This concludes the test....

Random photo from search for "August"

One post a day for the month of August.  I learned a lot...I learned that I'm not that interesting and that I would resort to a post about sponges to fill my requirement.  

In other news, they left me on a table to work overtime again, but then early on they learned that they didn't need me for very long.  The shift supervisor had to clock me out.  When the clock said "0.20 hours overtime for supervisor approval?"  He pushed "no".  I worked that overtime, but this chinsy company can't shell out the $1.97 that 0.20 time-and-a-half hours would have paid.

Chicken Korma

I made easy chicken korma.  It was good (and easy), but I would recommend a few things.  I didn't cut the chicken into small enough pieces.  The onions needed to be cooked well into the soft stage because there was water in the bottom of the dish when it was done.  Otherwise, it wasn't too spicy.  I think it would do well to add ginger, heavy cream and peas. 

I'm going to try this chicken korma recipe next.  It is also very easy.  It takes out some onion and adds tomatoes and adds ginger and heavy cream.  Hmmmm, sounds even better.  I'm going to add garam masala though...what is Indian food without it?

Or she'll drop a house on you too....errr scratch that, reverse it.

Over the past week, not one but two airplanes have crashed into homes in my general area.  The first one killed two people living inside their homes as well as the pilot.  The second one, mere blocks away from my house, killed only the pilot who was flying solo.

I'm on the verge of developing a new paranoia.

Let's talk about sponges

Thrilling, I know....but I really am useless with out them.  I also need the scrubby side or I'm lost when it comes to cleaning. 

I've recently learned that if they smell bad from mildew, you can put them in the microwave for 45 seconds and they come out fresh and bacteria free.  You have to put them in wet or they catch on fire.

I Seen Beyonce at Burger King

Catchy.  Who knew gay hip-hop would be campy?

Anatomy Class II ... again

OK, you may remember that I took Anatomy II before and I had to drop it do to a raging case of Hashimoto's Syndrome that is now under control.

Now, I'm taking it again, except this time I have the Dean of Math and Sciences teaching me.  I can completely understand everything she says unlike the Brazilian c*** I had before. 

That's my nickname for her.  Everyone around me is now used to me saying c***.  I have to use the most vicious name I can think of for her.  I don't use it lightly.  It is just the worst swear word I can think of.  I hate her.  She said students that blame her English for getting a bad grade just don't know the material.  What a c***!!!  She says that while her class had a 80% drop out rate and everyone else has a 10% drop out rate.  Her and her stupid lazy English.  She didn't even put in effort to improve.  On top of that she is overly obsessed with connective tissue...or as she calls it, "connet tissue".  I got a "B" when I took Anatomy I....a "B"...a blemish on my record.  It was looking so pretty before the c*** ruined everything.  I was so down when I had to take her for Anatomy II, but happy when I became deathly ill with a debilitating disease, thus dropping the class. 

OK, OK, I might be over-stating the sickness stuff.  As 

g_eats

 says, "You were just cold, tired and cranky all the time."

Anyway, my teacher now is awesome and I'm excited to learn.  I was dreading it because the Brazilian c*** had jaded me to education.

P.S. I am now prejudiced against Brazilians.  

Samosa Factory

Tonight we went to the Samosa Factory, which has the best Indian food in Las Vegas.  Ironically, their samosas are overpriced.  They are good, but not the best that I've ever had. 

We ordered a lot.  We had lamb samosas (I just can't go to a place that is called Samosa Factory without ordering samosas.  They know advertising, I guess.)  We also had Keema Matar, Naan, Lamb Korma, Lamb Biryani, and it came with plain basmati rice.  We love our lamb.  As we are eating, I had to exclaim, "This is so good!"  Then we didn't say anything for a while.  We just stuffed ourselves silly.

I just need to learn how to cook Indian food.  It's too expensive here otherwise. 

Salt Lake City had Indian restaurants coming out the wazoo and they always had cheap buffets for lunch.  It's sad that Salt Lake City has more culture than Las Vegas.  All we have is authentic chinese cuisine...too authentic.  Everything smells like moth balls and has chicken feet in it. 

Salt Lake City had the opera, ballet and symphony.  Las Vegas has boobies and all night deep-fried pub food. 

Dreams reflect life.

I had this dream that I was being held with other people against our wills, while being drugged.  It really wasn't against our will, we were "free" to leave at any time, but exits weren't apparent.  I confronted the head of this facility and demanded to leave.  They insisted that I needed to sign out and that we could have a signing party.  I said that there would be no signing party and charged outside.  I came across a sunny park, filled with children on playground equipment.  There also was a table full of playing cards, so I made a game of pitching the cards at the children.  The goal being to hit them.  The children also enjoyed the game.  (I didn't want you to think that I was just randomly throwing cards at victims.

In unrelated news, I was again forced to work overtime, without being asked, by being left on a game.  The graveyard dealers also refuse to give swing shift dealers a break unless they have been in an hour.  That means they come in and then immediately take a break and then give their graveyard friend who has been working 20 minutes a break. 

Evolution

Last night, I was with some friends on break at work.  The conversation turned to politics, something that I don't do.  Politics and friends don't mix.  We agreed to disagree and not talk politics.  Then one of my friends said that, "If we talk politics we will assume that we are extreme on a lot of issues like I'm religious..."

"And I'm atheist," I replied.

"Yeah, right," she replied.

"I am an atheist though.  I think getting your morals should come from within and relying on a book is weak."

She was shocked by this and said we shouldn't talk about religion either.  I agreed.  Then a third person said, "so, you believe that we came from monkeys."

"Yes, I do, but that really isn't a religious discussion.  It's a scientific theory.  You can be religious and still believe in evolution."

They both agreed that they do not believe in evolution.  I explained that if you look into it, evolution is rather convincing.  They assumed I was brainwashed.  I was going to go into the miracle of mitochondria and its significance to evolution, but I stopped myself.

I'M SO LAZY

I'm doing this post from my wii, because I don't want to get up. It takes forever!!

Wii Fit

I'm getting a Wii Fit.

It's about time too.  I've wanted one since they came out, but first I had to get a Wii.  Then they were always sold out of Wii Fits unless you went to some price gouging site or eBay.  That made me sick.  Jerks buying them all up so no one else could and then selling them at a 100% mark up.  Ah, the American Way.  I could not and will not take part in that (at least not in the buying way....hee hee...I'm a hypocrite).

I went through wii tracker and found it on sale at Best Buy.  It sold out in 30 minutes so I was lucky!!.  I should have bought more...more...more.  I get it next Monday probably.

I'm excited because now I can get nice gentle and fun exercise inside.  When I get home from work, it is too scary to go outside....before work, it is too hot.

g_eats

 has been riding his bike to and from work in 107 degree weather.  I don't know how he is not dead yet. 

Failure? You decide.

I consider this a post...ha ha ha.  In your face,

mkhobson

. 

I'm still going strong...August will be mine.

Бонд. Джеймс Бонд.

Британская контрразведка MI-5, занимающаяся, в том числе, борьбой с террором, обратилась к ведущей в стране организации сексуальных меньшинств с просьбой помочь в найме лиц нетрадиционной сексуальной ориентации, а также призывает своих сотрудников открыто говорить о своих предпочтениях

I give up

I give up on my post a day for a month.  Although technically this is a post and there is still a chance I will pull through.

Month of posting

OK, just for fun, I set a goal to post at least once a day for the month of August.  Some nights I dread it, some nights I have something I really want to post.  Tonight...is a dread night.  I had to work an hour of overtime.  They didn't even ask.  They just left me on the table.  That is exactly why I left the Luxor...that and because everyone there was miserable.

While working overtime, one the players and her husband got really mad when I realized they couldn't double down on the hand that they were trying to double down.  There are more circumstances than I care to get into because it is technical and not that interesting.  Long story short, they started yelling.  Left in a huff.  Got a shift supervisor.  Yelled some more within ear shot of me.  Ended up getting a free meal even though they were not in the right.  It was scary though.  I kept thinking that maybe they would lie and I would get written up, all while working when I shouldn't be because I wasn't asked.

They were a perfect example of the caliber of people that we have been getting lately...acting very entitled.  A trait I can not abide.

Pet Peeves du jour

"Git 'er done"


"Now that's what I'm talking about"


"Where you at?"


That last one becoming super popular because of Boost Mobile.  That's just what we need: improper English perpetuated in the mass media.  Especially when people are so up in arms about other people not speaking English at all. 

I'll tell ya why

I had a man at my table wearing a T-shirt that said "Why do I have to push '1' for English?"  This isn't the first time that I've heard someone complain about this particular horrible injustice and blatant abuse of their time and energy.  Sorry that people seeking the American dream are forcing you to move your finger 1/8".  It's really hard to be an English-speaking person nowadays.  We're just oppressed and persecuted.

I'll tell you why we have to push '1' for English. 

First, I'll address the question, "why don't they just learn English?"  Try learning a foreign language after you are 20 years old.  If you didn't learn another language when you are growing up there is a very strong chance that you will never learn a foreign language ever...in you lifetime.  At least not fluently because your brain wasn't trained that way when you were growing up.  I know... I taught English in Japan.  Also, while in Japan, I didn't learn Japanese in a day, so I needed some services in English.  Even if I was fairly comfortable with Japanese, I would prefer really important phone calls in my native tongue.  Otherwise, I wouldn't call at all.  In any case, since we get fresh immigrants all the time, there is always going to be large groups of people that are struggling with English.  There is a learning curve. 

Which leads us to why.  Businesses have learned that they increase their market by providing services in other languages.  In other words, it's pure capitalism.  The government has learned that they save money by not having to deal with corrections that occur because a person wasn't able to understand the English instructions.  That means that providing Spanish instructions makes more money and saves tax payer money, which is the opposite of what all the Limbaughs of the world are regurgitating. 

There is so much misinformation about Spanish in schools, it's sad.  I've heard things like, "they don't even learn students English in their schooling anymores.  It's all Spanish." and "if'n they are caught speaking the English, they get a tossed out of school."  Pleeez...If you aren't a student in school than you don't really know what is happening.  It reminds me of all the homophobes insisting that boys are forced to try sodomy in class because of the "gay agenda". 

As for making English the official language.  Knock your socks off.  Whatever makes you happy. 

What are we?  France?

Ride the Red Line

I don't like energy drinks.  I don't feel like they do anything but make me crash later.  Everyone at work has been drinking Red Line Energy Drinks.  They all swear by them. 

I decided to give them a go.  When I bought it, the cash register beeped to make sure that I was at least 18 years old.  The bottle is covered with warnings, including a warning to only drink half the first time.  I drank half and waited 45 minutes.  I felt nothing, so I finished the bottle.  I went to work and as I was sitting down before starting I realized that I felt like running.  It worked.  I find that I might feel like running about 2 hours after drinking for about half and hour and then after that I just feel awake.  The bad part is that it is thermogenic, so sometimes it makes me uncomfortably hot and sweaty....OK, so you find it in the diet section of Walmart or GNC.  Also, it seems to build up tolerance quite quickly, so I can't have the same effect day after day (That's probably good).

I did a search for Red Line energy drinks and the Internet is filled with horror stories and ER visits from first time users and energy drink enthusiasts. 

The Costco Diet

Greg and I are getting the majority of our groceries from Costco.  I know it sounds bad, but it turns out to be really good for us. 


Sure we originally did the major trips to Costco that ended in sticker shock and shame. 

Lately though, we just go for fresh fruit, vegetables, and cheese.  Then because we have so much fruit and vegetables that are bound to go bad, we eat them all the time.  It is so cheap.  You can get 5 heads of romaine lettuce for 2.99.  That's salads everyday for a week.  We are both eating healthier, cheaper, and losing weight.  We steer clear of the delicious baked goods section and load up on fresh cherries or grapes. 

We also pick up odds and ends like Shrimp Wonton Soup.  They cost less than $2.00 each when you buy six and they are incredible, especially when all you have to do is pop them in the microwave with a little water for 3 minutes.  At 150 calories each, they are a dieter's gourmet dream.  (Of course, they are tiny bowls.)

The Golden Greek

I've had horrible luck choosing restaurants lately.  Whenever I choose one, it always turns out to be over-priced crap.  I chose a mediterranean restaurant and it was just horribly bland.  Then I chose a pizza restaurant and even I hated the pizza...I never hate pizza.

Greg, on the other hand, has wonderful successes.  He chose this absolutely hideous looking Greek restaurant done in blue and white that had statues all over it: inside, outside and on top of.  We get there and it is huge, empty and even more hideous inside.  It's like someone went to a junk store and threw up as much "fancy" stuff they could as decoration, including a plastic, vase-like gold cup on each table.  The menu was printed on goldenrod and stapled in the upper left hand corner.  It was about 15 pages overflowing with typed descriptions with hand-writing all over it.  Sometimes the price was crossed out and another price was written above it.  Sometimes an item was written in or crossed out.  Each menu wasn't handwritten on, they xeroxed the handwriting, so each menu was identically marred with corrections.

They had items like "whole sheep's head - call two hours in advance".  I was a little wary of this menu, so I ordered a gyro....(I know, what a wimp.  I used to be so daring.) and an appetizer.  It was the best gyro I ever had and the appetizer was like an unbelievably delicious Greek samosa.  Whatever Greg ordered was good as well.  Greg was more adventurous than I, but I can't remember what he had.

The decorations grew on me, too.  Who am I to condemn decorating genius?

Portishead - Third

I got Portishead's third album, enthusiastically entitled "Third".  "Dummy", their incredible first album, was only expected to sell 10,000 copies, but many people credit it for starting a musical movement of sorts.  Their self-titled second album was such a disappointment that I was afraid to try this one.  I have only gotten through a few songs, but the sound is very rich and sad. 

The music is mournful, resonating deep, rich sound.  The singer's voice sounds almost strained and full of quiet desperation, the voice of someone who has been abused.  This is the music you listen to while the shower masks your tears as you try to wash away horrible regrets.  I had the distinct impression that this is what heroin addiction sounds like.  It has a feeling of slow ecstasy mixed with sadness and regret.  It is curling up snug on the couch with a precious bag of heroin, which was your reward for performing sex acts in front of coked-up business men a la "Requiem for a Dream".

It takes a amazing band to make someone, who has never done heroin, think that.  Perhaps that wasn't their intention.  I thought that may be the case until I heard the song, "the Rip": 

"Wild, white horses
They will take me away
And the tenderness I feel
Will send the dark underneath
Will I follow?"

It's a very simple song that ends in a slow Philip Glass-esque electronic orgasm.  Have a listen.  The video is OK, I suggest just listening and not watching:

Snapea Crisps

Thanks to mkhobson, I've been thinking about favorite snacks and here is one of mine:



They had them in Japan too...Same brand, different name.  Funny thing though was you got a lot more for a lot less in Japan.

Another Olympic opening ceremony destroyed by NBC

Every time, I get so mad at NBC.  Bob Costas can't keep his mouth shut so you can hear that the music or sounds.  I posted last time too when he talked the entire time Bjork was singing in Athens.  "Yes, Bob, we remember the dress she wore during the Oscars.  Please shut up!"  The camera shots were absolutely horrible.  They would do close-ups on faces when really grand intricate designs were being made by large numbers of people.  They would do far away shots when people were standing still. 

All in all, I just sat there yelling at the TV for Bob to shut the hell up and for them to zoom out.  I wish there was another feed for this other than stupid NBC.

Other than that, this was one amazing opening ceremony.  What I did see defied any expectations.  At times, I couldn't tell what I was looking at because it was too incredible.  The world's largest LCD screen unscrolling itself floored me.  The Olympic symbol made by lights suddenly lifting off of the floor was jaw dropping and only slightly ruined by Bob Costas saying, "As if by magic, the Olympic...blah..blah..blah".  The people running around the giant globe that appeared out of the floor was beautiful.  The lighted drums at the begining that was synchronized to whow the countdown was mind blowing.

Damn you NBC yet again!!!

I especially liked it when Bob Costas said "President Bush still talking to Vladamir Putin.  Perhaps about that opening drum number still."  Even when I equate for when the ceremonies actually took place, I think that they were most likely talking about Russia invading Georgia, which only makes Bob Costas look more like an idiot that can't keep his yap shut.

Europeans on vacation

I hate dealing to brides.  It's their special day and I'm the dealer that is going to ruin it for them.

I also hate dealing to Europeans.  Not because of who they are.  It's just that I know that the majority of them are on month long treks across the United States.  Europeans have seen more of America than Americans have.  They get so much vacation time...at least 20 days. 

The other day, I had some Europeans and I asked how much vacation time they got and they said the usual, "I'm taking 4 weeks off and that leaves me with only 2 more weeks off for the entire year."  Ewww I hate them.

So, I replied, "Oh really, after I worked here a year, I got 5 days off."  They are always shocked and bewildered. 

Then a Texan replied, "That's pretty good."  Only a Texan would say something so anti-worker.

I added, "Of course, with all of the mandatory overtime, I ended up working an extra day even with my five days off."

It makes me hideously angry and then they have the shorter work week which has been shown to be just as productive.

Counting shorter work weeks and longer vacations, the average European gets nine weeks (350 hours) more free time per year.

I got a wii.

Everyone has raved and raved to me about how great the wii is.  Then my parents went out and got one.  They raved about it too.  I could take it no longer.  I got a wii.  I had misgivings about getting another platform, because we haven't really played our playstation 2 for a very long time.

The wii is rather fun.  My shoulder is sore from playing the sports games.  We also got Mario Party 8 which requires no real effort....yay lazy!  I also like that you can turn it on from the remote, which seems odd for a game that is noted for making you get off your seat.

Desks...desks...desks...desks...desks

You know how you can repeat one word over and over again and it loses meaning.  I always find the word "desks" has an unusual enough sound to give such a result.  That is what my job is feeling like.  I keep doing the same thing over and over and it loses meaning and I'm left in an absurd moment, an existential bubble.  I get into auto-drive and I don't have to think to deal.  I just think to myself, "This is so absurd."  Then the fact that there is always a constant onslaught of people to play seems absurd.  Then the fact that people just repeat the same things over and over again becomes absurd.  I don't know how many times someone has called the cut card, the wild card.  How many times people have said that they have been at my table over an hour and still haven't seen a cocktail waitress and I know that they have only been their 10 minutes.  Do they really think I don't have a watch? 

It is like I'm in an absurd loop surrounded by bright lights.

College 101

In my Sociology 101 class, we post weekly responses to questions posed to us.  Once the question was, "Using the structural functional approach, describe the educational system in the United States."  Structural functional basically means that the way something is structured serves some function.  One person put that the educational system is divided into three parts: elementary, junior high, and high school, just as the government is divided into three parts: judicial, executive and legislative.  That was the whole gist of their response too.  That it was divided into three parts, which is not only not the point of the question, but it also denies the existence of higher education. 

A couple other students started to use the word "socialist" to mean someone who is very social.  As in, "With all of your many friends and acquaintances, I can see that you are quite the socialist."

Oftly?

I've just realized that I use the word, "oftly" which really isn't a word at all.  What I've been meaning to use is "awfully". 

It makes me feel oftly dumb that I've been doing that all my life.

Argh!

I'm feeling like I've taken every possible wrong turn in life. 

I'm taking Sociology 101 right now and it is a breeze when you've taken upper division Sociology classes.  It is very easy, but I've been reading the textbook,  because knowledge is power! 

I came across a statistic that states that the median income of a 4-year college degree is $60,000 a year....I'm nowhere near that, never have been and do not hope to see that amount soon.  I used to think that half of that was major.  Is the world passing my by?  What's going on?  That's a chunk of change!

I also managed to buy my house at exactly the wrong time.  It's like losing $80,000 in one year...yeah, that's right...an $80,000 mistake.

With my history of bad decisions, I wonder if anyone can tell me if I'm making the right decisions now?

A must* read!

*not


So, no one ever recommends good books to me...other than my mother and then only rarely.  Sometimes, she just suggests a book and then says that it wasn't very good.  Such mixed messages only confuse me though.  She did recommend "Poisonwood Bible" and that really was a great book, right up my alley.

Anyway, someone at work put out a bunch of books in the break room and put a sign that said, "free".  I took a couple...a sci-fi...a mystery...and this little gem, "Flood Tide" by Clive Cussler.  I thought a little adventure book, while not my normal fare, would be enjoyable.  I really didn't know anything about Clive Cussler books.  I didn't know that they all focus on ship wrecks underwater or underwater adventures.  That's fine.  I didn't know that the most description that he gives is about the specialty underwater equipment or procedures, which he does at length.

At one point in this 1997 book, a character is talking to the President of the United States about how the influx of illegal Chinese immigrants is actually part of a plot of the Chinese government to take over the United States.  They then discuss extreme military measures that the United States needs to take against immigration, which is, after all, a direct attack on the American people.

One of the lines of narration in the book actually says, "He heard the clanging sounds that the orientals call music in the room as he passed."

I have only read 100 pages of this book and I fear the romance that is going to ensue between the main character and the undercover Chinese CIA agent that he saved from the hands of evil human smugglers.  I think that I don't have enough testosterone for this book.

Something else odd about me

When I drive my car and listen to music, if the song ends right when I turn off the car, I get a thrill.  I feel like I've timed everything so well, that I was destined to arrive at my location.

Another pleasant man

A very large, drunk man was playing blackjack on the table next to mine.  For some reason, he began to bleed.  (This happens more often than you can imagine...I have no idea why).  He had a cut on his hand that appeared for unknown reasons after being on the table for half an hour.  Because of obvious health reasons we are not allowed to deal to someone with an open wound.  Makes sense, of course, they would get blood on the cards, the table, the chips...it's a haz-mat nightmare.  So, the dealer says that the man has to wash his hands.  The man took a couple of steps away from the table and poured water on them, having it pour over the carpet.  The dealer said that he still could not play.  Luckily, a security guard was nearby with a bandage.  The man put on the bandage and was handing the wrapper back to the guard.  The guard, following procedure, said that the man would have to throw that away himself.  The man than threw the paper on the floor.  The guard said that the man had to pick it up and throw it in the trash.
"You told me to fucking throw it away."
"That means in the garbage, not on the floor....pick it up."
"You told me to throw it the fuck away, so I did."
"The floor is not garbage.  You have to pick it up."
Another security guard joined in and unfortunately I was unable to hear the end of this argument as I was dealing cards myself. 
In any case, the man went back to the table and the bandage was not stopping the flow of blood.  The dealer said that he still could not play.  So, the man started to get irate and say that he could play if he "fucking wanted to".  Then the other players chimed in and said that they didn't want his blood all over the place.  The man got up from the table via security escort and he started yelling, "What did I do wrong...get Metro then!"  He yelled this several times and then as he was leaving he yelled "Whore!" about 7 times back at the table.  I don't know if he was referring to the dealer or one of the players.
I had actually noticed the man from my table before all of this happened.  I would have kicked him out when he started to call people "homos", but our floor supervisors tend to be on the skittish side.