So...This Is My 30's?

Late Night Ramblings
July 12, 2006

Man. It's been tough to get back in the blogging groove after taking a 2-month hiatus. Recapturing the old audience is proving to be even tougher. I forgot what it was like back at the beginning when I got a couple of dozen hits, if I was lucky. By the time I had to unceremoniously tear down the old blog, I was getting a couple hundred a day! I guess you can call this one a work in progress. Oh well. Onto some random thoughts...

The news of my departure has finally made its way around the office. The reaction from the higher-ups has actually been more supportive than I thought. I guess they realize that a great worker with a lot of ability needs to spread his wings when there's no place to do it there.
Hearing all the bullshit going on around me is causing chuckles while I sit in my cubicle, trying to stay motivated and do my job in my final days. God it's going to be nice walking out that door on Friday.
I feel like I was signing my life away with all the paperwork I had to fill out for the new job. They sent me an advance package with my offer letter, and there must have been about 7 forms I had to complete. Dental, life insurance, medical, agreement to the code of conduct, etc. It's worth it though, especially if I want to be paid without delay.
Speaking of new jobs, I've been following the story of Roxy over on I Am, Therefore I Date, a blog I've been a longtime reader of, and one that inspired me to start my own. She is not only escaping her hellhole of a job for a better one, but she's uprooting herself from NYC to DC in order to be closer to her long distance boyfriend. I'm quite curious to see how this will work because, as many of you know, I was in a long distance relationship last summer at this time, and I fell for her. I never took that step, but by the time the summer ended I was considering the possibility. I began seeking opening through Monster and Careerbuilder. Luckily, she dumped my ass before I brought up the idea to her. You have to really love someone to change your life, and you need to be sure that love is reciprocated before you take the leap. I've seen a lot situations like this around the blogosphere lately, and I vividly remember the fantasies I had of "what if I lived out there?" like it was yesterday. In retrospect, it's good I didn't because I got me a good woman now who has become a real fixture in my life here.
Batgirl has been putting in some real work to prep for my 30th birthday bash. Yesterday she hit some Italian restaurants to get catering prices, and today she went to the party store to stock up on sternos and other supplies. I told her I don't want her to think she's going to pay for all this and I want her to show me receipts so I can at least pay for half. Knowing her, she won't fill me in because she feels I shouldn't have to organize my own birthday party, and she wishes she could have done it on her own. She's a sweetheart.
Let me get this straight: Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest broke the record for the biggest opening weekend of all time. $132 Mill in three days. Huh? A Johnny Depp flick? About Pirates? I have no desire to see the first one, and never considered seeing this sequel. I know it's been a few days, but I've been trying to figure this one out.
So I guess Jackie Chan and Joan Rivers have problems holding their liquor. Someone needs to remind them to slow down with the sauce. Once you get past 50, your body doesn't seem to react to alcohol like it did when you were, oh, 30! Mark my words: at least one of them ends up in (ahem) "rehab" in the next two weeks in order to save face.
Pirates of the Carribean? $132 Million?
I think we can safely say we won't be seeing Barry Bonds surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time homerun king. All you baseball purists out there can now resume your whining that Pete Rose doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
The NL is just one out away from finally ending the AL's dominance in the MLB All-Star Game, and yet somehow they find a way for one of the best closers of all time to blow it. Don't get me wrong; I'm grateful, just in case the Bo-Sox get back to the Fall Classic.
THE biggest movie opening of all time, right?
Kate Hudson is very flat. Kudos, though. You'd never know she had a kid.
All this outcry about Manny Ramirez not playing in the All-Star game is nothing but a waste of breath and print space. Anyone who's been listening to me since, oh, the Red Sox signed him shouldn't be surprised. For those of you who refused to: told you so. Fuck him. His act has grown tired with me, and it's about time you came around, too.
I was forwarded the link to the trailer for the upcoming Rocky Balboa. I admit: I got those goosebumps when I heard the trumpets at the start of "Gonna Fly Now." Although I choose to forget the existence of Rocky V, at least that rotten egg sets up the story for this (hopefully) final installment. Track the progress on the Balboa Blog.
Johnny Depp headlined a movie that grossed $132 million in 3 days? Sorry, but I just can't seem to get my head around this.