It occured to me today that I don't have a cool hobby and perhaps that is why I am not rich and successful. This morning I met my friend at work to pickup his car and follow him down to San Diego so he could have some work done on it. So my day included lots of fun driving down and back up the coast. Which I actually enjoy as it gives me time to take in the scenery as well as ponder lifes many mysteries. I do my second best thinking while taking such leisurely drives. My best thinking however occurs in the shower.
But I am off track here. So as I am waiting at work for my friend to arrive I see these other two people meet up in the garage in separate cars. They both get out and grab golf bags and pile into a third guy's van. And I realized hey, I don't have some kind of scheduled hobby/sport/socializing event that gives my life meaning and structure. I thought about how lots of successful people have these organized lives and part of that is to set aside specific time for such types of activities. Obviously it isn't the activity itself that generates or contributes to the success, it is the general way that these people organize their lives.

Now I have always known this, and have missed teaching for that exact reason. I miss schedules and planning things ahead. That kind of organization makes it easier to be more efficient in the use of the little time we have here. And it also doesnt hurt to lose a golf game to your boss now and then.

I find it interesting and entertaining to listen to peoples thoughts and opinions, even when I don't agree with them. Hell sometimes that's more fun. Usually I just nod politely, utter a few comments they want to hear to reinforce their demented thoughts and let them walk away thinking what a nice agreeable chap I am and how they should invite me to the next meeting with the Grand Wizard or the Queen Alien. Some repair guy today came into our office to repair our fax machine and I helped him carry it's worn carcass out to his car. He found it necessary to mention that he was in the Army Reserves and might get called up soon. A prospect that I find sad and most certainly wish him the best of luck. He continued telling me that his unit specializes in something that only 3 other units do, he declined to mention what that was other than "oh we do lots of things, right now one unit is directing traffic in the desert in Iraq so convoys don't get lost." Hmm I thought to myself, a specialty in doing lots of things. I let that one go and let him continue telling me that he doesn't mind going there, he did two tours of duty in Vietnam, one in the first Gulf War and Bosnia. But more importantly because he hopes that Bush gets reelected so that they can finish the job otherwise some other president will change things and get this, "we will be the laughing stock of the world, because right now they know we mean business and no one else was going to step up and do anything."

Being the expert at deception that I am, I was able to hear all this without conveying my sense of shock and disbelief. Other than the fact that Bush plans to withdraw our major presence by the end of June, well before the election and thus making that point moot. He actually believes that what we did with Iraq was right and worth the dangers our troops face. And he must also believe that somehow in less than one year democracy will take root and flourish in Iraq.

He certainly isn't insane or anything like that, he just has an opinion and world view that is different than mine. And that is what I really got out of it, aside from being afraid that more people think like that. It is helpful to know what other people think even if it differs from what we think. We have to live and work with people who we may not like or trust or agree with, but it's that basic ability to get along and move past those things that keeps us from slipping into some chaotic barbarous state.

Well Kerry has emerged as the Democrat to run against Bush and now things will really heat up. I can't wait to see how this unfolds. A lot of this will depend upon the running mate Kerry chooses. More than likely it will have to be a more conservative Southern Democrat to counter the Northern Liberal charges against Kerry. They should do pretty well with the issues if their team sticks to the economy with a sprinkling of the rush to war with Iraq. Bush of course hopes that by turning Iraq back to the Iraqis by the end of June that will make Iraq a non-issue. However, considering how premature the turnover of power will be it is very likely to back-fire when the country slides into chaos. The gay marriage issue will eventually fade away as the Republicans realize it's not a major domestic concern. Now we are finally hearing about "out-sourcing" American jobs abroad. We watched this happen in the 70's and 80's with manufacturing and now it is happening with service and certain tech jobs. Granted we can adapt and develop new jobs for a new economy, but we also have to stem the tide of our jobs and industries leaving the country.
There will come a time when we will need to have goods manufactured in this country and the people to provide services to also reside here. We have become a victim of our own success. Yet many Americans still don't have the kind of prosperity one would expect we should have. Living in SoCal, I can't imagine that I can ever own a home here. Unless I move to the desert somewhere and commute 3 hours. And I refuse to live to work. It is bad enough we work to live. I can't imagine defining my existence by my job.

How is it that a giving someone a simple ride home can end up in an evening at a strip club? It's like Gilligan's Island, what should have been a short little trip ended up with a long stay on a tropical locale, in this case the Hawaii Theater. I should have been home with a heating pad on my shoulder instead of having a hot stripper on my lap. It was my second time there, my second time at any strip club as a paying customer. I don't like to frequent such places as I have in my younger days dated and was friends with quite a few strippers/dancers. So I have never had much interest in seeing or paying for that kind of entertainment. After getting to know some of them, and seeing how they play the game I see past the illusions that seem to enthrall so many guys. As such I have a difficult time enjoying the show. One of the dancers last night had what looked like a wedding ring on and I couldn't help but to keep noticing it.
Really the best thing about the place is that they play Rock music. Though some of the girls lack the energy or skill to perform to the music. One of the girls had a body that was just out of whack and not in good shape, but she had energy and knew how to dance and work the floor. Then some young teenish looking girl comes out and looks so awkward and stiff I felt bad for her. Another dancer kept looking around the room and watching what was going on at the bar or towards the dressing room as other girls came and went. Nothing worse than to watch someone who isn't into their performance, whether that is acting, music or in this case dancing.
Ok, so I obviously have a tough time just relaxing and enjoying it for what it is. But these are the twisted thoughts that run through my head. I can't watch them and think about sex with them or fall for the illusion and lust for them like I am supposed to.
It's like watching that movie where they show you how they make hot dogs. After that you really can't eat another hot dog knowing what you now know.

It's raining and it sounds so good. Right now I wish I was sitting in a beach house on some tropical island listening to the rain. I can even smell how clean the air is. I have always loved the rain and will never really understand why so many people look at it as a bad thing. The 'weathermen' on the news always say things like, "And tomorrow will be a better day, with sun and no more rain". Screw you buddy, the rain makes a better day. I remember having my annual pass to DisneyLand when I was a child and when it was overcast and there was a slight chance of sprinkling or drizzle, we used to go to DisneyLand and no one was there, you could run through the lines and go on rides over and over. Even to this day when it's cool, overcast and looks like it may drizzle, I call it DisneyLand Weather.
Sure it's no fun to drive in the rain, especially in SoCal, where people do one of two extremes. They either drive faster than what is safe, or they slow down to some kind of paranoid crawl in constant fear of their tires going into a slight puddle. Put both types of lame-ass drivers on the road and we have a nice pile-up.

Well I guess I wasn't too far off. I am glad that LOTR won so many Oscars. Though I think everyone did get LOTR fatigue and the whole thing became rather boring because of it. Nevertheless, it was a worthy movie series.

Well another fun week ahead for me. Work has been so crazy that my eye twitch has returned. It really must be work, because at home on the PC I don't have it. How sick is that, I have developed a nervous tick. And for what? A job.