The life,times, troubles, toils, and tribulations of Raymond.

 
'Mornin',

he calls out, and while Johnny replies with a friendly wave, Dan is...a little less enthused.

'Mornin', he calls.

'Best time of day to go fuck yourself.'

That is my new greeting to people in the AM.
posted by Raymond at 7:29 AM

 
Hot Hot Hot…Too Damn Hot.

So yep, it is summer in the Antelope Valley and boy do I know it. Palmdale sure seems to be one of the less hospitable places on the planet during this time of the year. Everyday we reach somewhere in the low 100’s. And the funny thing is that the hottest part of the day is in the afternoon around 4 and 5pm. So it is really hot just about the time that I am leaving work. But I suppose it isn’t all that bad, I do have real air conditioning back home at the Apartment. So even though it is 106 outside I can crank it down 30 degrees inside and watch my Tivo’d episodes of the Daily Show and Colbert Report.

I am also having problems with my internet connection at home which is no fun. There were some problems last weekend when we lost access to some channels on the television and the internet was down. Now, when I got home from work yesterday my internet wasn’t working. No high speed internet access make Raymond mad, also that takes away my phone access since I use Vonage for V.O.I.P. The funny thing is that I can power down my cable modem for a little while then power it back on, and the it will eventually hook itself back up but it only last for about 5minutes. Then I am booted back off. My modem show no sign of not operating properly, but that is the only culprit I can think of. I can only assume that I received a power surge sometime over the weekend that perhaps damaged my cable modem. Anyway I have a Technician coming by today to check it out. But until then it is no internet access at home. So sad.
posted by Raymond at 9:31 AM

 
Not that anybody reads anything I type but, I am still around. It is hot at work. 90 degrees inside. At 95 degrees I get to turn on the air conditioner, so exciting.

I have been in the Antelope Valley for four motnhs now and I have yet to go to Church, and I really want to. I feel the draw to it, and I know I need to fellowship with other belivers who can strengthen me. It close to impossible to stay on the straight and narrow by yourself.

I think I will go to Grace Chapel this weekend. I think.
posted by Raymond at 10:53 AM

 
Not that anybody reads anything I type but, I am still around. It is hot at work. 90 degrees inside. At 95 degrees I get to turn on the air conditioner, so exciting.

I have been in the Antelope Valley for four motnhs now and I have yet to go to Church, and I really want to. I feel the draw to it, and I know I need to fellowship with other belivers who can strengthen me. It close to impossible to stay on the straight and narrow by yourself.

I think I will go to Grace Chapel this weekend. I think.
posted by Raymond at 10:53 AM

 
Coca-Cola

Okay, even though my kidneys may hate me, I love soft drinks. Sadly there is many a day I go without ever letting a non carbonated beverage touch my lips. And my current favorite is Coca-Cola with Lime. Unlike the previous coke incarnations that have fallen flat, Vanilla Coke, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, and even regular old Cherry Coke, they all just don’t do it for me anymore. But Coke with Lime has come to save the day.

I find it refreshing, there is a little zing in there but it does not overpower like the Vanilla Coke, and it comes off very smooth, unlike the black cherry vanilla coke.

And we just ran out of it at the vending machine at work. I am pissed, very pissed, especially when I have one of the only vending machine that dispenses bottles at 75 cents anymore. I want my coke with lime dammit.
posted by Raymond at 9:45 AM

 
Movie Review: Mission Impossible III

And I like my popcorn with extra butter please. So Sunday was Amy day. I drove down to the old O.C. Sunday morning , through some nice light Sunday morning traffic. Today’s plan was to go to Disneyland, see Mission Impossible III and then hang out in Disneyland for a while, before I had to drive home.

So Mission Impossible III, despite the fact I share in the general populace’s disdain for Tom Cruise, I do think he is a good and sometimes great actor. Although sometimes he can go over the top in a role, I think he brings an intensity to his roles that few other actors can match. In his third reprisal as Ethan Hunt, secret agent for IMF, he brings that intensity again, and for this role it works. He is a secret agent, and he needs to be intense, but that style clashes with his co-star and on screen wife played by Michelle Monaghan, they have no chemistry..none. I have better chemistry in my toilet after my morning business….but that is mainly because I have some of that stuff that makes the water blue.

The movie itself, good times. A great popcorn flick, and I should know, since I get popcorn just about every time I go to the movies. There is some real good action, and the acting is decent. And the Academy Award Wining Philip Seymour Hoffman is great, he plays an excellent villain. He is a good actor already, but in this role he shines.

J. J. Abrams, left his mark on the movie too, it doesn’t come of as a cookie cutter action flick. Abrams adds some very nice twists and turns that keeps you on your tows, he uses some nice plot devices, and he keeps the dialogue decent. Also, he doesn’t play it all straight forward he tosses in a little comedy every now and then, which is nice, and keeps you from being “actioned” out.

All in all I recommend this movie, it is a good time show for two hours, and you almost learn to like Tom Cruise again.
posted by Raymond at 9:35 AM

 
A Dinner For The Ages

So last night I went to the single best restaurant in the world, “Medieval Times” dinner and tournament. Oh yes, I lived in Buena Park for almost 4 years and I never went, I should be shot for such an infraction, but alas, I made up for it last night, and had a great time.

Because I am a big spender I got the royalty package, so yeah I feeling high, planning on having myself a big & rich time. We get there, and there is somewhat of a line, I guess even after being here all these years, a lot of people still show up. Which reminds me, I should mention that I went here once way back in the day. Back in the 7th grade, we went as part of a school field trip, which was fun, you get to take most of the day off of school and see the whole Medieval experience, and any time I got out of class was a good time.

So back to the present. We get there nice and early as they request, 5:45pm. We wait in a line outside as they check everyone in. Then they check us in, and we are shuffled off to the mandatory photo op with “King Alfonso.” The scary thing being Amy was almost taller then the King, yikes, I guess they keep the historical heights of the middle ages too. Anywho, after the mandatory picture taking we are then left to our own devices in the great hall of the building. However, all you can really do there is either drink or buy stuff. We chose to drink. Apparently in Medieval Times they had strawberry daiquiris, and boy are they good, those wenches can sure make a strong daiquiri. Amy and I then hung out, they had a nice garden area, and a fun little gift shop. We basically just sat around and waited. Every now and then they had a little “Knighting” ceremony where they took someone and knighted them. I guess you just paid for it and then they gave you a scroll and took your picture while you are being knighted.

Eventually after then milk all the money out of you, on trinkets and booze, they round you up and you get to go into the arena. We were assigned the Warrior Priest, the Black & White Knight. And we got to sit in the front row, since we were in the royalty package, plus we also got like the soundtrack, a little gift book, and a banner. Good times, I felt special.

After we got seated, it pretty much consisted of a bunch of horse riding, sword fighting, and smoke effects. I could go over the whole story, but I don’t like typing that much.

The food was surprisingly good. Remember that there were no utensils in Medieval Times, hence there are no utensils at Medieval Times. You start off with some Pepsi (Yeah, Pepsi was around back then, although I could have had beer), then you get vegetable soup, followed by garlic cheese bread (No salads back in the old days), then you got a half roasted chicken, followed by a spare rib, and half of a seasoned baked potato. Then for desert it was an apple pastry type thing. All in all the food was quite good.

Overall the experience was really fun. Maybe it was just the booze, but I had a real good time. As did Amy. It would be even better with a big group of friends. Oddly enough I think it would be great to have like my bachelor party there…..that isn’t gay or anything ..right?
posted by Raymond at 9:56 AM

 
Another week running the show by myself. Wow, we made some money but we didn't get as much as I would of liked. An example would be yesterday when he had one guy's truck who pretty much kept us busy all day. He just wanted a ton of stuff done to it and there was no way one guy would be able to get it don ein a day, so I had to get both guys on the job, pretty crazy. But we got it out the door by the end of the day.

Dad gets back from school this afternoon, thank goodness he gets work done much faster. And Dodger baseball starts Monday, Yea!
posted by Raymond at 7:33 AM

 
Quote of the moment:

“The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.”

-Earl Weaver
posted by Raymond at 9:17 AM

 
Working Saturdays

Working on Saturday sucks, not that I had big plans or anything, it just sucks to work on Saturday. For the majority of my EMS career I was working on Saturdays. In fact just about every Saturday, and for the Ambulance crews, Saturdays sucked. The demand on Saturdays was just about as strong on the weekdays, but we always understaffed. So if you were on a rig, Saturdays could be rough. I worked one 10 hour shift one day, from 10am to 8pm I believe, and we literally ran the whole day, non-stop. From the moment we jumped in the ambulance to the moment we got off shift there was no stopping, no luch breaks or anything, pretty nutty. Now I am sitting in an office with nothing but pretty menial office work to do. But hey at least I don't have to lift 400lbs diabetics, or have people vomit on me. Good Times.
posted by Raymond at 10:13 AM

 
Might I just say: God Bless Earl Weaver!
posted by Raymond at 9:48 PM

 
I think I need to start adding titles to my posts again. So I am:

TV Shows:

Okay I have watched the first two episodes of "American Inventor" on ABC. These people are crazy. They can't be this serious about some of the things they have on the show. And the intensity that some of the inventors bring, it is truly crazy. I understand the concept of the show but I don't see how the competition aspect of it will work. It will be the same inventions week after week.

The show "Top Chef" on Bravo. Ever since watching "Hell's Kitchen" last year on Fox, I have become a fan of reality cooking shows. But this show just annoys me in the fact that there are so many snooty chefs that think so highly of themselves. I mean I like food, and I know good food and bad food. But you ain't that special. Even though I am all for enjoying some fine dining, it is still hard to beat the $5 pizza deal at Little Caesar's.
posted by Raymond at 9:28 PM

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Now can I have a midget stripper jump out of a cupcake for me?
posted by Raymond at 10:20 AM

 
Don't get me wrong, I know I hardly ever post anything, but I really need to change that. Even though the only things that ever look at this website are search engines that are just roaming the internet I feel I need to do some writing if for no other reason then to of just posted somthing and make use of this website that I have been paying for.

So, what is up with me and what am I doing. I am Opaerations Manager at McCormick Diesel & Brake in Palmdale, California. I basically run the front office of my parents business.

So I have moved back to the Antelope Valley, a place I said I would never return to. When I left for school at age 18 I never wanted to come back. But now I am back. I guess you can come back home. I am actually in the best living conditions I have ever had. I have a great two bed room apartment in Palmdale, and I only live 5 minutes away from my work. You really can't beat that. I guess it is just it isn't the job or the place I had planned to end up in.
posted by Raymond at 9:10 PM

 
"Happy New Year!", or as I saw on one of the video billboards outside the Citadel Outlet "¡Feliz Ano Nuevo!"
posted by Raymond at 12:16 AM