So Long...

Farewell, Auf Weidersehen, Good Night...
Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you...

So it's 8 o'clock on Friday morning. Why am I up? Well because I have to pack. I'm supposed to be at my druggie camp this morning bettween 9:30 and 10:00. Figured I should wake up a bit early and pack and find directions to where it is I'm supposed to be. You know, be responsible and the like. I think I should leave it up to all of you to post AT LEAST one interesting happening or trivia or whatever while I'm gone. And you can then comment to eachother as well! I'll be gone until next Friday, studies say it takes a full week to get kids to say "no" and after that they're good until next year... or something.


Other Updates
Josh's wedding is coming up, we're gonna have a party of sorts when I get back next weekend. His wedding website is here.

I finished the new Harry Potter book yesterday (Scott's Copy). So I don't want to hear any more crap about me going to the Harry Potter party and not even purchasing a book, I'm still done before a lot of people. I liked it. A lot.

I picked up my books at UIS yesterday. Only cost me like $75 'cause one of my two classes didn't have any books and the other I managed to find all four used.

I'll help you out. If you can't think of anything that you think is interesting enough to share (and serious, what do I ever say that's actually interesting?) Go to Fark and just tell what you think about one of those stories. It's good stuff, all true yet ridiculous news stories updated everyday.

Later!

Rob's Bad Movie Guide

The term "Bad Movie" has enough importance to me that I've decided dedicate this post to it. Everyone's seen one, a few people seek them out, and sometimes (like what happened to us) you seek out a bad movie but then are really disappointed when it turns out to be a painfully bad movie. My favorite bad movie night was a few years ago actually:

We rented Surf Nazis Must Die, Cheerleader Camp, Death Race 2000 and Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity. All of these were High Quality Flicks. Surf Nazis is exactly what the title makes it out to be and does not disappoint. Cheerleader Camp is your stereotypical bad slasher film while Slave Girls is the stereotypical sci-fi/fantasy film about hot alien chicks who don't wear much. Deathrace 2000 is one of Sylvester Stallone's first movies. By the way, the plot is a race across america where you get points for running people down, at one point they wheel the geriatrics wing out of the hospital and put them all in the road. Like I said, great night.

However it doesn't always go that well. Case in point: Josh, Scott and I were looking for a bad movie just the other day. Scott's keen eye had picked out some "baseball-game-of-death" film which we SHOULD have picked up (Scott, help me out with the name of that one.) Instead my lame-self suggested Hide and Seek. After spending too long at the movie place, I guess since my suggestion was the last one made we went with it. It was a bad movie. But not like a ridiculous bad 80's movie that you can laugh at, or a movie that knows it's gonna be a bad movie and embraces it (Army of Darkness or Dead Alive), instead its just a poor movie. I don't know if it was more or less frustrating because it was a decent movie halfway through, until the "Plot" kicked in... that reminded me a lot of Saw. I hated Saw too for the same reason.

I think that I've got a new idea. I think Scott and I should do a weekly Movie review. We'll take suggestions from you of course. I don't know, what do you think?

Sleepy Update

I took an expected nap just now... and just woke up. But real quick here's what's going on. Called and invited Josh over tonight for movie night tonight. We're thinking "bad" or "horror" movie. Need to try and get ahold of some evasive groomsment for Josh's Bachelor party. And possibly tomorrow or thursday (I hope not tomorrow) they want me to "train" my temporary replacement at work. I think I could train that person in 5 minutes, and they want me to take 2 days. Moreover, there's only one computer so I have no idea what I'm going to do while this new "trainee" is doing my job. Reading the new Harry Potter Book is going to be my most likely solution. I'll be on "vacation" from both jobs for a week or so here. I've got my whole drug-prevention campy thing to take care of. Also I still need to work out as much UIS BS as possible before hand as well. Maybe I should think of packing for that camp too - but that's what the day before is for. Lunch is a good idea as well.

That picture made me laugh.

Pictures

Here's the Pictures I TOOK from Scott's lame party

Party Time

Scott officially has the most ludicrous gathering I've ever witnessed. If I wasn't at work I'd include pictures here, but you'll take what you can get. The biggest celebration he'd thrown thus far was his "One Year Blogiversary Party," which was as you may have guessed to celebrate the anniversary of his blog. And if you thought that maybe one of the more ridiculous things you've heard of in a while, try this on for size:

The new Harry Potter book just recently came out and Barnes and Noble's had a huge HP Release party. There was (seriously) about a thousand people (they had numbered wristbands) waiting to get their hands on the newest in the series at midnight. I got off work at 11:30 that night and walked across the parking lot to B&N to see what was up. Freaks galore all dressed up in costumes but what we noticed as being the most disturbing were the ones who weren't "in costume." Instead some people were wearing purplish robes and such that were clearly not from the Series, or from your neighborhood costume shop, but instead they probably had an assortment of their own in their closet to choose from. THOSE are the people who freak me out. Anyways, I hung out there and ran into not just Scott as I had expected, but Breyn and her husband, Josh and Allyn, Jacob (whom I hate), Steve, Megan and probably more who I didn't happen across.

After leaving B&N and settling back into the apartment, I walked into a sight that made me laugh out loud and I took pictures to document. Jake, Scott, Steve and Megan were lounging around the apartment all reading their new book in silence. It was almost 3 in the morning. Steve had to work at 6:30 am.... IN JERSEYVILLE. Megan had to be at work at 9. This was ridiculous, they had driven up to Springfield from J-Ville to come to this release party and had just gotten there at like 11 pm. Things like that give me a headache just thinking about.

Red Tape

UIS makes Vogon's appear easy to deal with when it comes to paperwork. And "they wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters." By the way, You really should read (or watch I guess) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So apparently on my online application I mistook a question about being a resident for "living on campus" when in fact it meant "of Illinois." Either that or I simply checked the wrong box (the people at UIS say that it happens frequently). But listen to this B.S.

I have to fill out a petition for residency for UIS now because they're trying to charge me Out of State Tutition. Shouldn't be a problem right? I can see that I might have to do more than a phone call, maybe meet with someone and sign something... but that's NO WHERE CLOSE to the crap they're trying to make me do. Aside from filling out the 5 page "Petition," I have to provide copies of:

• Driver's License
• Illinois Voter Registration Card
• State Income Tax Returns
• Federal Income Tax Returns
• Paystubs for this Years Employment
• Paystubs for LAST years Employment
• My left arm

Alright so not the arm bit, and it wasn't even a funny joke... but I'm just REALLY FRUSTRATED AT THEM RIGHT NOW!!! Honestly, how is it that all I have to do is check a box the first time, but then they need all of that crap to correct it. Moreover, I don't know if I still have some of that stuff (I don't recall ever seeing a voter registration card) and any of it that I might still have, it's going to be in Jerseyville anyways. So Thanks mom for looking for some of that nonsense. How the crap is it so difficult for them to accept that I've lived in this state for my entire life. If I was king of the universe, who ever made that decision would be fired...

from a cannon...

into a brick wall...

with spikes on it...

from 2 feet away...

then burned "alive."


Damn you UIS.

In the News...

Dude, Why you should you get a Dell? Apparently Dell has decided that open forums where people can ask technical support for their Dell products leads to too much Bad Publicity. That's why you should buy your computer from Best Buy. (I got $5 for typing that)

Wexford PA was ranked 28th Best Place to Live, by Money Magazine. Why should you care about Wexford? Well, I guess you shouldn't. I mean, chances are you won't be in PA anytime soon. And in the case you do go that way, the town DOESN'T EXIST anyways!!

My girlfriend is still a princess, and I miss her.

Princess mentioned above has a beautiful figure, and I would never speak poorly of her butt or any other part. (Gotta watch your back these days)

Finally, if you think that even our right wingers today are too far to the left do we have a group for you: The Christian Exodus is planning on getting as many people to relocate as possible to South Carolina so they can then break away from the corrupt US. And here I thought Texas would be the first to leave.

The Job Lowdown

I've picked up something at "The Buy" that I don't recall having noticed at most of my other places of employment. Its strange but people don't seem to hate working there. Moreover, they don't seem to hate their overseers (at least in my department, I'm not sure how far it spreads past that.) Actually everyone there seems to be a huge fan of the "discount" that we get moreso than any displeasure of the job (aside from Sunday Morning Meetings). We pay wholesale prices on things, Computer packages, iPods and Cell Phones we don't hardly get a penny discounted to speak of. But I can get a $4,000 TV or a $1,500 Home Theatre System for half price. Or a $110 piece of computer software for $9. It all depends.

I don't make commission, I wouldn't work there if that's how it worked, but they do encourage us to sell extra services. My only difficulty is that they're services I myself would never pay money for, but then again, I'm a bit more computer literate than most of my customers. I haven't decided if its really not in the customers best interest or not, reguardless of the obvious profit for the company. The other great thing about it is that they don't keep records of who sells what, so it doesn't seem to matter either way. I've made my peace with instead of trying to get as much money as possible out of the customers, I'm guarnteeing repeat business. I answer everyone's questions as well as I can and try and help them in any way possible. I frequently have people write down my name and say they're going to ask for me when they come back, despite my explainations that they can talk to anyone and we don't make any commission.

All in all, working for The Buy hasn't been bad so far. I like most of my co-workers and like helping people who don't understand technology. I imagine that when my job at Bunn fades away, I'll just go to classes and rely on Best Buy for my cash. The fireworks place did offer me extra hours as well in the fall. So until I find something signifigantly better (possibly a hook-up I can make through grad school) I think I'll be doing just fine in here the Field of Springs.

Nothing like a nice cool bottle of Hater-ade...

It seems like too long since I've hated on anything. Sure I hated on Scott just a few days ago, but that's an ongoing, burning hatred that I hardly account for anything anymore. So I thought I'd do a quickie to bring you up to date.

Still Hate Paris Hilton

That's right, she wants to be married in Westminster Abbey. Let me tell you, I've been there and it's amazing. You could stack your house on top of itself 2 or 3 times and it would take up a small part of a corner of a small wing that massive church. And Paris's justification is that she believes she is "close enough" to royalty, that she should be allowed to use the church. I highly recommend you reading this short blurb about it, the author is more cynical than even I am.

The Reason for the Foul Mood Today

Walking back into the building from lunch today I passed a car. This car was a brand new silver mustang convertible that was "parked" right outside the front door. I used the word parked very loosely. It was hastily pulled up and lay diagonally across 3 parking spaces next to the door. I can't imagine the mindset of such a man (I pray it was a man, I don't want to imagine a woman with that much pretentious conceit). But I have been working really hard to will something bad to happen to him. I didn't see him, but I'm focusing all my available energy into seeing that karma takes over and he falls face first into a mudpuddle. So if you don't mind, I'd ask all my readers to join me in this. Just focus on the middle-aged man with dark hair (dyed to keep the gray out) and oakleys, driving a silver mustang and let your imagination run wild. If it runs particularly wild, feel free to share your experience with the group.

Shorties

Best Buy
Had a man and woman in yesterday and the female was looking at purchasing a new computer. They were an infuriating couple, completely computer illiterate, which isn't bad in itself, but when coupled with the fact they believed quite the opposite and LOVED to argue. The guy still believed his $3000 dollar computer he bought 3 years ago was still top of the line, and nearly refused to believe that anything we could sell at "Best Buy" (say it scornfully) would possibly match what he Personalized at "Dell" (say it with choir of angels singing praises). And they both argued, not only with me, but with eachother. See, they were in the final stages of their divorce and she was using part of the money she was taking from him to buy her new computer. That... was awesome.

Bunn
Had a lady send a check for $51.94. Then she sent another letter saying that she was told the bill was only $51.64 and proceded to tape 3 dimes to the second letter. By my count that puts her .60 over and have wasted more than that in both parties postage. That made me tear up abit because it was so much like AWR.

Point to Ponder
Novelty T-shirts and Hats are a tricksome lot. You buy a hat with a witty picture or text because you find it funny, however because it's on your head, you never get to see it yourself. I've decided next time I see a hat I like, I'm giving it to Scott.

Cool Idea
I think they should ban blackboards in the classrooms and replace them instead with giant Lite-Brite's.

Ladies and Gentlement: Phil

So my friend Phil has decided to join in on the blogging fun here at my blog. So I think I should formally introduce you all. Phil is a tricksome character and like Shrek, he has many layers. In our group of highschool friends, Phil was always the tough guy. He'd tell you about some fight or something at the Alton blockparty last night, but would neglect to tell you is that he went to the Jerseyville movie theatre the day before to see (insert lastest animated movie here) alone the night before. And he didn't go alone because he didn't have anyfriends. That's the other quirky thing about Phil, he knows people EVERYWHERE we go. The only logical assumption I can make is that Phil doesn't sleep. We would hang out a signifigant amount of time, so I don't know when he has time to meet all these other people. Plus he works two jobs (the night shift at UPS and a bartender at the local J-Ville Resturant. But anyways...

• Phil loves The Lost Boys
• Phil hates Denny's
• Phil loves Dawson's Creek
• Phil hates Technology
• Phil loves Going to the Gambling Boat
• Phil hates Going to the Gambling Boat (he loses a lot)
• Phil's Favorite books are the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket Series
• Last I heard he had just finished The Old Man and the Sea.
• Phil's my climbing/bouldering buddy

Sometimes Phil and I have been known to hold hands in public if we think it'll make others around us feel uncomfortable. This mainly stems from the fact that we'd go on so many "dates" to the movies together and he would always buy me a soda and share popcorn because he "wasn't going to eat alone." Also we really care less what people we don't know think, and actually enjoy making such people uncomfortable. Here's a collage of adventures with Phil: