June

I attended my 20 year High School reunion and didn't remember people or events. Which is why I keep this blog.

I realized one of my dreams!!!! To go to a thrift store and find a Guinness record book with me in it. I finally did that this past Friday. I was very happy.
I also bought a smaller (made in Canada!) rocking chair (well; glider) to read in.
And I got a new key for my van; a chisel.



My parents are here for a week and I love them a lot. I got a request to do a wedding over a year in advance. I was offered another trivia night (Sundays).

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I know it's Memorial Day, yet you get an entire weekend. Go figure.

What I've been up to:
- Knee is still bugging me. I got an MRI and apparently I have a tear or a bone chip. The drugs have really been knocking me out.
- My van (Ote) got stolen during my MRI. It got recovered less than a day later. They stole a really old exercise bike and my prescription meds, but left a bunch of stuff. Like my Maglite and Leatherman. Oh, and a really big dent in the side. They took the entire ignition. Since I paid so little on the van I had no insurance save for Liability. So now I start it with a 1" chisel. I actually like my van better now.
- I was a DJ for a Junior High School dance. I'll be honest, it was slightly scary. Small girls in a pack screaming is not for the faint of heart. For those of you who know me, you'll know my music sense is not that encompassing. So I probably confused the kids when I asked them 'Is that a fast song?'. I replayed songs (which they loved) and took my playlist from their suggestions (which they also loved). Even my bosses complimented on my gig. Interesting evening.
- Bacon on sale!

Kroeger has pre-cooked bacon on sale for $2 a pack. I am very tempted to go nuts on this.
- My Bexley house is still for rent. This is getting frustrating. I got a notice from Bexley saying I had to mow the back lawn (it is currently a jungle and home to at least one rabbit). That's what I'll be up to this weekend.
- The latest book I'm trying to read for book club is 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. I don't know that much about it. I think it's about a trial and race issues, but I'm not sure. It took me almost 40 pages into the book to realize it was being narrated by a female. I made it a point after I found out what book we were reading not to find out about the book.
- I've discovered flavoured water. You can buy these small packets that you put in water and it flavours it. On the one hand I don't feel very caveman-ish by having to add taste to water, but I seem to be drinking that more than pop, which I figure in the grand scheme of things is good.

Merry Month of May

This week:

I'm now hosting a quiz night every Wednesday.
I perform a wedding this Friday.
On Friday I'm also supposed to get a lease signed for one of my empty rental properties.
I'm supposed to go camping this weekend (even with my knee killing me).
I took an armed security guard course this past weekend.

Weee!

I bought a chair today and that made me very happy.



I've been struggling a bit this last while looking for a purpose but for some reason this Chair helped (he's called Chair by the way). I've broken every New Year's Resolution I've made so far this year but I bought Chair in order to read books for a book club.

I saw a great couple today to do their wedding. It went from a basic ceremony to something from the 80's. Awesome!

Traci took me out for dinner today to thank her for doing her taxes. Let's hope I don't get her audited.

I saw Jimmy yesterday (kid some people I know adopted). He's very cool. I don't tell him he's Guatemalan, and he doesn't tell me I'm Canadian, so we're both trying to fit into American society. Wish us luck!

Good Morning 2008

(Me and my dad. And some smiling guy.)

First post of 2008, and it's already Jan. 6th. Well, nobody reads these anyway, so who cares?

What I've been up to the past few days:

• Did an Art Piece
• Got Screwed by a Tenant

Let's do the happier one first. I wanted to start this post with "So I was drilling Barbies in my garage last night" but thought I would explain. I did an art piece for MadLab whose theme was "The Painted Surface". I don't know if my piece will make it in, but I gave it a shot. It involves, hmmmm, here's Jason's dilemma; I do consider myself an artist, but the piece I created could offend a lot of people. So I'll just say here it involves Barbie dolls with paint-filled tubes going in and out. Well, I like it.

My tenant moving out is actually related to the above. I gave one of my tenants a huge break because her live-in aunt died but she still couldn't come up with the rent money so she had to leave. I didn't want to do anything to provoke her so I stayed in my house a lot of the day so she wouldn't see me out and about (one of my houses is just down the road from me). While I was under self-imposed house arrest I did my art piece.

So now I am going to have an empty house a week before I leave for Europe (and Morocco) for a week. I'm going over in an hour for a final inspection. I still need to make a list of everything to check before she goes. My goal today is to get her and change the locks. And set up some timers with lights and put the furnace on a low temperature. A realtor is coming over today to look at it (I'm not panic selling, but merely seeing all my options) and I've already put it up on Craigslist and listed it for Section 8 housing (which I've been advised against but the rent paid by the government would be more than what I've been charging by quite a bit).

So I'm trying to sit down and read the paper this morning, which of course turned into me scanning my Forklift Operator's Certificate and Motorcycle Training card because I don't want to lose them.


I now have a folder called Jason - Education, in which I want to scan all my educational stuff so I don't lose them. Speaking of which, I find it funny my first 2008 post is about a 2007 course.


2008 Resolutions
1. Don't use Snooze Alarm
2. Eat Out Only Once A Week
3. American Citizenship

I have some other ones as well, but they're private. Eating out only once a week I have decided goes from Sunday to Saturday in order to let me cave in and get Waffle House Sunday morning if need be.

And I'm single again. A very cool girl of almost 4 months and I wound up not working out. Gentleman, there's an awesome lady out there somewhere in Columbus.

I think my van needs transmission fluid. Here's a hint boys and girls; check the level after the engine has been running for a while.

Okay, off to listen to the BBC, make a cup of tea, and get ready for a move out inspection.

What I Did Today

1. Left food for a cat
2. Looked for a Cowboy Gun
3. Put an offer on house
4. Bought Travel Books
5. Ignored my MBA Course

Left food for a cat
I saw a cat while I was at the local Chipotle and have been back there a few times trying to catch it and give it to a local owner who said she has someone who wants to adopt it. The closest I got was a few feet this past Sunday morning. I didn't see it this evening, but I left some cat food for it. I have a big spot in my heart for animals.

Looked for a Cowboy Gun
There is something called SASS which is a Cowboy Shooting society and I have decided that I want to give this a try and I want a .45 Caliber Ruger Vaquero with a 5 1/2" barrel.

Put an offer on a house
I put a lowball offer on a house in the University District. $18,000. I don't think they will take it, but considering the condition and the fact it is almost beside a train track, I thought I'd give it a try.

Bought Travel Books
My girlfriend and I are going to Europe in January for 9 days. Seems like a long time, right? Not the way I roll. I am hitting London, Glasgow, and a new country. Lots of flights. The plan is to go to Casablanca, Morocco, while staying a night in Spain. I visit one new country a year. And my rule is that I have to be in the country for at least a 24 hours continuous period. This will be my first trip to the African continent!!!

Ignored My MBA Course
I am in the final week of an MBA course, and I only have 1 assignment due. Which I'll do tomorrow. I want an MBA for two reasons. I have started it already and want to finish it, and my Dad has 2 Master's degrees, so I want to keep up with him.

My MB-eh Course

Yes, Jason is trying to get his MBA.
I shot this last week:



It's only 12 Meg. I have 2 classes left for this course, and then like 5 more 6 week classes. It's grueling.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm going camping for a day this weekend and am considering bringing a 2x4 furniture construction book and giving it a shot, or reading 'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Football'. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Why I am doing this post at 6:16am before I head into work on a Monday morning I don't know.

5 minutes later...

Here's a tip; don't try to post a video when you're in a hurry. Why is it still 'Processing Video'? Does it realize I need to get to work?