night from hell

OK so I just got home (4:20 am) from work. I got out at 12:40. At around 1:10, I was just merging onto I-15 when I thought "I can't wait to get home.....I'm starving!"

Then it got really frustrating, and probably expensive.

About a minute later, I am wondering "wait, why is my car vibrating?" Somewhere in between getting on the interstate and thinking of dinner, I blew my tire. Lovely! Now I am stuck in the breakdown lane of the busiest section of the busiest highway in Nevada. No prob, I will just call Allstate.....that's what I have roadside assistance for!

45 min wait. Fuck.

About an hour later, I get a call from the guy coming asking where on the highway I was, and if it is safe to change a tire there. Of course, I have no idea. It's as safe as its gonna be, I guess. It's about as safe as it sounds......changing a tire on the interstate. After telling him that I was in the safest possible place, I realized I wasn't telling this guy what he wanted to hear. Which is perfectly understandable, I guess. I just called him for assistance.....I'm not about to call him a pussy. So he says he will call a tow truck to bring me to a safer place where he "will take care of the rest". OK!

30 min later, I am still waiting, and now freezing. Let me put the heat on.

Car won't start. 90 minutes of having my hazard lights on KILLED MY MOTHERFUCKING BATTERY.

Now I call again (I was putting it off so as not to be impatient.....again I called THEM for assistance doing something any man should know how to do) to see whats taking so long and to say now I need a jump.

My earlier service call was somehow CANCELED. Presumably by the guy that called me. So another 10 min on the phone (with this dispatcher saying she has to find different service, which makes me think the first guy wanted NOTHING to do with me, and apparently that company wouldn't come out) and finally someone will be coming.....

Within 30-40 min.

Remember when I said I was really hungry earlier? I wasn't anymore. My body basically fed off itself.

Finally the world's greatest man came to help me and I am on my way.

But wait, this time with the "service engine soon" light on. Which wasn't there before. And my car was literally shaking on the way home, to the point where I was literally holding the dashboard to mute the sound. $14000 after buying it, I am holding it in one piece while driving it. Great. This on top of the $250 fine I got in the mail today because of my insurance.

Needless to say, I finally ended up home safe. Presumably much broker, but safe. And I now have to cancel my trip home in 2 weeks....I have a car to fix. Besides, the night couldn't have been that bad.....I am here drinking a beer and writing to noone in particular asthere is nobody to talk to. And the beer is being consumed so the night isn't a total waste.

Sitting there staring at Exit 40 for 3 hours gave me a lot of time to think, but unfortunately when you are in that situation, most thoughts aren't positive. Thoughts such as....."why the fuck did I buy a Saturn in the first place?!?!?!?"

And here's another one that isn't positive. I don't know why I wrote this, or who the hell is going to read this. As if everyone don't have their own problems.

I'll shut up now.

important things

I just got through watching Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Its a good show, but I admit my bias. Demetri Martin is a skinnyish, funny white guy with a big nose. This automatically puts him in my Hall of Fame. He joins Nomar Garciaparra in this select group of people that have had this honor bestowed upon them.

So congratulations to Demetri for scoring one for the good guys. Those of us in the thin and big nosed club are extremely proud of you.

rhode island

This sounds like a good time to talk about Rhode Island.

Everyone who is from there loves it. Some, like me, need to get away, but there is truly nowhere like it. It brings about a sense of pride that, in my opinion, is unmatched. I meet people from all over the place while living in the middle of nowhere, and nobody is ever like "WOO YEAHH MICHIGAN!!" and "god I can't WAIT to get back to Idaho!!" You might hear that about cities but even that is BS. Anyway, Rhode Islanders are very proud and, yep, most have a massive inferiority complex.

Because we are never ever mentioned anywhere, except for Family Guy, it doesn't take much to get us riled up. Any mention of the Ocean State on the news or anywhere else is enough to make everyone talk about that someone that mentioned us, and this becomes even more apparent the further away from RI you are. It doesn't even matter why RI was mentioned, but you can always count on everyone with RI roots yelling "hey Rhode Island!! I'm from there!"

In fact, it doesn't have to be a good reason. CNN can report something such as "last night a gang of rogue Nazis crashed a Jewish convention in East Greenwich, Rhode Island and opened fire, killing 5 and injuring 8 in the most horrific crime the world has ever seen." But instead of saying "OMG that's terrible!", everyone who grew up there will pipe up "OMG I'm from Rhode Island! I know East Greenwich - my cousin is from there! That's terrible!"

And God help us if they actually mention the name of the Rhode Island native who committed the dastardly act. "Holy shit you mean little Frankie Esposito raped and dismembered 9 girl scouts?!? I know that guy! My father's brother's neighbor grew up with his sister!! I can't believe he would do something like that!"

So anyway, these last few days we were able to bask in TV glory without the slaughter of the Jewish or dismemberment of children.

Instead, our college basketball teams won.
The Friars somehow beat the number one ranked team in the country, thus insuring my good mood for the rest of the night whenever I looked up at ESPN while at the bar and read "Providence upsets #1 Pitt". I was just as excited to see my favorite college team win a game like that as I was just seeing the word "Providence" on TV.

And I got a second helping tonight....even though I don't have a helpful pic like above. I was surprised to see the number one play on SportsCenter being a game winning layup for URI. The rest of the country is too busy wondering where on the planet this URI place is, but those of us with ties to there are smiling.

So that is 2 days in a row of Rhode Island on the national stage. See you for the next time I can talk about Rhode Island being on the news this much.....which will be in, oh, 28 years!

viva las vegas

Looks like I'm stuck here.

Next to nobody knows that I started this blog yet, but soon enough you will (and will hopefully come back :) ). And some of you will have heard me mention that I was leaving Las Vegas and finally moving to New York City. I had determined that I hated it here and UNLV wasn't worth it and I miss family and friends and all that shit blah blah etc etc.

Oh well.

Even though I am ridiculously impulsive, I have decided that I gotta stay. And you should know that this past weekend I was feeling down because I had realized that I can't move to NYC, and then having to do the unthinkable and move back with my parents in Rhode Island, to realizing I have to stay here. All that in a matter of, like, a day. Yep, that is impulsive, but I did the same thing when I moved here in the first place....

"Hey look at that, UC-Berkeley doesn't have a photo program, but UNLV does. Guess I'm moving to Vegas!!!"

That really happened, and my little quote didn't do it justice. UNLV might be CCRI with a little better reputation, but its the best school that will accept me at this point, considering I let my grades fall in the toilet because I have hated my life. And it will be cheap, considering there really is no reason why I should be paying out of state tuition at this point. I've been here 2 1/2 years. And after looking at the website of good ol' URI and RIC, I would be considered out of state there too.....and UNLV is still cheaper.

So it is time to start ignoring the bad and start focusing on the good that comes from living here. I won't be wasting time as an art major like I was before, a program I hated and had no business being in. I am into photojournalism, and the program here is suited for fine arts. I have never had the urge to take fashion photos, and I'm not gonna pay all this money to start now. So despite some of my friends inevitable urges, it is journalism school for me. And fortunately, the journalism program here is looking up and they even just built a brand sparkling new facility for it.

And besides, Las Vegas isn't so bad. I am guilty of the same thing most miserable people here do......blame Vegas. Sure, this place is full of some real fuckin weirdos, and those of us not into reality TV and dumbass celebrities and shit have a tough time. This is the only place in the world where I can make friends with a bartender by talking about how we have nothing in common with anyone and our social lives leave something to be desired. This recently happened. People here come and go so quick, and most people don't like it here, believe it or not. This makes forming relationships very tough, especially for the painfully shy such as myself. But this isn't Vegas's fault. I blame me.

So now it's time to remind myself of the things I do like about here. I am hours away from weekend trips to LA, SF, Salt Lake, and Phoenix. Nevada as a state isn't very smart, but there is nowhere else that you are as free. There is something trulyawesome about the way it looks at sunset. The little towns in the middle of nowhere, with a few gas stations and a Peppermill casino, are fascinating to me. The Peppermill Lounge on the strip. The liquor laws. My cheap ass rent. Downtown Vegas. In N Out Burger. The unique history, if that is a good way to put it. The few people that I do know. The people I would like to get to know more. The visitors from home.

So yep....buy the ticket, take the ride, buddy. Might as well go celebrate with a frosty Celebration Ale at Freakin Frog!!!

And besides, I dunno if I really wanted to leave in the first place.

a conundrum

Picture this.....

You need toilet paper.

You go to the grocery store, check out, then realize as you are leaving that you forgot to buy it. Do you then.....

- go back in for just that one item? And risk waiting in line for god knows how long whilst holding a single thing of TP?

or do you.....

- get lazy and leave for home and hope for the best until your next trip?

Decisions, decisions......

i love gambling

I had to work for the Super Bowl. I didn't care......I figured the game would suck. And for the most part, I was right. I did, however, take an early lunch and catch the last 8 minutes in the only place anyone should ever watch a Super Bowl.

A sports book in Vegas.

That was one of the best endings to a Super Bowl ever, and thankfully I was able to catch it with a bunch of degenerates thinking they were going to win cash. It sure looked that way, especially when everyone there lost their shit when Fitzgerald scored with 2 minutes left. People there LOST THEIR FUCKING MINDS. I couldn't care less about either team, but that was pretty goddamn cool.

I just like the weird atmosphere you get in these places. I was only down there for 10-15 minutes, but saw some guys practically crying, more jumping for joy more than they probably should, and another guy in a Steelers jersey plotting the demise of some guy who was taunting him. Oh, and some dummy next to me who kept hounding her husband to explain football. With 2 minutes left in the Super Bowl. Stay home next time, stupid.

The moral of the story? Gambling is good. So are lunch breaks.