So I am not really in the mood to type one of these, but I'll ramble off a short one to somewhat appease the 2 people that read this thing.

First, I have been pretty stressed out lately because the raise that I was expecting to get by now turns out did not come at all. Well...I got a raise, but it turns out all it was, was the middle finger. I have been very patiently waiting for this raise for over a month now, but it has not come...so now I am looking for a job again unless something happens quickly.

Other than my lack of a raise and my money issues that follow I have been alright. I have been working a lot so that I can just make ends meet (well over 200 hours last month). I still come up short though, I figure life is just a series of going in debt, working to get out of debt, the going into debt again. I think only the very rich can be debt free. Even if it is a little debt...like a car payment. Even using a credit card puts you in debt temporarily, even if you pay off the balance every month.

I always told my parents I don't need money to be happy, and I still honestly feel that way...it's just that all my bills need money (student loans, foolishly acquired credit card debt) and those bills make me sad...so I guess money would make me happy. A lack of debt would make me happier. I dunno even what I am talking about now though...okay I am off to apply for some jobs...leights.
posted by Congofeet at 7:21 PM

This is an interesting story
posted by Congofeet at 5:22 PM

So I have been pretty tired lately. It is getting busy at work again after the summer lull. I have been working at least 50 hour weeks since the last week of September. I got off of work today at about 2:30 which is not that bad except that I don't usually work on sunday (as of right now) so today was all OT...which is pretty nice. The only problem now is that I can't take a day off this week like my body wants or else I will not get paid for the overtime, so I'll be putting in a 6 day work week...maybe 60 hours this week...

While I have not gotten my raise as of yet my boss (as well as several others who have been reclassified in the lab) I look forward to that huge check with my retro pay. I am hoping that it will be in the thousands of dollars, since the raise is about $5.

On a separate note I really need two things, but I have been really lazy about going to do it. First I really need a haircut. My hair is pretty damn long...and crazy. I hair gets so wacky when it gets this long. I have these weird curls that sprout up. When I get out of the shower my hair is okay, but as soon as it dries it is all over the place. The second thing that I need new shoes...I have two pairs of shoes. The first one's are probably 3 or 4 years old now and instead of repelling water they seem to attact and absorb it. It is like walking around on sponges, which is pretty annoying since I work in a lab with water. I'll walk through a puddle and I am squishing around the lab all day. My second pair of shoes repels water much better, but the soles are so damn slippery when they get wet...which is again a problem since I work in a wet lab. Maybe this weekend I'll get both taken care of... or maybe not.

Okay, that's about all for now unless I can think of anything... hmm... ohhh...so NPR (National Public Radio) is coming to the lab tomorrow. They are going to see the facilities, mainly because of our work with the Delta Smelt. If you don't know about Delta Smelt they are a tiny fish that has the whole state of California all screwed up because of water diversion. It is not because they need the water so much, but it is because of being sucked up when the water is diverted south. (Oh by the way did you know that CA aquaduct ends at Lake Perris.) Anyway our lab was also studying to see if the decline of Delta Smelt could possibly be due to any toxicity in the water. Unfortunately these fish are very sensitive to everything so it is difficult to determine anything.

Now that's all...leights.
posted by Congofeet at 4:27 PM

Okay...so I am going to give you the moral of this story first...then I am going to tell you the story.

The moral: Always trust your gut feeling

Here is the background for the story.

Read that story...and then continue to read my blog...go on I'll wait...

I know that guy...isn't that the most disgusting thing ever...and I was not shocked when I saw that retards face on the television either. Steph actually knows him a more than I do though...but I shook that guys hand and I don't think I have ever been so disgusted in my life. The whole entire time at the AFS conference I did not have a good feeling about that guy. My gut was telling me the whole entire time that I don't like him and when I see him I just want to get the hell away. Steph is still shocked that this guy would do something like that, but me...not even surprised. I knew I hated him, but I just did not know why. Kind of obvious now...geez so disgusting. My good friend Norm who was at the AFS conference with his family also knew the guy and he has an a daughter about the same age as the victim. To top it off Norm's wife Amy rode home back to Davis with that sick freak. You know it is different when you see these people on tv... it's like... man that guy is disgusting and then it is carry on with life, but I am still fucking disgusted that I shook this guys hand and steph gave him a hug. When I shake hands that means I respect you...never have I wanted to take back a handshake so badly...okay I better stop now before I rant any more...seriously though...110% disgusted...and my gut knew it too.
posted by Congofeet at 11:47 PM

"Don't Tase Me, Bro!"
posted by Congofeet at 1:09 AM

So I was unable to actually get a hold of Andy today...so Happy Birthday Andy!

oh...and go to this site and have fun.
posted by Congofeet at 11:11 PM

Okay, so Monterey Bay was a blast. It is a very nice aquarium and I would reccommend that everyone go. The hotel that steph and I stayed at was very nice and it had an awesome view. We definitely plan on heading back some time in the future. I hope to get some pics up and running in the near future, but right now I am very busy...which is what I am going to be explaining right now.

Last Sunday steph and I went to the AFS (American Fisheries Society)national conference. We helped out a bunch Sunday on into Monday with setup and other stuff. Then on Monday night we headed back to Davis. For the first time ever steph and I rode the BART. It is pretty hassle free and makes the trip more manageable. Instead of driving for 2 hours all we do is drive for about 45 minutes then spend about 45 minutes on BART and we are there. So Monday we got back at about 1 am, I then had to wake up on Tuesday for field work at 5am. So after working in the field I drove home, showered and then steph and I were off again to San Francisco for AFS. There was a get together at the Aquarium of the Bay (which I would say is about 1/10th the size of monterey...maybe even less than 1/10th. It was very croweded as everyone and their mothers went. After the party steph and I went back home to Davis. We got home at about midnight this morning...and of course I had to go into the field again today...this time I had to wake up at 4am...so right now I am very, very tired, but once again we are heading back to SF for AFS, but this time we are staying until Thursday night, my boss was nice enough to give me the day off...but I gotta get going...gotta shower, pack, and move out...leights
posted by Congofeet at 3:09 PM

happy birthday my love!
posted by steph at 9:13 AM

happy birthday my love!
posted by steph at 9:13 AM

happy birthday my love!
posted by steph at 9:13 AM

So I had an interview today for a tech spot in the lab, it was kind of funny because they were like "what previous work experience do you have that makes you feel qualified for this position." I was basically...well I worked here for 6 months... so hopefully I did well. I figure that if I do not get the job that I will quit very quickly...because this lack of money is not cutting it any more.

On a lighter note Steph and I are heading to Monterey to go to the aquarium there... and take in the sights. We are doing it for my birthday, but I would also like to celebrate our anniversary there also...even though it was at the beginning of this month...we have been together now for 5 years...I am very excited about going. Just a few more days and they we'll be off. I have to get my tires rotated though and get my oil changed...though I think those can wait until I get back. In the car manual it says every 6,000 miles... maybe I think it would be best to wait until next month when I have more money, since I will have none after this trip.

Um...that's about all that is going on now...I hope to take lots of awesome pictures. Okay I should probably go to bed...night
posted by Congofeet at 12:24 AM

This is still funny.

That bitch had it coming.

I should go to bed.
posted by Congofeet at 2:27 AM

So it was a very interesting day...well that last part of it was. I went to my first Giants game! I have to say AT&T park is a beautiful stadium. Most importantly though, I saw Barry Bonds hit 758 in person! It is a record breaking home run. I was going to bring a crowbar to the stadium to smash his legs if he hit a homerun so I could say that I saw him hit is last home run, but I forgot it at home.

Anyway the Giants ended up (as usual) losing when the relief pitching took over. It was kind of sad... they were winning 6-2 and ended up losing 8-7 when the Pirates put up a 6 spot. I also saw Laroche go deep, but nobody probably cares about that except for me and pirates fans.

On the work front I am getting pretty tired of it. It is more crappy and unorganized at work than usual. I am starting to get pretty frustrated. Okay, I am pretty sleepy so...leights.
posted by Congofeet at 12:14 AM

It appears as if I have not updated in a long while...okay so it has been a month. So a lot has happened since I last updated... most of which I can't remember so this post will probably not be all that long. First and most importantly I am typing this blog on my television. Yes, my tv is acting as my monitor...my 56 inch monitor...BAM! world's biggest monitor. I was joking with my friend (who bought my old tv) that I can barely see his tv now... and his monitor also (even though he has a (puny) 20 inch monitor). I also bought a PS3 so that I can have blu ray action. Now allow me to tell you why I decided to make the PS3 purchase. First the price was dropped $100. Then I read that the PS3 is going to be coming out with a newer 80 gig model and bundle it with a crappy game then raise the price back up to $600. Also the newer model with only have emulation for old playstation games instead of actually having the PS2 chip. What this means is that old PS2/PS1 games will be choppier and garbage.

Moving on...

Tamo stopped by a couple weeks ago and we had a blast. SOoooooo much video game playing on this wonderful new tv. I think we stayed up to at least 3am everyday. Tamo was in search of food stuff that he could not get over in Japan... like mexican food and steak... so we were sure to take care of that.

The last thing that I want to mention is work. I have applied for this open position at work, which will pay me more and not require that I do nothing new...which is quite frustrating because I do work of a lab tech, but I do not get paid the same as a lab tech. But now there is all this drama going on in the lab and it is going to have to restructure itself. Also the bosses seem to be getting on a lot of peoples nerves as of late (which includes us scheduling our sick leave... is that legal?) So this meeting will take place next tuesday (even though it seems like an urgent matter). So I guess I will still be searching for new jobs just in case.

Okay so I am off to cause trouble...I'll try to update this thing a little more often...maybe...leights.
posted by Congofeet at 10:37 PM

WTF?
posted by Congofeet at 2:55 PM