failure weblog

monday night i must have slept on my neck wrong. i woke up tuesday morning thinking my neck was a bit sore. on the way back to work from lunch my neck starting really hurting badly. i guess i pinched a nerve. the rest of the day at work it hurt to move anything, especially my neck. it was a constant sharp pain right at the base of my neck, with more pain shooting up my neck to the base of my head and through each shoulder blade and out to my upper arms. not fun. i took 3 advil but that didn’t seem to help, so about an hour later i took 2 quick-release tylenol. that helped pretty quickly, but it also made me feel lightheaded and somewhat out of it. i’m not sure if it was just the acetaminophen, or the mixture of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. i usually take half the recommended dosage, but i wasn’t feeling like passing on any possible pain relief. it was kind of weird being at work and feeling like i needed to pay closer attention to what i was about to say and do so i wouldn’t say or do something i’d quickly realize i shouldn’t have. i think i managed to control myself pretty well. that said, someone gave me a 10mg vicodin for me to take later.
i went home, where i planned to spend a quiet evening doing as little movement as possible, but then sue called me and said their friend rich murphy was in town and was probably going to be calling me about hanging out (since jack and sue and family were out of town). he is in town for a friend’s wedding (cliff from the huntington’s evidently moved here and is marrying a Texas girl). rich did indeed call, and with the pain being lessened with more doses of tylenol, i decided having the opportunity to do stuff with rich was better then sitting at home. i drove to the potts’ house and picked him up, then we headed to the house of pies where i convinced him to get the patty melt. after that, we headed to the west alabama ice house. we stayed there until they closed, then i drove him home. i contemplated the vicodin, but having had a beer and recently experienced the lightheadedness from the possible mixing of drugs, i decided to pass.
wednesday i slept in, rotating my body 90 degrees every time i woke up (which was often) so i would hopefully not sleep in the same position again for a long time and make the situation worse. i did manage to get about 10 hours of rolling sleep though. i went into work after lunch. after work i did the radio show. (see the simpson version of me peter did here. why am i the only one that looks mad? maybe it’s because i didn’t cover my face in time.) after work i headed home and took half of the vicodin (5mg is the standard dose). vicodin is hydrocodone and acetaminophen. it made me feel lightheaded like the quick-release tylenol (or the tylenol/advil cocktail), but it did absolutely nothing for the pain. vicodin did nothing for the pain when i had my wisdom teeth pulled either though, so maybe my body ain’t hip to the vicodin trip. however, when i went to bed about two hours after taking it, i did have some interesting neon lightshows with my eyes closed, then heard a few things i know weren’t real. not sure if that ties to being tired, or what. but before long i was out and asleep.
by thursday, the pain was constant but not sharp at the base of my neck, and a ring of pain had traveled down my spine to the middle of my back and into my arms. i sort of equated it to the visual of a star going supernova, exploding, then dieing out in the center as clouds of gas went shooting out in all directions. thursday evening i had just finished eating a couple of corn dogs at james coney island, when i got a call from rich. he was about to eat supper at doneraki’s. i joined him, and had a strawberry margarita. we then headed to brasil, where we hung out and listened to a band play part of the time, and i had a coffee. we talked about lots of things. we both have oddly similar wide tastes in music. since he’s from the del-mar-va area and runs/ran in some of the same circles tamara did, it was kind of weird talking about some of that (people, places, bands, etc). most of those memories had been collecting cobwebs in my head. we left around the time they were closing, and i headed home.
today the pain was mostly tolerable. no sharp pain, and only moderate pain when moving my neck. the extremities showed more of a dull ache of muscle soreness than pain. hopefully within a couple more days, things will be back to normal.

back on july 12th i saw a few articles talking about a new document the roman catholic church had put out talking about the status of other churches…

It was the second time in a week Pope Benedict XVI has moved to correct what he calls erroneous interpretations of the 1960s reforming Vatican Council. […] The new document, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which the Pope used to head, reaffirms traditional teaching that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church — though “elements of truth” are found in separated churches. It says Orthodox churches are wounded because they are not in communion with the Pope, while protestant churches have more serious deficiencies, making it “difficult to see how the title of ‘church’ could possibly be attributed to them”.

(excerpts taken from here)
i don’t have a problem with churches believing they’ve got things figured out better than other churches, whether that be catholic, orthodox, some flavor of protestant, etc. — because, let’s face it, you believe what you do because you think it makes the most sense and is the best answer. or even if a church wants to believe they’re the “true” church (i grew up in one of them, after all). the roman catholic church has a pretty good historical argument, so they’ve got a better case than any protestant church for taking such a position. i don’t even have a problem with the slight they made toward protestant churches — *i* have difficulty seeing how some of them can have the title ‘church’. (i wouldn’t say it about protestant churches as a whole, but if i had a catholic or orthodox perspective i’m betting i would.)
that said… while i understand the perspective the roman catholic church has, it annoys me to see the church of rome say all of the other original (i.e., orthodox) churches are ‘wounded’ — after it was rome who went off on its own, turning their back on all of the rest of the early churches, then creating numerous bizarre theological constructs and positions based on power, control, land and money grabs, etc. over the ensuing years. if any church deserves the title of ‘wounded’ (as regards their integrity and theology) it is the church of rome.
although i suppose it’s true the actions of the roman church wounded the rest of the christian church, so maybe saying the orthodox churches are wounded isn’t so far off. rome is just wrong about the reason why and how to solve it. rome is the wayward church, who destroyed the unity of the original church and “wounded” the orthodox churches.
not that my opinion is worth anything. but there it is anyway.

not much happened last week. really. at all. completely boring.
friday night was a maintenance evening. a co-worker talked about getting something to drink, but nothing ended up happening. i was released earlier than usual, around 10:30pm. i felt like doing something since i’d sort of gotten it in my mind, so i decided to head to the two tons of steel show at the continental club. i got over there and walked past the continental club and into sig’s lagoon. i looked around there a bit, then walked past the continental club and back to my vehicle. i just didn’t feel up to being at a public event by myself. sometimes i have enough emotional reserve to go out by myself. a lot of times i decide i’d rather just sit at home by myself doing nothing, instead of sitting out in public by myself watching other groups of people and couples and such. exciting.
so instead, i came home. around 12:30am i decided to drink. a little later (well, around 2 hours, and: 2 shots of goldschlager; 3 shots of butterscotch rum and bailey’s irish cream (also known as a “buttery nipple”); 2 shots of southern comfort; 3 shots of peach pucker (guessing…i drank the last of it from the bottle); 2 shots of dooley’s toffee liquor; 2 shots of “bad apfel” apple schnapps; and 3 or 4 shots of watermelon pucker (guessing again…i drank all that was in the bottle)), i was compelled to go to bed and sleep. i woke up around 7am, went back to sleep. woke up around noon, took an advil and a couple of tums, went back to sleep. finally i got up for good around 3pm. i had a bit of a headache and didn’t feel all that great, but not too bad. so i guess i can add one more notch to the number of times i’ve gotten pretty toasted. unlike the previous two times, this one coincided with no special occasion i can think of. and i didn’t throw up, pass out, knock anything over (although i did toss two empty bottles across the room…i didn’t break them), or hurt myself. i guess i will pitch it as an interpretive performance art piece trying to align my body and mind with the way i felt emotionally. i spent the rest of saturday over at the potts’ house.

excess ain’t rebellion.
you’re drinking what they’re selling.
your self-destruction doesn’t hurt them.
your chaos won’t convert them.
they’re so happy to rebuild it.
you’ll never really kill it.
yeah, excess ain’t rebellion.
you’re drinking what they’re selling.
–cake “rock’n’roll lifestyle” motorcade of generosity

sunday i got up and went to kaleo. the sermon was pretty good, i thought. i was planning on being sociable, and i did pretty well, but i didn’t manage to catch anyone going to lunch. i guess maybe i’ll have to try initiating it myself. of course, that’s going to be bad if i still end up eating by myself. (at least people at work will eat lunch with me.) i eventually decided to go eat by myself at a berry hill in the afternoon.
then i headed downtown to the verizon theater to catch the houston roller derby. i’d been thinking about going to a bout for a long time, but i never had. fortunately, i’d gotten an evite from kymberlie so i wasn’t going to have to go by myself. it was a really good time! i highly recommend checking it out next time they’re at it. we sat on/near the floor, about 5 to 10 feet from the rink. i still don’t exactly understand some of the finer points of the scoring and penalties, but it’s pretty easy to understand the real skating skills and knocking around they’re giving/taking.
later that night i thought it’d be cool to go check out a free show by the lonesome spurs at the big top. they weren’t listed on the continental club site (which is sort of also the big top, kind of), but the lonesome spurs’ myspace page listed it. it said 10pm, so i showed up at 10:15 or 10:30pm. i bought a $2 can of lone star and commenced to stand there by myself and wait. they were setting up for awhile. so i waited some more. 11pm came and went. i’d finished my beer and was starting to get tired and bored standing there by myself. finally, i said to myself (because i had no one else to tell) “if they don’t start by 11:30pm i’m leaving.” so i waited until 11:31pm, then i left. eh. maybe next time i’ll not be as tired and/or not be alone. i was looking forward to seeing them.

geh! i had an entry completely written and f—ing firefox went and locked up. thank goodness i wasn’t in the middle of anything important, because that eventually led the whole gui interface to lock up (even though everything was still there, somewhere, patiently waiting for me to interact with it). it’s pretty rare that the whole gui locks up…firefox must have really done some magic. anyway, i’ll try to reconstruct from memory what i’d already written….
friday after work i headed to tropioca for the monthly radio show gathering. the turnout was decent, with a cast of regulars and a couple of new faces. kd5 brought his iphone with him, which was cool since i had yet to see one in person. cuda brought a micro-lite remote-controlled helicopter, which was also pretty slick.
from there i headed over to the continental club for night one of big e’s 7th rockabilly weekend. i missed umbrella man, which i’ve been told multiple times is good but i’ve yet to see. i did manage to see the luxurious panthers. they are a rockabilly band, appropriately enough. unfortunately, they sounded sloppy to me and i wasn’t very impressed. chris had seen them before and said they were much better, so maybe they just had an off night or something. for several days i’d been going around saying i didn’t really care for the next band — sean reefer and the resin valley boys. oops. it was a case of mistaken identity on my part. sean reefer rocks! it was a really good set. he’s sort of along the lines of wayne hancock (so, generous amounts of Texas swing and hank williams). as the next band was setting up, i leaned over to chris and jokingly said “they look like a ska band.” it was sean scroggins and the trenchtown Texans. and they are a ska band. i’m wishy-washy on ska and i just wasn’t feeling it that night, so after 4 or 5 songs i left. plus it was 1:30am and i had stuff to do saturday.
saturday morning i got up around 9am. jana, a friend from work, was getting married in college station. i got prepared and took off around 11am. i originally was hoping to take my motorcycle, but the deluge of rain we’ve been having looked like it would be continuing, so i decided to take my truck instead. it’d been awhile since i’d taken my pickup on a road trip, and taking my truck is still a win for me. it ended up not raining on me at all on the trip up, and i was going to be kind of annoyed if it never rained on me (since it’d been several weeks since i was on my bike due to all the rain). fortunately, on the way back it started raining pretty good near houston so i felt good about my choice.
i drove around college station for awhile since i had some time. i’m amazed by how much it’s changed. it used to be this small town, country-ish place with a lot of undeveloped area and unique, individually built, older buildings. now the campus is pretty much completely surrounded by strip malls with the typical chains of stores and restaurants. it’s like a giant helping of suburbia was just splatted down on top of the town.
the wedding was nice. i hadn’t been to a wedding in some time. they’re still pretty difficult for me sit through — especially the vows. nothing on the people or marriage itself, it’s just really difficult for me to hear the power and meaning and depth in the ceremony and promises and concepts and not be somewhat overwhelmed emotionally about the brokenness and failure of my own marriage. i guess i better shape up though, as i’ve got two weddings to attend in september.
the reception was held at a cool old house in bryan that has been converted into a party/event/reception hall (the kyle house). it was an afternoon reception, so finger foods and cake were the options. i decided i would eat supper at some place i used to eat when i was at a&m. i ruled out all the typical chains that had been around, and also nixed double dave’s (which i ate at all the time, but is now a chain with stores close by in houston). i ended up deciding i should eat at the cow hop. before the wedding, while driving around, i noticed i didn’t see it at the two locations it’d been in while i was at school, so i asked one of the wait staff at the kyle house (a recent a&m grad) if he knew where it was now. he said he’d never heard of it. so i don’t know if i just missed it on university, or if it’s somewhere else, or if it’s gone. anyway, i ended up not eating anywhere in c.s. and heading back to houston. *sigh*
i did stop at a convenience store on the way back and purchased a frostie blue cream soda and some bbq corn nuts. i’m telling you…driving in my ’65 pickup, drinking a blue cream soda, eating some corn nuts…hell yeah. despite the conspicuous absence of a cool chick next to me on the bench seat, it was one of those moments of golden sunshine and soul-filled happiness. thank G-d for those small events.
i should mention that part of my prep saturday morning for the wedding was to shave. i shaved down to a goatee. that’s right, no more “punk rock sam houston” — the chops are gone. i’d been thinking about doing it for awhile, and when i got up that morning i decided to do it. i also chose to wear my hair back in a ponytail, which i’ve not done for some time. i must say the look makes my 8 gauge hoops more noticeable, what with them not being hidden behind hair and all. oddly, no one that knew me mentioned anything about my lack of chops. i’m not sure if they didn’t notice, didn’t think it was of sufficient merit to note it, or chose to not mention it for some reason. at least a few people at church today noticed and commented on it. i was beginning to worry that no one knew what i really looked like.

this past sunday i went to church, then afterward most people went to a birthday party at a house. i wasn’t in that great of a mood, but i finally decided to try and be social and went over there. it went okay i suppose, but i felt awkward most of the time.
you see, i’ve gotten to where i tend to feel like a social outcast at the church. not that it isn’t my fault, because i tend to not initiate conversation and pretty quickly will find a way to probably come across as non-social. this isn’t something that happens just at church — it is pretty pervasive through all of my life. it makes me feel stupid sitting or standing around not talking to anyone, which makes the whole thing build on itself. but then on some level at times i’m okay being alone even in crowds. it’s a general lack of comfort in initiating conversation i suppose, which is something i’ve pretty much always had.
such traits and tendencies aren’t too good for meeting new people, or making new friends. it’s not very good at social gatherings in general. and on top of all that, i hear that before people know me i come across as scary, intimidating, mean, stuck up, and/or any number of other things. while there are bits of those things in me, and times when they become more prominent, overall i don’t think they’re too horribly accurate in describing me.
oh yeah. sunday was also my birthday. family and a few friends remembered and got in touch with me to tell me “happy birthday.” i appreciate it. i, on the other hand, am horrible about remembering birthdays and such — so please don’t take it personally when i forget yours. (which i almost certainly will do.) of course, i guess that’s another one of my traits that doesn’t really help develop and maintain friendships.
the potts got me a dvd for my birthday that has two movies that johnny cash was in: the pride of jesse hallum and five minutes to live. i’ve never seen either one of them.

my order from amazon arrived in two parts on different days, but here’s all of it:

• heathers – lehmann (new world/anchor bay)
• cars – lasseter (pixar)
• 12 monkeys – terry gilliam (universal)

my intent was to get the first, but the second was on sale, and the third was so cheap how could i pass it up?

• life is full of possibilities – dntel (plug research)
• notes and the like – ms. john soda (morrmusic)
• the witch’s dagger – veronica lipgloss and the evil eyes (gold standard laboratories)

so yes, i finally got the ms. john soda and veronica lipgloss albums. the verdict is still out on ms. john soda. and the social views of veronica lipgloss may lead to it being difficult for me. i guess it depends on how much the vocals stand out.
i watched the heathers dvd a couple of nights ago. i didn’t really need to be reminded, but that’s a really cool movie. it prompted me to google search for the original script, but i didn’t find it. it sounds like the script was probably darker and more disturbing than the movie, although still with a strong sense of humour. from the script’s alternate ending provided on the dvd edition i have, it comes across that way.
on saturday i ate an enjoyable meal at empire cafe. afterward i dropped by a half-price books, more to pass time than with any particular purchase intentions. but i looked through stuff and ended up buying some things. i’ll break them into three major categories, as that’s how they seemed to fall to me:

• kooler than jesus – my life with the thrill kill kult (wax trax)
• big electric metal bass face – die warzau (atlantic)
• agogo – kmfdm (wax trax)
• exotika – chris and cosey (nettwerk)

yep, old industrial. i’ve looked at tkk discs for ages but never would buy one new because of their anti-religious thing. i finally found a used copy that wasn’t completely scratched to hell. it’s odd how most used cds i’ve ever found of old industrial music are always scratched up.

• comfort eagle – cake (columbia)
• under the western freeway – grandaddy (v2)
• the geometrid – looper (sub pop)
• odyssey – fischerspooner (emi/capitol)

this is the alternative/pop category. i picked up looper completely on a whim. i had hopes from the song titles and label that it would be good. i haven’t given it a fair shake yet, but what i’ve listened to left a distinction impression of suckage. i have friends who’ve raved about fischerspooner, and i liked a couple of their songs i heard on my “adult.”-based pandora channel. unfortunately, i don’t think the album overall lives up to the billing. it’s kinda too poppy and generic sounding for me. there are a few good songs, and the rest of it isn’t horrid or anything, but i don’t think it’s something that will really capture my attention much.

• a proper introduction to – the carter family (proper)
• the unbroken circle – the musical heritage of the carter family – various (dualtone)
• buddy and julie miller – buddy and julie miller (hightone)
• midnight and lonesome – buddy miller (hightone)
• a-town blues – wayne hancock (bloodshot)
• this time – dwight yoakam (reprise)
• buenas noches from a lonely room – dwight yoakam (reprise)

and country.
here’s the context of this post’s title, which comes from the beginning of heathers:
dear diary,
heather told me she teaches people real life.
she said “real life sucks losers dry. if you wanna fsck with the eagles, you have to learn to fly.”
i said “so, you teach people how to spread their wings and fly?”
she said “yes.”
i said “you’re beautiful.”

i’ve spent the last week trying to work my way through yet another sinus infection. glorious things, they are. i gave in to taking an aleve pill now and then, drinking robitussin for the expectorant, and buying a humidifier. i’m not sure any of it helped, other than the aleve as a pain reducer. but at least i felt like i was trying.
thursday night i headed over to the continental club and witnessed the metal carnage wreaked by rocrament. jay and groove got some cool pics of the event. read jay’s blog entries for more info on the band.
friday after work i headed back to the continental club and caught most of a show by disco expressions. their shows are fun. eventually, my sub-par sinuses on top of my being there alone led me to leave.
sunday after church i did a fair bit of shopping for random junk i needed around the house or had been meaning to buy for awhile (like some oil for my pickup). i also picked up a sentry 14-gun safe from academy. it’s not a fire-resistant or fire-proof safe, but it’s thick metal and pretty heavy. should be fun to move into and out of the house.
i picked up one cd and one movie while i was out and about:

• dumb luck – dntel (subpop)
• idiocracy – mike judge (20th century fox)

at some point recently, i thought “man, i need to watch heathers” — only to realize there isn’t a copy of it in my house! the horror! i had a vhs tape of it, but i gave that to my brother when i got the dvd. i remember watching the dvd, but it’s nowhere to be found. it must have been one of the things the alief pothead loser children stole from me when they broke into 9023 (my old house). i immediately went to amazon to rectify the situation.
not too long after getting my new 8 gauge captive hoops i realized one of the balls was loose. (the same thing happened with one of my 10 gauge hoops last year.) i’m sure it doesn’t matter to some people, but the jangling/rattling can be annoying — especially when the wind’s blowing it around while on a motorcycle. a quick visit to taurian today and it’s all better.
peter was physically at the studio tonight for the radio show, instead of calling in from san antonio. it was cool to get to see him. it’d been about a year i guess.

at some point over the last few days i watched the special star wars edition of “robot chicken” on tv. i’d seen a few bits from it on youtube, but man the whole thing was pretty hilarious. i recommend watching it, if you get the chance.
sunday i went to church, then ate with the potts, then jack and i went to the gun range and fired most of my pistols and the mini mac-11. unfortunately, the mac-11 jammed in some weird way so i am going to have to mess with it and see if i can figure out what’s up. the taurus, glock, and walther all performed flawlessly.
monday night i watched a free preview of eagle vs. shark. someone described it to me as a new zealand napoleon dynamite. i don’t want to write it off as a copycat, but there are a lot of things that give the statement creedence. this main character was much more self-centered and thus mean than the napoleon character was though. i thought …dynamite was somewhat slow the first time i saw it in the theater, and it was only once i started talking about it with others and remembering all of the funny parts that it gelled in my mind and i wanted to see it again. it went on to become a movie i like a lot. likewise, e vs. s seemed somewhat slow. we’ll see if others watch it and talk about it, and it causes me to recall with fondness the quirky, funny moments (of which there were many).
tuesday night i watched a free preview of death at a funeral. it’s a british comedy about a bunch of family and friends coming to the funeral of a wealthy man. it’s one of those that takes a while to set up the various characters and what’s going on with each of them, building momentum slowly over time, until at the end it’s out of control. i thought it was really fun. after the movie i came home and was hungry, but i don’t have much in the way of food. i ended up heating cans of dinty moore beef stew and veg-all, both of unknown dates. i was a bit worried, but i’m still okay today so i guess it worked out. although i did have some odd dreams last night.
i shouldn’t go without mentioning today would have been my 9-year wedding anniversary. that’s an unfortunate piece of my life, let me tell you. not the good aspects of my relationship with tamara — those were some wonderful times, and some things i can still look back on fondly. but when it got bad, it got really bad. and in the end i got screwed over by someone who hardly bore a resemblance to the person i’d once believed she was. maybe she hardly recognized herself. i’d like to think that’s the case.
maybe one of these days (hopefully sooner than later) the romantic aspect of my life will find some fertile soil and sunlight again. it’s really one of the few areas where i feel a large amount of unfulfillment these days. but i also don’t want to push or force anything.
this evening after the radio show i stopped by taurian body piercing and had byriah stretch my ears from the 10 gauge captive hoops that had been in for a year up to 8 gauge captive hoops. the stretching went really smoothly and quickly. my left ear, like last year, had more tightness during the stretching than my right. if you’ll recall, my left is the one i got pierced at a claire’s (or something similar) in a mall in san antonio in 1990 or 1991 with a piercing gun. i had problems with it for months where it never would heal. eventually i gave up on the “safer” gold posts and went to a surgical steel post. my ear healed up nicely not too long after that. but i think all that time with issues caused some scar tissue and such, and is probably why the skin doesn’t stretch very easily or well. anyway, i’ve got somewhat larger hoops in a larger gauge, so if the next time you see me you think my ears or head look smaller — it’s actually that my jewelry got bigger. (at least i’m not aware that my head or ears are getting smaller.)
i recently upgraded my blog software. so now i’m like all current and stuff. i can’t wait to see how much it improves the quality of my blogging!

okay, a few people seemed interested in my discussion about the secret to success, so i figured i should probably update things. i’m afraid i haven’t yet purchased any patch, balm, pill, etc., but the fine people pitching the products keep sending me more information. oddly, i don’t recall signing up for it, but it’s certainly brought some things to light for me to think about. here’s one i got just a day or two after the previous one:

Subject: Your friends are giving it too her

Don't have her cheating on you just because you have a small P$NIS!.......

Don’t let her get it from someone else. A recent survey has shown us that 4 out of 5 women who cheat do it because their spouse has a small P$NIS.

Another survery shows us that 3 out of 5 men have a below average P$NIS.

a few things i immediately noted:

• * i wouldn’t say it was my “friends” that were giving it to tamara, as i didn’t particularly know or care for alistair. unless there is something i don’t know about. hopefully the sender just misheard what happened.
• * my “P$NIS size” was never given as a reason for her cheating on me, but you can’t argue with statistics can you? i mean, it’s pretty black and white.
• * 3 out of 5 are below average. i guess there must be some mighty big ones skewing the numbers.

but it continued:

Do you need anymore evidence?

If you are ugly, there isn't much you can do.

If you are stupid, there isn't much you can do.

BUT

If you have a small P$NIS, then there is something you can do:

<url removed>

as if the previously quoted statistics weren’t enough, they give a whole second line of evidence. frankly, it is irrefutable. i mean, how can you possibly argue with evidence and reasoning like that?
i should note i was afraid i might have been breaking some laws by printing the above email though, as there was a disclaimer on it that said:

ATTENTION: This electronic message and attachment(s), if any, contains information which is intended solely for Men that have a small P$NIS. Unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution, or other use of the contents of this message or attachment(s), in whole or in part, is prohibited without the express authorization of the sender of this message.

being both a law-abiding citizen and knowing a little free advertizing wouldn’t hurt, i figured i’d make sure and get the express authorization. unfortunately, the sender’s identity couldn’t be verified nor authorization received, since the email appears to not be functioning. so i was afraid there was going to be no way for me to get approval. almost miraculously, i somehow got an email later from the very same email address (that appeared to come from my own ip, oddly enough) telling me it was fine. i have no idea how they knew what i was planning, but i appreciate it nevertheless.
considering the evidence: success in life, maintaining friendships, saving one’s marriage — i didn’t see how i could possibly not go forward with this modern medical miracle. so a few days went by, then i got this one:

Confidence and pleasure is sold along with Pen!s Enlarge Patch.

i found it pretty impressive that they sell confidence and pleasure as well. i couldn’t tell if they were a part of the single patch product, or if they are perhaps a seperate product or products. whatever the case, such an impressive bonus just sweetened the deal. my mind was made up. i must have this product!
then i got this one:

Try Pen!s Enlarge Patch and she would want to swallow your pen!s.

this kind of unnerved me a bit. swallow it? doesn’t that imply it’s been detached? and what exactly happens that makes her have this desire? is this some kind of side effect? my complete devotion to the product faltered just a bit. could this not be the easy answer i thought it might be?
then this arrived:

With Pen!s Enlarge Patch you can wrap your pen!s around your hand three times.

huh. okay, i’m having trouble even imagining this. i mean, assuming even a smaller hand width, that’s gotta equal something like at least 20 to 25 inches at a minimum. to be honest, it kind of frightens me. it really seems like a problem more than something to be proud of. (although i think we know who is skewing the average now!)
so there i was, all set to use this exciting new product — but now i’m thinking maybe i should just be happy with my moderately successful self.
although i might still look into the confidence and pleasure.

i got up saturday and decided i would drive down to the arms room in league city and pick up my charles daly .45. they’ve never contacted me since i called and they said it’d probably just be a few more days — that was 4 or 5 weeks ago. i was hoping they’d be finished with it, but i figured that wouldn’t be the case. i got down there and — sure enough — it wasn’t finished.
but i let them talk me into keeping it some more. they claimed they had tried some parts and they didn’t work, but they had some on order and it should be done within a week or so. mostly they were complaining about finding an extractor for it. but the gunsmith evidently said the gun was heavily fouled, and the take-down pin (or something-or-other) was loose (and worn out?). i’m kind of doubting the difficulty in finding an extractor that will work on it, but i don’t work on charles daly .45’s either. i have been somewhat frustrated by this experience, since i had asked around to find a place that does good work with 1911’s. the comments/analysis/repsonses, time, and lack of communication have not been very impressive from my perspective. oh well. hopefully everything they’re saying is accurate and they know what they’re doing with my pistol.
in passing, the guy mentioned that the pasadena gun show was going on. so i decided to soothe my gun nerves by looking for some stuff at the gun show. in route, i stopped at a village pizza and seafood. it’d been a few years since i’d eaten at one, so i was excited about having a cheeseburger sub (what i used to get). i ended up letting the counter staff talk me into getting a house steak sub instead. it was pretty good, but not as good as their cheeseburger sub. i wish there was one close to me, but all of them are in far south houston and south of houston.
the pasadena gun show was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. i’d just been to the one in the george r. brown, and it had a lot more tables and a lot more selection. (although i did recognize several of the same vendors.) in fact, i didn’t really find anything i was looking for.
having once again gotten my gun feathers ruffled, i decided i would not be defeated. i used google sms to find the closest carter’s country. there is one in pasadena, although it’s miles away from the gun show. i called them to find out how to get to their general area, then took off. i must mention, while on the way i had a chevy pickup with loud pipes fly up on me through traffic. i was in the element, but i decided to play along. he got ahead but ended up getting trapped behind some cars and i was able to get in front of him. he slowed, jumped lanes, and hit the throttle pretty good, but i was already ahead of him and managed to take the middle lane away from him before he could get there. then the flashing lights started. i was in a different lane and several cars ahead by this point, so i looked back to see what was going on. the cop was pulling the guy in the pickup over. i drove on my merry way to carter’s country.
i already knew pretty much what i was planning. i walked in and asked to see the walther ppk/s. this is the model that was stolen from my house back in january or whenever. i said i wanted to purchase it. while there, i also went ahead and purchased an uncle mike’s nylon inside-the-pocket holster for my kel-tec .380 and a bianchi leather internal belt holster for the walther. i went ahead and picked up a couple of boxes of .380 ammo and 8 boxes of 9mm ammo while i was at it. i looked at holsters for the glock 23, but decided to wait.
my gun nerves properly soothed, i headed back toward home.