Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Clumsy People Shouldn't Be On Ladders
So today I went out to put up some signs and decided I was going to climb up on this concrete block about six feet off the ground to get a more solid platform while I drilled into the bricks with Rambo's drill (this thing is massive, like a jackhammer with a grip that comes out of the one side, scary stuff). So I get done drilling, and start looking around for my coworker that came along with me to hand me the sign so I could fit it in the holes to make sure they're placed well. But I don't see him anywhere so I lean down and put the drill on the cement and stand back up and back up to get ready to get down and get the sign, when I overestimate the length of the platform. I get this weird feeling through my body, the total lack of control and the loss of balance as I become air born. I fly backwards and into the large bush behind me, somehow managing to land on my feet. I hear my coworker yell "What the hell did you just do?" and I just start laughing. Not hurt at all except for a couple scratches on my arms that I'm not even sure are from that particular incident. But a bunch of people got a good laugh including myself over my clumsiness.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Secrets to Hamburger Helper
While in itself, Hamburger, Chicken or Tuna Helper is a tasty easy dish to prepare for that special evening when you're at home, alone, without any plans of any kind. While I'm a big supporter of making this delicious product as instructed (in addition to butchering comma usage) I have come up with a few tips to improving this delicacy to turn that special dinner into a downright magical evening.
1) Always use hot sauce: It doesn't matter if you're cooking the chicken and noodles Alfredo or the "Stroganoff", a little hot sauce really goes a long long way to bringing out the dormant flavors of the packet of spices. Also if you have McCormick seasonings I recommend picking one at random and hitting it until you say to yourself "Damn that could be too much seasoning". It never is and it takes your meal from the conservative crowd pleaser that they package to something to write home about and claim that you made from scratch.
2) Use ground turkey: While for some reason it smells like eggs when you're browning it, ground turkey is definitely the way to go in Hamburger Helper. With it being much leaner than beef hamburger, using the turkey doesn't change the taste of the finished product (especially if its properly seasoned as instructed in step one). It's also usually much cheaper in the grocery store, which is always nice. Also soy milk works fine for all you lactose free hellions out there.
3) Can and a plan: You can also increase the nutritional value of the dish by choosing a can of vegetables and adding it to the dish right before simmering. Often kidney beans, peas, corn or Lima beans compliment the dish well. You just have to do a little soul searching to decide which can will kick your variety of Helper to the next level. Not only are you increasing the nutritional value at least by 10, you do so without dirtying a separate pot to cook the side.
4) The box lies: In my experience, if you make the dish to the specifications on the box, you will end up with some really soupy shit. So with each of the wet ingredients, bump the amount of liquid down a quarter to half a cup. Its still plenty to properly cook the ingredients but without the pool of sauce. You will need to experiment with different varieties to decide which need more de-moistification. The one that apparently comes with Fritos is still a soupy thorn in my side.
5) Always better later: The good thing about making a Helper by yourself is that there is plenty for another meal. I usually have the leftovers for lunch the next day and they are 9 out of 10 times even better than they were the night before. When a Helper is left to its own devices, it thickens up, so the next day even the soupiest Helper has become a hearty Tupperware dish of deliciousness. I don't have all the scientific evidence in yet, but I'm pretty sure that if left in the fridge, it never goes bad. So don't throw out those leftovers, save them for another day.
I hope you have all enjoyed this little cooking show. Feel free to put in requests for other dinner dilemmas you may be having, and know that if you aren't spilling when stirring, you're probably not stirring well.
1) Always use hot sauce: It doesn't matter if you're cooking the chicken and noodles Alfredo or the "Stroganoff", a little hot sauce really goes a long long way to bringing out the dormant flavors of the packet of spices. Also if you have McCormick seasonings I recommend picking one at random and hitting it until you say to yourself "Damn that could be too much seasoning". It never is and it takes your meal from the conservative crowd pleaser that they package to something to write home about and claim that you made from scratch.
2) Use ground turkey: While for some reason it smells like eggs when you're browning it, ground turkey is definitely the way to go in Hamburger Helper. With it being much leaner than beef hamburger, using the turkey doesn't change the taste of the finished product (especially if its properly seasoned as instructed in step one). It's also usually much cheaper in the grocery store, which is always nice. Also soy milk works fine for all you lactose free hellions out there.
3) Can and a plan: You can also increase the nutritional value of the dish by choosing a can of vegetables and adding it to the dish right before simmering. Often kidney beans, peas, corn or Lima beans compliment the dish well. You just have to do a little soul searching to decide which can will kick your variety of Helper to the next level. Not only are you increasing the nutritional value at least by 10, you do so without dirtying a separate pot to cook the side.
4) The box lies: In my experience, if you make the dish to the specifications on the box, you will end up with some really soupy shit. So with each of the wet ingredients, bump the amount of liquid down a quarter to half a cup. Its still plenty to properly cook the ingredients but without the pool of sauce. You will need to experiment with different varieties to decide which need more de-moistification. The one that apparently comes with Fritos is still a soupy thorn in my side.
5) Always better later: The good thing about making a Helper by yourself is that there is plenty for another meal. I usually have the leftovers for lunch the next day and they are 9 out of 10 times even better than they were the night before. When a Helper is left to its own devices, it thickens up, so the next day even the soupiest Helper has become a hearty Tupperware dish of deliciousness. I don't have all the scientific evidence in yet, but I'm pretty sure that if left in the fridge, it never goes bad. So don't throw out those leftovers, save them for another day.
I hope you have all enjoyed this little cooking show. Feel free to put in requests for other dinner dilemmas you may be having, and know that if you aren't spilling when stirring, you're probably not stirring well.
Don't Fear the Reaper
So I've been watching the back episodes of this show called Reaper and I have to say that I'm hooked. Its like a mix of Chuck, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and this awesome Brimstone show they had on a couple years back. The main character Sam's parents sold his soul to the devil which goes into effect on his 21st birthday, so now he has to capture escaped souls for the devil and return them to hell. The only problem is that he and his friends (who think that its awesome and help him out) are total morons. Its painful when they come up with these ridiculous unbelievable lies to explain to people where they went. Especially the smoking hot love interest of the main character, who he has told some zingers such as "I'm donating blood to the homeless" and "I took up jogging" to explain why he ditched her fine ass. Seriously if I had a fine lady who was obviously digging me like she is on that show, I would tell the devil to fuck off and deal with the escaped demons after I got my swerve on. Another funny thing that happens is that when there's an escaped demon on the loose, he gains a demon power to clue him in on what to look for, like everything he eats turns to bugs for a bug demon or he loses all friction for a demon that makes his victims look like they fell and killed themselves. Also to transport them back to hell he has these "vessels" to use to trap them, however they're random everyday objects and the devil doesn't tell him how they work so he has to figure them out and make red lightning come out of them and suck the demon in, where he then returns the object to hell on earth, the DMV. Its a really clever show, I wish the characters were slightly less dumb, but its definitely worth watching if you get the chance.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Robertson's Reviews 5/04/08
Yesterday when rain hit on yet another Saturday we did something that I wouldn't normally do if I weren't hanging out with Captain Pretentious: we looked at luxury automobiles. After stopping by the different dealers, here are my thoughts:
BMW: I was a huge fan of BMW and have wanted one for a long time in the little fantasy world in my mind. But after sitting down in one I was less than impressed. In all honesty, despite a potentially more powerful engine that we didn't get to experience because we didn't test drive it, it wasn't any better than my Elantra. The back seat had less room then my car and except for the push button ignition it really didn't have any bells and whistles you'd expect in a $30k+ car. C.P. called it an understated elegance, but paying an additional $15k just for the logo on the front seems like a horrible waste of money.
Jaguar: C.P. already has a Jag, its a little older but its still in pretty good shape. The new jags didn't look much different than his. They still had the certain classiness to them but nothing has really changed. You could probably save your money and get a ten year old one and get the same thing for a fifth of the price.
Porshe: They look badass if you stand back from them. A true sports car. But you get closer and you realize that its a super tiny car. You would have to be a really good driver because if you got in any type of wreck you would be done for sure.
Mercedes: These cars are soul-less overpriced wastes of money. They have no character at all and I honestly felt depressed just looking at them. The only cool car they had in the whole lot was a Pontiac Solstice that they were selling for a fraction of the price of any of the Mercedes on the lot.
Personally if it were me I would put the money into getting a new Charger or Mustang, lots more character and for the price of those luxury cars you could get the super high end models of those cars. I dunno I guess not having large amounts of money to blow on those cars I just don't get it but to each their own.
BMW: I was a huge fan of BMW and have wanted one for a long time in the little fantasy world in my mind. But after sitting down in one I was less than impressed. In all honesty, despite a potentially more powerful engine that we didn't get to experience because we didn't test drive it, it wasn't any better than my Elantra. The back seat had less room then my car and except for the push button ignition it really didn't have any bells and whistles you'd expect in a $30k+ car. C.P. called it an understated elegance, but paying an additional $15k just for the logo on the front seems like a horrible waste of money.
Jaguar: C.P. already has a Jag, its a little older but its still in pretty good shape. The new jags didn't look much different than his. They still had the certain classiness to them but nothing has really changed. You could probably save your money and get a ten year old one and get the same thing for a fifth of the price.
Porshe: They look badass if you stand back from them. A true sports car. But you get closer and you realize that its a super tiny car. You would have to be a really good driver because if you got in any type of wreck you would be done for sure.
Mercedes: These cars are soul-less overpriced wastes of money. They have no character at all and I honestly felt depressed just looking at them. The only cool car they had in the whole lot was a Pontiac Solstice that they were selling for a fraction of the price of any of the Mercedes on the lot.
Personally if it were me I would put the money into getting a new Charger or Mustang, lots more character and for the price of those luxury cars you could get the super high end models of those cars. I dunno I guess not having large amounts of money to blow on those cars I just don't get it but to each their own.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Skydiver with a Fear of Heights
Today something happened that baffled me to no end. I go along out into the field to do a survey on this one sign with one of the installers and we take the big bucket truck along to survey this sign that's about 20 feet up in the air. We hop in and get up to the sign and I am holding on for dear life. Mr. Skydiver, 75 jumps in the book from over 3000 feet, is afraid of being 20 feet off the ground. Of course the basket is not level, swaying in the wind and the controls only respond about half of the time. But its only 20 feet above concrete and a barb wire fence. It really made me wonder how I could have no problem jumping from planes and when it comes to something little like this I could be so fixated on the potential to fall to my death. I guess its my fear of ironic death. I can only imagine at my funeral how many times two people would whisper to each other, "Fell twenty feet and died after jumping from planes without any problems, that's just ironic" That would be far worse than just plain old sympathy.
Things That Bother Me (at Midnight)
The last time I couldn't sleep it really helped to write, so here I am again, I also thought of things I wanted to write about earlier when I wrote about my day instead so here goes some rapid fire thoughts:
Recently I heard there was a story coming up on tonight's news about how a 4oo+ pound guy's insurance company is refusing to pay for "life saving surgery". Now I can't find what surgery it is but I when I hear about this on the radio I get angry. Not at the insurance company though. Honestly if I were with the insurance company I would be doing the same thing. Its such a bad investment on their part to cover anything like that, especially if its an organ donation. It would be like ponying up the cash to give a smoker new lungs. What a waste. I wish I had more on this story but it really does make me angry.
Barrack Obama needs to stop whining like a little girl. In the last month he has gone from the confident front runner to a complaining unelectable elitist. At the beginning of this democratic two step Hilary was crying every three days and saying stupid things like "If he wasn't black...". But now Obama is making a huge issue about some attention whore racist disgrace of a preacher and getting all bitter about some stupid gas holiday thing that will never happen either way. Even if it does, you're just taking from the road maintenance budget to allow for a couple cents a gallon cheaper. But the sad thing is that he doesn't come out and say something intelligent like that. He says that instead he wants the government to improve fuel economy this summer. That's all. That's the entirety of his plan. Now I'm not sure what they can do to make the gas itself cause better fuel economy but the alternative is that they make the engines of new cars more fuel efficient. But honestly how many people are gonna buy new cars? That kills me with the whole "Make the minimum miles per gallon this by so and so" bill going through congress now. Do they have some magic switch they're holding out on that turns existing cars suddenly into lean mean gas sipping machines?
These are some of the absolutely stupid things that almost make me jump up out of my chair listening to NPR in the mornings at work. They say things in such a way that I honestly will talk back to the radio. Things so stupid that I can't believe they can get away with saying them.
Another thing I heard today is that in a recent study 60% of killings in the world, are happening in terrorist attacks in Iraq. First off I have no idea who came up with this statistic, but I almost had to laugh at the person who told it to me. It was also said in a way that it was a slam on George W Bush. How about some positive spin on the war for once. The type of positive spin that says how much chemical genocide is going on in Iraq anymore. The type of positive spin on how many terrorist attacks that we actually stopped for those televised few that we can't get to in time. When people have the sure ignorance to tell me that those people would be better off if we hadn't done anything, its all I can do to not look them in their face and call them stupid. Sure we haven't turned Iraq into a Club Med. People are dying everyday over there, but those soldiers over there don't need the media at home making them out to be a waste. Back in the World Wars, they would make Army progress movies that they would play before movies at the movie theater about the great strides that our troops were making in battle. Where has that gone? And to be ignorant enough to call our president stupid, just because in your own little fantasy world we should have rolled in there, given a few slaps on the wrist and magically changed the climate of the region to a democratic utopia is just dumb. Stuff doesn't go smoothly all the time. If Iraq would have turned around sooner, no one would be calling our president dumb. They would be falling over each other to pat him on the back. Its that kind of apathetic uninformed bandwagon mentality that is the real problem.
And after that little tirade, Middleweight ultimate fighting sucks. Its all flash and no substance. The fight I saw tonight had one guy wailing on the other guy for three rounds and then he lost the fight and his coaches were beside themselves with the outcome, saying that their guy did all the damage. But then you looked at the other guy and it looked like he had just gotten back from a brisk walk or something. Not a scratch on him. Nine minutes of getting hit and he doesn't have a mark. It's boring to watch. All submission attempts and bad fighting. I also have to mute the TV when they're fighting so I don't hear the repetitive shouts from the coaches, over and over again. If I was a fighter I would be so distracted from that crap that I would tell them to just stop. At least lightweights are fast. Middleweights are like watching two slow terrible fighters grabbing each other for 10 minutes. Mad about the outcome? You should have actually finished the fight. Also why don't the people go home anymore on the Ultimate Fighter? I'm watching it and saying "Didn't that guy just get his ass kicked, why is he still there?" You earned a spot to compete on the show, not get free housing for three months after you get your ass kicked.
Recently I heard there was a story coming up on tonight's news about how a 4oo+ pound guy's insurance company is refusing to pay for "life saving surgery". Now I can't find what surgery it is but I when I hear about this on the radio I get angry. Not at the insurance company though. Honestly if I were with the insurance company I would be doing the same thing. Its such a bad investment on their part to cover anything like that, especially if its an organ donation. It would be like ponying up the cash to give a smoker new lungs. What a waste. I wish I had more on this story but it really does make me angry.
Barrack Obama needs to stop whining like a little girl. In the last month he has gone from the confident front runner to a complaining unelectable elitist. At the beginning of this democratic two step Hilary was crying every three days and saying stupid things like "If he wasn't black...". But now Obama is making a huge issue about some attention whore racist disgrace of a preacher and getting all bitter about some stupid gas holiday thing that will never happen either way. Even if it does, you're just taking from the road maintenance budget to allow for a couple cents a gallon cheaper. But the sad thing is that he doesn't come out and say something intelligent like that. He says that instead he wants the government to improve fuel economy this summer. That's all. That's the entirety of his plan. Now I'm not sure what they can do to make the gas itself cause better fuel economy but the alternative is that they make the engines of new cars more fuel efficient. But honestly how many people are gonna buy new cars? That kills me with the whole "Make the minimum miles per gallon this by so and so" bill going through congress now. Do they have some magic switch they're holding out on that turns existing cars suddenly into lean mean gas sipping machines?
These are some of the absolutely stupid things that almost make me jump up out of my chair listening to NPR in the mornings at work. They say things in such a way that I honestly will talk back to the radio. Things so stupid that I can't believe they can get away with saying them.
Another thing I heard today is that in a recent study 60% of killings in the world, are happening in terrorist attacks in Iraq. First off I have no idea who came up with this statistic, but I almost had to laugh at the person who told it to me. It was also said in a way that it was a slam on George W Bush. How about some positive spin on the war for once. The type of positive spin that says how much chemical genocide is going on in Iraq anymore. The type of positive spin on how many terrorist attacks that we actually stopped for those televised few that we can't get to in time. When people have the sure ignorance to tell me that those people would be better off if we hadn't done anything, its all I can do to not look them in their face and call them stupid. Sure we haven't turned Iraq into a Club Med. People are dying everyday over there, but those soldiers over there don't need the media at home making them out to be a waste. Back in the World Wars, they would make Army progress movies that they would play before movies at the movie theater about the great strides that our troops were making in battle. Where has that gone? And to be ignorant enough to call our president stupid, just because in your own little fantasy world we should have rolled in there, given a few slaps on the wrist and magically changed the climate of the region to a democratic utopia is just dumb. Stuff doesn't go smoothly all the time. If Iraq would have turned around sooner, no one would be calling our president dumb. They would be falling over each other to pat him on the back. Its that kind of apathetic uninformed bandwagon mentality that is the real problem.
And after that little tirade, Middleweight ultimate fighting sucks. Its all flash and no substance. The fight I saw tonight had one guy wailing on the other guy for three rounds and then he lost the fight and his coaches were beside themselves with the outcome, saying that their guy did all the damage. But then you looked at the other guy and it looked like he had just gotten back from a brisk walk or something. Not a scratch on him. Nine minutes of getting hit and he doesn't have a mark. It's boring to watch. All submission attempts and bad fighting. I also have to mute the TV when they're fighting so I don't hear the repetitive shouts from the coaches, over and over again. If I was a fighter I would be so distracted from that crap that I would tell them to just stop. At least lightweights are fast. Middleweights are like watching two slow terrible fighters grabbing each other for 10 minutes. Mad about the outcome? You should have actually finished the fight. Also why don't the people go home anymore on the Ultimate Fighter? I'm watching it and saying "Didn't that guy just get his ass kicked, why is he still there?" You earned a spot to compete on the show, not get free housing for three months after you get your ass kicked.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
When Things Go Wrong, It's Surprisingly Not That Bad
What a day.
First off last night I came home made dinner and promptly passed out for 11 or so hours of sleep. Not only did I not work out like I was planning, I didn't feel overly refreshed when I woke up this morning like I thought I would after normally only getting about 6-7 hours of sleep. So I roll into work half asleep like normal and I am told that I will be going to help at Furman today with the installers. No biggie, I was told the day before that I would probably be headed there, just have to put my other stuff at the office on hold. The other stuff that is on rush because it was due yesterday but probably won't be painted until sometime next week. But I'm covered its cool. I also get my paycheck, and with simple addition in my head calculate that with it and the money in my bank account, I would probably be about $20 short on my rent, which is due today. So I email my dad asking for help. But immediately am whisked away to Furman. I was told that I would only need to be there for part of it so I could bring my car and drive separately so I can return to the office earlier. So we go off to the hospital and fix something quick and then off to Furman to put up some stuff. Of course it doesn't go as smoothly as anyone would expect it to go with bent studs and such (not a sexual reference), but we get it done. As my fellow installer is putting the other part together I head off and do some color matching on a door frame of another building which didn't seem to be right when I measured them the day before. I get done and head back to help the installer finish the job, everything looks great, we get a compliment on the awesomeness from a passing car on the way out, everything is great. I continue walking to my car which I have parked in a random lot beside the stadium and see a piece of paper in my door handle. Two things run through my head. Either the extremely hot chicks that just passed, figured out that this was my car with the Clemson paw on the back and left me their numbers, or I have a parking ticket on yet another university property that as shown above, I really can't pay for right now. So I pick it out and its definitely a female-handwritten note that says:
"Check your back left tire, "Charlie" :)"
I look at the tire and it is super flat and i notice a large screw sticking out of the top of it. Fantastic, pay for a tire. I have the idea that Furman isn't that far away from Greer and that I could probably drive it back there with a flat instead of taking the time to fix it. So I get driving after the van and I get maybe a half a block away when I hear the clickity clacking of the nail on the pavement. So I finally pull over and call the installer and tell him whats up. Like the nice guy he is, he turns around and helps me change my tire. The first time that I've done this on my newish car. The whole time we're cracking jokes about how my car is a chick magnet, with several attractive girls seemingly coming out of nowhere to pass by or overlook the situation from balconies. We finally get it changed out and go to lunch at Stax.
I had been trying to not spend money this week, but it was already 1:30 and my packed lunch was still back at the shop, so restaurant food sounded good. We get through our meal, everything is decent, wouldn't go out of my way to come back, but it was good enough that I might if I was in the area. So we're about to leave and we're paying at the counter when the manager or owner's son starts asking about a graphic designer. Saying he needs one to design a shirt for him. So I say that I'm a designer and I have a couple minutes to discuss it with him. So he goes on and on about how their current shirts are ugly (they are) and how he wants the new ones to look kinda like this stoner picture but not quite as stonerish. He goes on and on for a while and finally I tell him I will put something together for him this weekend and get his business card and head out with a free sweet tea. Cool stuff, get to design something that might get used by a restaurant and sold to people who buy their shirts, and might get some money out of the deal too, awesome.
So we finally get back to the shop and the rest of the day is a blur with trying to apply vinyl to a couple of the finished backlogged signs. 4:30 rolls around and I think about staying late but I remember I need to deal with my tire. So I go to the place that is conveniently across the street from the shop, which everyone in the shop recommends (apparently nails in the tires is a common affliction to the sign business). I tell the guy I need my tire fixed. He says no problem, I sit down and read a magazine. About a half hour later he says they're done, I look out and my car is amazingly good as new and he says "Five bucks". Five dollars to fix my tire, when I thought I was going to have to buy a new one. I speed off, enjoying my returned ability to go over 50 miles an hour. I go to the bank and deposit my check and head home. I stop to get my mail since I got an email saying my two new Netflix should be there. To my surprise is a note from my parents with a check for exactly the amount that I said I needed in the email this morning, which they had sent to cover my gas expenses for next weeks venture to the north. Money problem solved. I turn around and go back to the bank to deposit the money and my bad day turns out to be perfectly fine. Sometimes I don't know why I worry.
First off last night I came home made dinner and promptly passed out for 11 or so hours of sleep. Not only did I not work out like I was planning, I didn't feel overly refreshed when I woke up this morning like I thought I would after normally only getting about 6-7 hours of sleep. So I roll into work half asleep like normal and I am told that I will be going to help at Furman today with the installers. No biggie, I was told the day before that I would probably be headed there, just have to put my other stuff at the office on hold. The other stuff that is on rush because it was due yesterday but probably won't be painted until sometime next week. But I'm covered its cool. I also get my paycheck, and with simple addition in my head calculate that with it and the money in my bank account, I would probably be about $20 short on my rent, which is due today. So I email my dad asking for help. But immediately am whisked away to Furman. I was told that I would only need to be there for part of it so I could bring my car and drive separately so I can return to the office earlier. So we go off to the hospital and fix something quick and then off to Furman to put up some stuff. Of course it doesn't go as smoothly as anyone would expect it to go with bent studs and such (not a sexual reference), but we get it done. As my fellow installer is putting the other part together I head off and do some color matching on a door frame of another building which didn't seem to be right when I measured them the day before. I get done and head back to help the installer finish the job, everything looks great, we get a compliment on the awesomeness from a passing car on the way out, everything is great. I continue walking to my car which I have parked in a random lot beside the stadium and see a piece of paper in my door handle. Two things run through my head. Either the extremely hot chicks that just passed, figured out that this was my car with the Clemson paw on the back and left me their numbers, or I have a parking ticket on yet another university property that as shown above, I really can't pay for right now. So I pick it out and its definitely a female-handwritten note that says:
"Check your back left tire, "Charlie" :)"
I look at the tire and it is super flat and i notice a large screw sticking out of the top of it. Fantastic, pay for a tire. I have the idea that Furman isn't that far away from Greer and that I could probably drive it back there with a flat instead of taking the time to fix it. So I get driving after the van and I get maybe a half a block away when I hear the clickity clacking of the nail on the pavement. So I finally pull over and call the installer and tell him whats up. Like the nice guy he is, he turns around and helps me change my tire. The first time that I've done this on my newish car. The whole time we're cracking jokes about how my car is a chick magnet, with several attractive girls seemingly coming out of nowhere to pass by or overlook the situation from balconies. We finally get it changed out and go to lunch at Stax.
I had been trying to not spend money this week, but it was already 1:30 and my packed lunch was still back at the shop, so restaurant food sounded good. We get through our meal, everything is decent, wouldn't go out of my way to come back, but it was good enough that I might if I was in the area. So we're about to leave and we're paying at the counter when the manager or owner's son starts asking about a graphic designer. Saying he needs one to design a shirt for him. So I say that I'm a designer and I have a couple minutes to discuss it with him. So he goes on and on about how their current shirts are ugly (they are) and how he wants the new ones to look kinda like this stoner picture but not quite as stonerish. He goes on and on for a while and finally I tell him I will put something together for him this weekend and get his business card and head out with a free sweet tea. Cool stuff, get to design something that might get used by a restaurant and sold to people who buy their shirts, and might get some money out of the deal too, awesome.
So we finally get back to the shop and the rest of the day is a blur with trying to apply vinyl to a couple of the finished backlogged signs. 4:30 rolls around and I think about staying late but I remember I need to deal with my tire. So I go to the place that is conveniently across the street from the shop, which everyone in the shop recommends (apparently nails in the tires is a common affliction to the sign business). I tell the guy I need my tire fixed. He says no problem, I sit down and read a magazine. About a half hour later he says they're done, I look out and my car is amazingly good as new and he says "Five bucks". Five dollars to fix my tire, when I thought I was going to have to buy a new one. I speed off, enjoying my returned ability to go over 50 miles an hour. I go to the bank and deposit my check and head home. I stop to get my mail since I got an email saying my two new Netflix should be there. To my surprise is a note from my parents with a check for exactly the amount that I said I needed in the email this morning, which they had sent to cover my gas expenses for next weeks venture to the north. Money problem solved. I turn around and go back to the bank to deposit the money and my bad day turns out to be perfectly fine. Sometimes I don't know why I worry.
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