Monday was an absolute waste. Yesterday I went to our pastor's house and fixed her computer. She insisted on paying me. It was so fun to hang out with her and her 3 year old son. He's tres charmant. He cracks me up, and we talked and talked about computers and how paperclips work.
She was worried that he was bothering me. But to be honest, it was refreshing to be with someone for a little while that asked why something happens instead of saying "I KNOW why, I'm not STUPID ya know," which is something both of my kids say to me these days.
Three is a lovely age.
In the afternoon I dropped the car off for an oil change. I made dinner. I did laundry. I played with Geoff a bit. I sent out resumes.
I sent out résumés.
I sent out résumés.
I ... well, you know. Sent out résumés.
This morning I called in my unemployment claim. It will kick in in about three weeks, and I'll be retro paid for the time lag. I'm not sure why but the unemployment people are damn helpful and nice. My last unemployment experience was incredibly positive as well. That isn't good. It makes me want to stay on unemployment, just so I can deal with nice phone representatives.
For all the horror stories I've heard played out from friends who collected and were bitched at on the phone or yelled at for not calling on time, and the incredibly painful hours on hold they spent wasting their lives... I had to hold for 15 minutes for an operator. Try getting that kind of service from Gateway or your credit card company when you need help.
The girl was sweet and wonderful. She had all my info in the system from the previous claim, and everything was already in the system from my tax returns and W2s. So it was... painless.
The only pain I experienced was the music that they have on hold. They have one song, perhaps 64 bars long, and it loops over and over. And it sucks. That's my only complaint. I don't mind holding. I don't mind waiting. Just please, for the love of all things good and pure, pump in some radio from someplace instead of some prerecorded easy listening garbáge.
Today we are going to go bowling. I just took a nice long hot shower. I'm not sure how I did it but I pulled a muscle in the back of my right thigh while sleeping. Who pulls muscles while sleeping? I mean really. Was I running in my sleep the way the dogs do? Was I kicking the winning goal in the US vs. New Zealand World Cup game? Was I kicking someone's ass?
Not sure. But man -- it's sore as hell. Anyway, bowling should be good and painful. I'm mostly going just to take the kids out of the house. Since our zoo excursion they haven't gone anywhere. They've been fighting and scratching and clawing at each other. I'm hoping a nice organized bowling game, perhaps two, will give them time to take their aggression out on the skinny pins at the end of the lane.
Jessica wants me to come watch the showcase showdown with her on The Price is Right. I always win and she's always impressed. I'm usually within 1000 bucks too, which is sometimes really hard to do. I mean, on pricing for a car, it's probably prices in California, so they're a little higher. And ski trips to Switzerland are probably based on airfare from LA to somewhere in the east like NY or Boston... so I kind of figure those a little higher. Then they throw in some snowboards, but you can tell by looking at them the foot bindings aren't looking like they belong there, so they look cheap, and they aren't Burtons, so you aim a little lower... it all works out.
I'm good at TPIR.
By the way -- in 48 hours we'll be dropping the dogs off and heading down to see BNL at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville CT. My mantra is "Friday is coming. Friday is coming..." and I cannot wait to see them live again.
One of the funny facts in the past several BNL obsessed months of my life is I've paid a lot of attention to fan feedback and reviews, moreso than I did in tours past or other CD releases.
On the Peepshow leg of the tour, tons of people loved it because they vowed to play every song they've recorded at least once. They almost completed that task, as seen by bob & jeff's peep show tracker. Some people loved that -- a show for the hard core fans. People who want to hear "Powder Blue" or "Helicopters" live in concert.
Some people bitched and moaned that the shows were void of "the hits" and they wanted to hear Million Dollars. But if you look at the tracker, the hits got plenty of attention, just not every single night.
This tour has been deemed the "Everywhere for Everyone" tour. This show is the bigger audiences, the big ticket items -- the big hits. Fleet Center in Boston -- sold out. Big shows. And a few not so big, like Manchester's Verizon Arena where I'll see them in March.
And the hopefully very cool mid-sized show at the casino.
And in reading the feedback thus far, some people are bitching that they're playing too many of "the hits" and they would like to hear "A" or "In the Drink" live. And others are thrilled because they love Million Dollars and are getting their wish.
One of the things on Peepshow that broke my heart was seeing Steve sing "War on Drugs" while a woman in the front section stood there waving her boobs around screaming "Brian Wilson! Play Brian Wilson! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" I mean -- the song he's up there singing is painful and poignant, about mental illness, drugs, death... and she's woooting like a friggin' hyena in heat.
I don't want them to do "War on Drugs" this time around. Sure it's an amazing song. Sure it's beautiful and really showcases Steve's voice. So does "Powder Blue." So does "Break your heart" (more so in my opinion. It's a great song. It means a lot to some people. But. It's a buzzkill.
It really brings the house crashing down. Except for the few sick whackos who are probably drunk and should be listening to the message of the song. It's lost on them as long as they woot and holler for One Week. Which will be played, but not right this second.
I love live concerts -- I sometimes despise concert goers.
Jessica just called to me from the livingroom "How do you get money paid to you for 'pain and suffering?'" Aaah. A law firm commercial. Staple of mid-morning TV.
Which reminds me, I saw a commercial for the law offices of Dane Schulman (or whatever his name is, the Boston Based attorney who will "get you your money and THAT'S THAT!" as he wags his finger in the camera) and a friend of mine from college is in it.
It's the bowling commercial -- he's in an orange shirt. He's the one who can't get his attorney to call him back. It aggravates him so much so that he throws a gutter ball as he obsesses on the thought.
I screamed when I saw it... how funny is that to see an old friend in a commercial.
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