your life. There will come a time where you wish you could go back and do something differently to achieve a different outcome. Here are two situations I’ve encountered recently that I wish I could go back and change. No matter how trivial they may seem, I still remember them.

Yesterday in our co-ed football game I dropped a pass that would have been a touchdown from our reserve QB. It probably would have been a 40 yard TD pass and the guy, Dan, threw it perfect. I made a move deep and had the defender by a step and he leads a perfect pass that goes right over the outstretched hands of the defender and right through my hands. The game was a blowout so the play didn’t really make a difference in the outcome but it’s a catch I should be making 95% of the time. Everyone would have benefited from me making the catch. Now imagine you are Bill Buckner. It’s life changing.

This second one is a little more obscure. It was 3am one night and a bunch of people were listening to music. The one guy who was controlling the DJ, and was rocking with Springsteen Thunder Road and other such classics, asked me to pick a song. I said no thanks but he persisted because he heard my taste earlier in the day and said he liked my choices. So I sat there and tried to think of a 3am song that would rock the house. I came up with Golden Slumbers by the Beatles. This selection was horrible. I regret this song choice and still think how I can never change that moment in time and how that guy will never ask me for a song selection again. Small but I will never forget it for the rest of my life. Better choices would have been Sympathy for the Devil, All Along the Watchtower, or Life During Wartime.

By |2012-10-21T12:43:19-04:00October 21st, 2012|My Life|2 Comments

Shopping Experience at Macy’s and Jos A. Bank

Considering how many different ways I squander my money, it’s usually not a bad idea for me to upgrade my wardrobe. Compared to booze, gambling, and other areas which generate nothing material, this at least puts my money to work. Now my philosophy is that I’m prepared to spend a decent amount of money for something that is nice and will last a long time. Buying cheap never was my mentality because it looks inferior and clothes tend to stay with you for a long time once you stop growing. Plus the cheaper the faster it wears down.

Things I needed included a new pair of dress shoes, some dress shirts, a jacket and normal winter wear. My first stop was at Macy’s in the Plymouth Meeting mall. This Macy’s attempted to cater to both the casual and upscale consumer. Some brands I noticed were Club Room, Alfani, Nautica, Hilfiger, Polo, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Kenneth Cole and various others. Their selection was fairly weak for a clothing store. Nevertheless I’m not really that picky where I shop and Macy’s was a fine start. I bought a 4 pack of Champion boxers for 24 dollars. Sounds ridiculous but these are cotton and for some reason I just have a hard time finding pure cotton boxers so I willing to pay 6 dollars per pair for years of use. Seriously think about it and then say that’s expensive. I then looked at some shoes and went with a Bostonian brown dress shoe for $59.00 that were retailed at $85.00. Next, I purchased a Calvin Klein coat for outside and a zip up, non hooded, sweat shirt. The non hooded, zip up sweatshirt is actually not as common as you think. They had no dress shirts I would wear in public. I was rung up and the total was $254 with an addition 20% off for having a Macy’s card for a total of 200 bucks.

After I left Macy’s I decided to look at the dress shirts in Jos. A Bank. I walked in and asked the clerk what’s a good deal on dress shirts? He said the Traveler’s series usually retail for $82 but we are selling them 50% off. Sounds good. I purchased two and asked about their shoes and he said they retail for $130. That’s a bit steep considering I don’t intend to wear them everyday. I kept looking around and saw a nice coat retailing for $285. I asked if there was any discount on the coat, he checked, he said it was selling for $103 dollars. I told him I wanted to go to my car and compare it with the Macy’s Calvin Klein coat. After looking in the mirror it was clear the Jos. A Bank was the better coat for a mere $30 dollars more. I purchased the two dress shirts and coat and returned the other one to Macy’s with no problem. How did I do?

By |2012-10-17T21:43:05-04:00October 17th, 2012|My Brain, My Life|0 Comments

A voice

I was actually able to pinpoint why I keep this blog while I was crossing the Ben Franklin bridge today. Most of the time I write that I never really know why I continue this blog and that I’m just posting to post. My initial reasoning to why I maintain it is because once I get enough people to read it, I can sell ad space and turn it into a profit center for myself. This is why I’d play into the Suri Cruise and Brandi Passante nonsense hoping for stardom even though it’s not giving my readers my true thoughts. It’s just a ploy and fakers always get exposed or it’s just a flash in the pan. Providing substance and novel ideas and thoughts is what builds a foundation.

I realized that this blog provides me with a voice. It allows me to get my thoughts out of my brain into a database. It’s me. This website is my life and when I pass on it will always be here. This proves I existed and what type of a person I am. It doesn’t really matter who reads this or whether they comment or anything else that I sometimes complain about. This blog isn’t about you, it’s about me. Catering to an audience is not the right mixture. If I want to write about Iron Mike Tyson, I should write about him. Maybe I want to write about how I thought Marlon was the cooler Wayans brother and how Sean ruined that show on the WB. I can’t worry or let other dictate how I think. I absolutely do this in my life. It’s hard not to. Stay true to yourself and things will work out for the best. Hopefully this blog will take off so I can profit now…

By |2012-10-16T21:42:39-04:00October 16th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

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