I hope everyone had themselves a holly jolly one this year and will have a happy new year coming up. I got to have a good time at home with family and friends (except for Jaime, because I couldn't find Marinesco on a map, apparently.) The best part? I'm still eating leftovers.
Puttin in some extra hours this week to pay off some of the holiday fun. This full time, real world job for all its perks, sure takes a lot of work. Hmmm. Maybe I need to start looking for that newspaper column job. Something I can do when I get around to it at three in the morning. Plus, then I could tell everyone how I got a $20,000+ degree in Economic theory and I write stories...with horrendous punctuation.
This is also the first year in a long time that I don't have any solid plans for New Year's. In years past I have planned parties for New Year's like an architect lays out the plans for a building. I've mastered the art of beer aquisition in the same way a fisherman masters bait.
(The one year stands out, when Eazy-E and I hit up every buyer we knew for booze and our tally between the "I need a six of Bass Ale" and the "Might as well get a half gallon of whiskey!" ended up being over 100.00d. For one night. Only ever topped by "Everyone in Marquette drinks on Nate's tab night" which took place this past St. Patty's day.)
By the way, when has the phrase, "...get a half gallon of whiskey" ever turned out good? For me it's usually followed by incoherency and stories about when I was in the CIA. This year I'm going to play it by ear, maybe stay up until midnight and be a designated driver for any of my friends that prefer to partake in some holiday spirits. Yeah, sure I won't.
Oh, and I want everyone who reads this to post something on this message. Now that Jaime is leaving for Costa Rica, I need to evaluate my readers. You don't have to sign up, just leave an anonymous message with your name.
I'm finished,
Nate
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
It's beginning to look a lot like...
T-minus one day until Christmas vacation! OK, that so sounded like a third grader.
Sorry bout that. I don't think I have been this excited about 4 days off in my entire life. I've got a lot of places to go, hopefully a lot of people to see. My
whirlwind tour will kick off Wednesday night in the MQT with a visit to Upfront
and Co. to see Delta County's finest, Tripod perform. It's been far too long
since I've taken in the dulcet tones of Joey Russo and it will definitely be worth the drive through the darkness from the A Town. Thursday will be spent catching up
with old friends and doing some last minute shopping starting at about 7AM. Yeah right, I'm gonna be hung over like a mother. I don't have to return to the Fox Valley until Sunday and all signs point to a delightful Christmas time.
Good showing by the Patriots last night, with Tom Brady doing his best Aaron Brooks impression and throwing away the game in Miami. Just a really un-Patriotic night if you will.
I've been seeing a commercial for the GM Red Tag sale where the sticker price is the actual price you pay for the car. The commercial ends with the narrator stating:
"Holiday shopping just got a lot easier!" Wait, what? Unless your name is Oprah, has
buying a car as part of your Christmas shopping ever come into play?
And the jewelry commercials down here! Egad! "Get a necklace for your sister!" "A pendant for your aunt!" "A bracelet for your dog!" Listen. Jewelry is strictly for
girlfriends, wives and mistresses. That is it, Mr. Kreiger Jewlers! You buy friends
DVD's and cartons of cigs, not jewelry.
Off the top of my head, it has been 59 years since WWII ended, 13 years since the
Soviet Union collapsed, and Tupac has been "dead" for 8 years. Time flies.
And guess what we got the last two days! Snow! I learned a couple things about here:
a) 3-4 inches of snow is considered a crippling storm in Wisconsin.
b) Snow plowing skill is suspect at best down here.
c) I remember why I used to say, "Damned Wisconsin drivers!"
I'll hopefully get to see my sister this weekend for the first time in about two months. She is apparently carrying on the Holtslander tradition started by me of
working every Christmas and the days around it for good measure. It's awesome when work and money conflict with your family at the holidays. But, somebody has to answer the phones and man the cash registers and work the desk at the hotels. If not a Holtslander, then who?
That's all I've got for now. Oh! Wait! I almost forgot the triumphant return of:
RANDOM MOVIE QUOTE!!!
[on her wardrobe]
Walter Kresby: Only castrating, Manhattan career bitches wear black. Is that what you want to be?
Joanna Eberhart: Ever since I was a little girl.
-The Stepford Wives (2004)
I'm finished,
Nate
Sorry bout that. I don't think I have been this excited about 4 days off in my entire life. I've got a lot of places to go, hopefully a lot of people to see. My
whirlwind tour will kick off Wednesday night in the MQT with a visit to Upfront
and Co. to see Delta County's finest, Tripod perform. It's been far too long
since I've taken in the dulcet tones of Joey Russo and it will definitely be worth the drive through the darkness from the A Town. Thursday will be spent catching up
with old friends and doing some last minute shopping starting at about 7AM. Yeah right, I'm gonna be hung over like a mother. I don't have to return to the Fox Valley until Sunday and all signs point to a delightful Christmas time.
Good showing by the Patriots last night, with Tom Brady doing his best Aaron Brooks impression and throwing away the game in Miami. Just a really un-Patriotic night if you will.
I've been seeing a commercial for the GM Red Tag sale where the sticker price is the actual price you pay for the car. The commercial ends with the narrator stating:
"Holiday shopping just got a lot easier!" Wait, what? Unless your name is Oprah, has
buying a car as part of your Christmas shopping ever come into play?
And the jewelry commercials down here! Egad! "Get a necklace for your sister!" "A pendant for your aunt!" "A bracelet for your dog!" Listen. Jewelry is strictly for
girlfriends, wives and mistresses. That is it, Mr. Kreiger Jewlers! You buy friends
DVD's and cartons of cigs, not jewelry.
Off the top of my head, it has been 59 years since WWII ended, 13 years since the
Soviet Union collapsed, and Tupac has been "dead" for 8 years. Time flies.
And guess what we got the last two days! Snow! I learned a couple things about here:
a) 3-4 inches of snow is considered a crippling storm in Wisconsin.
b) Snow plowing skill is suspect at best down here.
c) I remember why I used to say, "Damned Wisconsin drivers!"
I'll hopefully get to see my sister this weekend for the first time in about two months. She is apparently carrying on the Holtslander tradition started by me of
working every Christmas and the days around it for good measure. It's awesome when work and money conflict with your family at the holidays. But, somebody has to answer the phones and man the cash registers and work the desk at the hotels. If not a Holtslander, then who?
That's all I've got for now. Oh! Wait! I almost forgot the triumphant return of:
RANDOM MOVIE QUOTE!!!
[on her wardrobe]
Walter Kresby: Only castrating, Manhattan career bitches wear black. Is that what you want to be?
Joanna Eberhart: Ever since I was a little girl.
-The Stepford Wives (2004)
I'm finished,
Nate
Friday, December 17, 2004
New! Sleep juice!
Do you ever wish you could capture "tired" in a bottle? Like when you wake up for work at 6am and you're like, "Wow, I can't wait to get home from work so I can go back to bed." Of course by the time you get home from work you are wide awake. I would love to invoke the tired feeling as I see fit. Like at 2:00am when I'm still drinking beer and I know I have to get up in like 6 hours to be functional. I could just take a shot of sleep juice and be super duper tired! I'm sure I'll be thinking this tomorrow when I work my once quarterly Saturday shift at 9am.
I am getting a little more stoked for Christmas. I should have all my shopping complete soon. Fox River Mall is simply unbearable right now and Best Buy is craaaazzy busy. We have been busy with the little holiday spirit we are producing as the tree finally got put up last Sunday. Well, hopefully it will be slow tomorrow so I can get another installment up.
I'm finished,
Nate
I am getting a little more stoked for Christmas. I should have all my shopping complete soon. Fox River Mall is simply unbearable right now and Best Buy is craaaazzy busy. We have been busy with the little holiday spirit we are producing as the tree finally got put up last Sunday. Well, hopefully it will be slow tomorrow so I can get another installment up.
I'm finished,
Nate
Friday, December 10, 2004
Let it snow, let it snow...no, seriously some snow...please.
Pop quiz, hotshot: Which area of the world has its rainy season in December?
A)Northwest Territories, CN
B)Siberia
C)Australia
D)Fox Valley, WI
I'll give you a moment to think it over.
OK. The correct answer is apparently the Fox Valley and more specifically, the Appleton area. It was raining steady this morning...steady...on December 10. Hopefully I'll see some real actual snow in the U.P. this weekend but I don't really know what the weather has been like up there. It definately is craptastic down here.
Tis the season to do my holiday shopping tonight. Tommy needs a new skateboard so he can go out and be a hooligan like that gosh darned Bam Margera character. Becky needs a dolly so that she can have unrealistic expectations of the female form that will scar her self esteem for life. Stevie wants a train set so that he can experience the shallow and empty life of the model railroader. OK, none of those people actually exist, but I do have to go shopping for Ashley, Ma and Pa Holtslander, and the T-Puppy. That's it. That's my whole Christmas list. I heard on the radio last week that you should never give your boss a Christmas present. Nobody told us that last year at Range when I think I pitched in on presents for anybody that had an office with a door on it. The Range owners were so appreciative that this year they cut back and laid off about half the people that work there some with less than a week's notice. Eek. Although I will never forget the Christmas bonus from last year. Very top shelf. Plus I can't really talk bad about a company that 12 short months ago awarded me Operator of the Year (an honor that still puts a smile on my face even today :-).
I would also like to take a moment to recognize the hard working men and women of the Cheese Hut gas station for allowing me to inadvertantly clean out the meager $15 that existed in my checking account on Wednesday. They really went the extra mile to not only a) Not accept my card at the pump, but also to b) Commence fueling while I obeyed the order to "See attendant." Now I've got a $25 gas bill and $20 to pay it and I have to be to work in five minutes. Your tireless efforts to complicate my life will not go unnoticed... as I am filling up at the Express Station.
Just a brutal work day today. I've gotta go home.
I'm finished,
Nate
A)Northwest Territories, CN
B)Siberia
C)Australia
D)Fox Valley, WI
I'll give you a moment to think it over.
OK. The correct answer is apparently the Fox Valley and more specifically, the Appleton area. It was raining steady this morning...steady...on December 10. Hopefully I'll see some real actual snow in the U.P. this weekend but I don't really know what the weather has been like up there. It definately is craptastic down here.
Tis the season to do my holiday shopping tonight. Tommy needs a new skateboard so he can go out and be a hooligan like that gosh darned Bam Margera character. Becky needs a dolly so that she can have unrealistic expectations of the female form that will scar her self esteem for life. Stevie wants a train set so that he can experience the shallow and empty life of the model railroader. OK, none of those people actually exist, but I do have to go shopping for Ashley, Ma and Pa Holtslander, and the T-Puppy. That's it. That's my whole Christmas list. I heard on the radio last week that you should never give your boss a Christmas present. Nobody told us that last year at Range when I think I pitched in on presents for anybody that had an office with a door on it. The Range owners were so appreciative that this year they cut back and laid off about half the people that work there some with less than a week's notice. Eek. Although I will never forget the Christmas bonus from last year. Very top shelf. Plus I can't really talk bad about a company that 12 short months ago awarded me Operator of the Year (an honor that still puts a smile on my face even today :-).
I would also like to take a moment to recognize the hard working men and women of the Cheese Hut gas station for allowing me to inadvertantly clean out the meager $15 that existed in my checking account on Wednesday. They really went the extra mile to not only a) Not accept my card at the pump, but also to b) Commence fueling while I obeyed the order to "See attendant." Now I've got a $25 gas bill and $20 to pay it and I have to be to work in five minutes. Your tireless efforts to complicate my life will not go unnoticed... as I am filling up at the Express Station.
Just a brutal work day today. I've gotta go home.
I'm finished,
Nate
Monday, December 06, 2004
No particular reason for this post.
Well, we made it through the week previous and all the anger and madness that came with it. Last week was particularily rank due to the increased number of calls we recieved regarding our small account fees that investors did not in fact take lightly. That should be the last big call generating event of the year until the bustling and almost dreaded tax season starts.
The weekend was a good one, with Friday night being spent playing a heated game of Monopoly between Ashley and I. I found out that apparently I take winning at board games a scoach too seriously, but come on, how would you feel if you owned the entire side of the board that included Park Place, Boardwalk, and all three green properties with multiple houses for most of the game and still lose? Not very pleasant.
Saturday was pretty lazy with the exception of a trip to the seventh circle of hell or as most people call it, "Old Navy on a Saturday before Christmas." I watched as they had an associate from Old Navy on a stepladder doing scavenger hunts with customers in line. "Hey first one to show me a picture of their pet wins a prize!" So that begs the question: Why is she not on a register checking people out, and for that matter, why don't they have more registers? I'll do my X-mas shopping during the week, thanks.
We then had our the Thrivent Christmas party Saturday night. It was a pretty good time, but both Ashley and I "punked out" early, much to some of our cohort's chagrine. Have I really become that guy? The one who is like, "I gotta go home, guys. It's getting late." Anyone that knows me from my legendary drinking days at Northern Michigan, knows that I preferred to be like Eddie Murphy and party all the time. Now I feel like my buddies in college who were foolishly wasting their time "sleeping" and "graduating in a respectable time frame." Wait a minute... those are good things!
We also got a hockey sweep this weekend, putting the Kitties from Marquette City in third place in the CCHA. I knew they would be good this year, but to be playing at this level is extrordinary. The Cats end up on the road until next year and I can't wait to go to the next game with Mojo and the crew. I also have to get that picture of Jaime in the Puckhead construction gear framed and put up somewhere in Flanigan's as a permanent tribute to Puckheads and they ladies. You're one step from being a legend, kid!
I'm finished,
Nate.
The weekend was a good one, with Friday night being spent playing a heated game of Monopoly between Ashley and I. I found out that apparently I take winning at board games a scoach too seriously, but come on, how would you feel if you owned the entire side of the board that included Park Place, Boardwalk, and all three green properties with multiple houses for most of the game and still lose? Not very pleasant.
Saturday was pretty lazy with the exception of a trip to the seventh circle of hell or as most people call it, "Old Navy on a Saturday before Christmas." I watched as they had an associate from Old Navy on a stepladder doing scavenger hunts with customers in line. "Hey first one to show me a picture of their pet wins a prize!" So that begs the question: Why is she not on a register checking people out, and for that matter, why don't they have more registers? I'll do my X-mas shopping during the week, thanks.
We then had our the Thrivent Christmas party Saturday night. It was a pretty good time, but both Ashley and I "punked out" early, much to some of our cohort's chagrine. Have I really become that guy? The one who is like, "I gotta go home, guys. It's getting late." Anyone that knows me from my legendary drinking days at Northern Michigan, knows that I preferred to be like Eddie Murphy and party all the time. Now I feel like my buddies in college who were foolishly wasting their time "sleeping" and "graduating in a respectable time frame." Wait a minute... those are good things!
We also got a hockey sweep this weekend, putting the Kitties from Marquette City in third place in the CCHA. I knew they would be good this year, but to be playing at this level is extrordinary. The Cats end up on the road until next year and I can't wait to go to the next game with Mojo and the crew. I also have to get that picture of Jaime in the Puckhead construction gear framed and put up somewhere in Flanigan's as a permanent tribute to Puckheads and they ladies. You're one step from being a legend, kid!
I'm finished,
Nate.
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