My beautiful 2003 Dodge Neon just hit 100,000 miles today!
This was my car last summer…
100,000 miles!
Got a close-up but it rolled to 100,001 miles!
100,000 miles before I even pay it off! The only car I have ever driven the entire 100,000 miles! It will be paid off next month and that makes me smile! 🙂
At one time, I bought piles of cd’s… both new and used. Going to the cd store was something I looked forward to. I could just look around and see what I could find in the stacks and in the used bin. Of course, this cd store was the Sunburst Records shop in Huntsville. Not only did I just enjoy the looking, but I enjoyed shooting the breeze with owner, Jay Ratts, for a while. It always seemed to be a buzz with people looking. But times have changed and the small shops are disappearing due to the big-box stores like Best Buy or Wal-Mart. Shopping for music in these stores just isn’t the same.
I bought my first Dream Theater and King’s X cd from the used bin at Sunburst Records. These became favorite bands. Also, if there was anything I wanted, I could always order and Jay would have it for me the next time I was in the store. I miss those days.
Many people have turned to digital downloads… but to me, these just aren’t the same as holding the cd (or in the older days, the vinyl record or the cassette). I always enjoyed laying down and listening to the music while I peruse the booklet that came with the music… reading the liner notes, looking at the pictures/artwork, and reading the lyrics along with the music.
I just can’t come to the “digital music” age as long as cd’s are still made (Hell, even vinyl records are still make from time to time…). And buying from the big-box stores isn’t fun. So, now, I just go when I know something I want is coming out. And hope that Best Buy even carries it. Sure, I could goto the mall to FYE but the prices tend to be too high.
So, while I continue to enjoy music everyday, the process of finding music has changed. And for me, not in a good way.
So far, this year I haven’t bought anything.
I do know that Opeth and King’s X have cd’s coming out. Perhaps Metallica, too.
It’s so much easier to find fault in others than to find fault in yourself. This applies to all aspects of our lives. I am now learning how to see my own faults and there are plenty.
Some say, “Mike, you are too hard on yourself.” And while that might be true to a certain extent, I feel like I am just being honest with myself. If I can’t be honest with myself, then who can I be honest with? So, I can say then that I might be “brutally honest with myself”… ???
I am a loner. That’s what I am. I keep to myself most of the time. I wear headphones at work to block out other people. I wear headphones at the gym to block out other people. I never say “hi” or “goodbye” except to whomever is working at the front desk. I only goto lunch with the same crew. If they can’t go or go somewhere I that I don’t like, I goto lunch by myself.
I like myself… In fact, I love myself. There is nobody else in this world I would rather be than myself (well, maybe Cash Warren… j/k!).
On MySpace I have 168 friends. 80 bands/musicians; 7 comedians; 3 podcasts; 1 Tv Show; 1 University; 15 internet/tv celebrities; 1 game console; 1 organization; 59 are friends. So, out of 168 “friends” 35% of them are friends…
I love my family and my friends… and yes, even those of you I don’t know well or even at all… but you did bother to ask to be my friend on MySpace and so, that includes you as well.
I have only a few close friends because I choose it to be that way. I believe in quality over quantity. I am not popular nor do I want to be.
I believe in order to make others happy, one must be happy themselves. This is where I fail.
When I go to a bar, I don’t float around and meet people, particularly girls. I lack self-confidence. I am not a good looking man, but I do clean up well. I just enjoy having a beer or two with my friends and then going home.
I am very close to my family. My mom, in particular, because I am the only child she had with my father and I am sure that I am a reminder of him. She has several health problems that requires her to take several pills at different times during the day. She is diabetic and has COPD for which she has to take 4 breathing treatments a day. All of this just to keep herself alive.
I have two brothers, both married and both had 2 daughters.
When I need to think or really concentrate, I need absolutely no distractions. No TV, no internet, no phone, and no music. I need it to be quiet. That goes for home and work. When I get stuck on a problem at work, off come the headphones, even though most of the people I sit around annoy me…. I can’t have the music on when I am trying to figure out a hard problem and most of the time I am too proud to ask for help. I would rather figure it out on my own or find resources on the internet before I ask. I have a relatively low skill set for being in “technology.”
I am not sure I want another “computer” job unless it were writing about technology, however, I live in the wrong part of the country for that. I would have to live in San Francisco or New York and I really have no desire to live in either particularly New York. Atlanta is small compared to NY.
I like the idea of Nerds on Site…
I am not a mean person or go out of my way to hurt people (particularly girls), but I have learned that I do it just the same. I think I lack that part of the brain (like Jim said in American Pie) or I lack real social skills. Possibly, a combination of both?
I am not an “idealist” but I am a “realist.”
I have learned that I am selfish and very self-centered; however I am not a bad person.
I am materialistic… at least when it comes to technology products. I won’t buy new cookware, but I will buy the latest tech products. Why? Because cookware, while important, doesn’t hold much interest with me, but the latest in HD technology… well, show me!
Much of this describes a part of me that most of you would have never known. If after reading this, you do not wish to be my friend any longer, please delete me but tell me first… I won’t go on some internet rampage but I will accept it.
but they can’t seem to master the simple task of parking a car…
This is just … SAD…
Keep in mind that these are not necessarily people on my floor and I don’t believe they are, but these are people who work for my company and this is in my company parking lot.
Thank goodness my cellphone camera isn’t all that great … at least this time because the tags are unreadable or else I’d have to make them unreadable…
This is how one of my poor pathway Santas looked:
How sad…
Looks too perfectly broken to be the wind, don’t ya think?
Ok, so this is a bit blurry, but it supposed to show the break as well.
Now, I don’t know if this is related, but…
Somebody abandoned a Kenny G cd in front of my house… and it’s still there cuz I don’t want to touch it! 🙂
The Santa is repairable, but I am not going to do it just now… just feel sorry for my Santa and his broken…. stake! 🙂