Some cool things happened over the weekend. I picked up some more calorie-controlled tv dinners today, and saved some money thanks to a generous coupon donation by a lovely woman at Tops. Ya never know when things like that will happen. I was also happy to see my e-sister Digigurl all happy and smiles again. She was down last week because two guys turned her down for Homecoming. I have no idea what they were thinking but it's their loss. She met another guy at school who is apparently a nice guy but usually quiet, and was quite shocked when Digigurl asked him out to the dance. Apparently gorgeous women don't ask him out on a regular basis. Lucky him!

Hurray for the Bills! Throughout the game the announcers were praising Miami and talking about Miami's imminent victory... Only to eat crow 2 hours later as the Bills proceeded to squish the fish into a new form of seafood delicacy. The Bills that I've always known and loved came to the field and shined. Thank you!

Also had some fun with my nelf with Goob. We're at a point where plot is probably important. I'm still trying to figure out how to tie the in-game elements to our actual storyline. It's tough though because Goob's a huge drama queen. Seriously.

Finally, as an update for Monday, work was awesome! I had a few kinks to work out but all-in-all I got the handle on taking Time Warner calls and it looks like the transition will be mostly smooth. Not only that but my training team's addition to our current staff has put us into availability, making taking calls much easier!

So the Bills didn't win against the Patriots. A couple fourth-quarter penalties managed to suck the momentum out of them. I'm hoping that this is just 1st-game jitters and that the real Bills will show up from now on. The victory over the Patsies is imminent, if only delayed.

As for Time Warner training, it's going along rather smoothly. There's a few kinks that need to be worked out but on the whole I'm eager to start taking calls. When I side-jack(listen to a call alongside a current tech agent), I see a lot of over-troubleshooting. Most of our techs are very knowledgeable but the one thing we're learning in training is not to go to far in the help. It may make the customers happy, but it won't look good in terms of metrics.

I found out I had an additional 'personal day' from Time Warner, to use as I see fit. As it seems i still have 2 more days(by my count) or 7 days(by payroll's count) of vacation days left, I'm sure I'm safe to use it. So I did, on this Sunday. I really need a two-day weekend and I'm hoping to just relax.

Also, the current 'only-eat-tv-dinners' diet has hit some rocks, but I've gotten that straightened out. I know I've lost some weight, but how much I'm not sure. I've got a long way to go, and the way I'm doing is slow. It is very difficult waiting for results when I'm so used to having them right away. Oh well.

Go Bills!

Well today was my last day taking Adelphia calls. I have off tomorrow, and then I have a week of training, and after that I start taking calls for Time Warner customers, instead of Former-adelphia calls. Not looking forward to it, as supposedly a call that requires us to reset the password involves a great deal of process to make sure we don't have access to the final password the customer uses. It was much easier under Adelphia's Process and Procedure. Also, I've heard troubleshooting their security software is a pain the butt too. Oh well.

Speaking of tomorrow(Sunday) I'm finally going to go to church in Wyoming. That's the Town of Wyoming in Wyoming County, south of my hometown. I still send them my pledge money, but I haven't been there in months. I'll be fantastic. I should be home in time to watch the Bills play a decent game of football against the New England Pansies. I honestly don't know how well they'll do, but I'm hopeful. Ever the optimist as it were. Go Bills!

Past couple of days have been very cool. First off, birthday presents continue to roll in- my dad and step-mom send me $20 and a card, and my pastor also sent me a card. I'm definitely going to go to church this Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, I actually have it off. I've been selected for Time Warner training! Next week I'll get Sunday off, then work 5 days, and get Saturday off. After that I'm back on schedule. Go figure.

Yesterday was pretty fun. I'm really enjoying my Astronomy class. So far it's pretty simple as much of it I've already learned. I'm still nonetheless fascinated. I also got the hair chopped up with my standard 'football' cut. I love being able to go on walks and no sweat all the time. The rest of Thursday night was spent relaxing and enjoying my free time.

Today was certainly exceptional too. If any of you read my original blog on Livejournal.com, one of the first few posts was about a girl that I liked. Well we met up today because she wanted to take some pictures at the park. She mentioned that she's trying out for a modeling job, and as you can see, she's a lock. She also insisted on taking some pictures of me as well. While some of the pictures look goofy, most of them turned out pretty cool. The hat you're seeing is a true fedora made by the one and only Gary White, The Custom Hatter(whose website will soon be redesigned ).

Oh yeah here's another picture of the lovely friend of mine. Alas, she is taken.

Finally ended my glorious weekend with some Warcraft. I've been getting a lot of requests into raids. Apparently my reputation as a warrior in the game has gotten around. However, one of those raids ended in complete fiasco, so I decided to break and roll with Goob on our nelfs. It was a good end to a good weekend.

So it's my birthday. I've finally reached the ripe old age of 27. Or is that I'm only 27. Are these the best years of my life? Not yet at least. The past year has been fun but I'm sure it's going to get even better.

The day started like any other. I received some well-wishes from several friends the night before, especially the guys and gals at the SW City Forums, but it was today that was most exciting! When I woke up I received a great eCard from Amanda. She was the only one to send me a card, other than my employers, and they do that for everyone.

For birthdays, my Dad and stepmom takes us out to dinner. It happens to be much cheaper than holding a party and giving presents. This year I wanted to go to Happy Jacks. Happy Jacks is a fantastic Chinese restaurant right across the Canadian border. My family used to go there all the time after a camping trip in Canada. I thought it was only going to be my Dad and stepmom, but apparently my Aunt Wanda and Uncle Jim also joined us. I was surprised but quite happy, and glad to see my aunt and uncle again. My uncle was driving his new SUV-car thing. I'm not sure what it was but it was like a car, but roomy like an SUV. I think I like it

The conversation on the way to the border was interesting. It's tough to cover so many topics that you haven't gotten a chance to talk about when you've been away for a long time, but we hit upon a few good ones, like about death. My Dad made it known that he wanted us to "Roast me, toast me, send me away," and have a party at the end. I'm pretty much of the same idea.

We had no problems crossing the border, and getting to Happy Jacks was smooth. Man did it bring back memories. The waiter we had was hilarious and joined in our jokes and joviality. My Dad kept going on and on about some story about me eating the hot mustard when I was a kid, and one of the cooks' reactions as I gobbled it down. The story was very silly, and not quite as I remember it, but I let me Dad go on.

Oh the food was fantastic. Some of the items we swapped out because my Dad can't eat beef or pork, but nonetheless the food was awesome. The food was as great as I remembered it as a kid. Even the sweet-and-sour chicken was just like it was 17 years ago. We also had some sort of lo mien and chicken, Happy Rice(chicken and shrimp) and some spare ribs :9. I ate like a king. My Dad and I had a discussion about Evolution and Creationism and how the Creationists are using the term Intelligent Design to replace Evolution. I argued successfully that Creationism/Intelligent design have no place in a science class as they are not scientific, but are based on faith. I've learned to be a much better debater these days. I'm not quite a master debater but that's something to look forward to in the future.

I did make it clear to the waiter that I didn't want a birthday song, and to spare me the embarrassment, and he did. After paying the bill and tipping our fantastic waiter heavily, we read our fortunes from the cookie. The waiter didn't sing, but he did bring a slice of carrot cake over and my family sang Happy Birthday instead. I had no idea the significance of this until I was outside, getting into the car-SUV thing. Some guy who was leaving the restaurant at the same time shouted out, "Happy Birthday Brian!" I waved at him as he drove off with his family. I have no idea who he was but it was a nice gesture. It makes me thankful that I have so many nice people around me.

Driving home was fun as my uncle got a little lost, but we got him on the right track. It was awesome to see my family again, and makes me wish I didn't live so far. When I got home I did meet up with my Warcraft guildies and we tried to run an instance but it took too long to get anywhere. I really wanted to spend some time with Goob before he had to go to bed early. We played some Warcraft. It was a nice end to a awesome day.

So being 27 isn't so bad I guess. It's just one more notch on the board. I'm hoping to be a full-time teacher by the time I'm 30, so let this go down in the records: If I'm not teaching by 30, I'm either dead or I've found something I enjoy even more, whatever that could be.

I'd like to personally thank all my friends and family who wished me well. I've never felt so love and comforted in my life, and I know I'm on the right track. Again, Thank You.

Sorry for not updating. I kept putting it off, but I'll update some today and update again later.

The past couple days(weeks?) have been very blah. I've lost some momentum in terms of my exercise plan but I'm sticking to my food idea, I just gotta stop snacking on other foods and get used going hungry a little bit.

As for everything else, I'm settling into my new shift at work. Having Thursday and Friday off isn't too bad, but I'm starting school soon and I hope things work out. Even though I'm getting good sleep with my CPAP machine, I'm just hoping I don't doze while in class again. I'm hoping that those days are behind me and I can stay awake and pay attention for the class!

Next update: My birthday! w00t?

Things are going pretty good for me now. School is starting up in a week, work's been really smooth, and I did accept that job to build Gary's website.

But why am I surrounding myself with things to do? I don't want to have too much on my plate at one time, but it seems like I'm doing just that. School is starting but it looks like I'm only going to be able to take one class this semester. My employer isn't very flexible on this so I'll have to just work around it.

If I could afford to work part-time and go to school full-time I would... but alas I have bills to pay. Right now at work it's been rather quiet. There are fewer and fewer calls during the day so I have plenty of time to paint my Warhammer miniatures. I swear I enjoy painting more than playing the game.

Also, CSS looks pretty interesting, and I'm getting the hang of it. I'm hoping to build a static site for Gary. He doesn't want it all fancy or anything, so I won't have to use php or some crazy moonlanguage to build it.

I had my nephew over for the Friday/Saturday weekend. I picked him up after visiting the hat maker I mentioned before. We had a fun time, and in grand uncle fashion, I spoiled him rotten. First, we went out for chinese buffet. Then I let him play video games for the rest of the night while Goob and I played a little Warcraft. Goob was going to be gone for the whole weekend and my nephew had no problem with it.

I did let my nephew stay up until 3am and while he is 16 years old, this wasn't a great idea. The next day my nephew was tired because he woke up at his normal time of 8am. This didn't stop us from having fun though. We went to the local pool here in Lockport and that place is awesome. The pool itself is huge and has a 12' deep end. We spent several hours swimming and diving and all-around relaxing before heading back here to relax for a while. My nephew does enjoy Risk as much as I do so we set up a game. In un-uncle fashion though I beat the pants off him. I tried to explain to him the basic strategies and while he knew what I was saying, he wasn't sure how to implement them. We didn't have much time after that so we picked up a pizza and headed to the Drive-In.

Pirates of the Carribean was fantastic even the second time around and my nephew enjoyed it too. We had a blast and I still think Davey Jones is the best character in the movie. We were thinking about staying for the second movie, Cars, but we had both seen it and it was already midnight. We went back home, played another quick game of Risk, and then headed to sleep. I gave my nephew the hat I received from my grandfather(the hat maker put a patch on it) and also my set of magnetix. I knew he'd appreciate them both now that they are no longer useful to me. The hat is torn and it's too small for my head. I only hope my nephew takes good care of it, and only wears it for important events.

It was great having my nephew over, and I care for him deeply. I spoil him, I know, but it's the closest I have to kids of my own. I only hope he does the same to his nephews too.

I've got some good news all around. My plan on using the tv dinners to keep track of my carbohydrates is working very well. Supplimenting a few veggies during the day also helps keep me from feeling too hungry. I'm quite happy how it's working.

Also, a while back I took my grandfather's hat to a hat-maker here in Buffalo. Gary White, the owner and custom hatter, told me it was irrepairable and that a path wouldn't last very long. I got it into my mind to as him if he could replicate the hat itself. Over the next hour or so he explained to me the process, as well as the history of my grandfather's hat, and that he could replicate it perfectly. He told me the price, $350. At first I afraid of the price, but I realized that this hat would be an heirloom, and it was just like my grandather's hat. My grandma and aunt both commented how much I looked like my grandfather, and with the hat the resemblance was uncanny. I decided that I needed hat, and even though it was $350(equilavent to two bonuses at work), it was worth the price.

What I didn't realize how much I'd come to like the guy. Today I visited him to have my hat fitted. Out of curiosity, I asked him how much an Indiana Jones hat for my size would cost. He quoted $500, because it's style and the amount of material he would use. That pretty much took that out of my mind. After that though, he asked me what if I knew anyone who would spruce up his website. Many places quoted him quadruple-digit prices and he wasn't too happy. To him the webpage is not much more than an information site. He doesn't want anything fancy. I told him I knew a couple people, but I'm not too knowledgeable(I know html, but beyond that not much else). And he told me that if I did it, he'd make the Indiana hat and pay me to boot. I was shocked... and I wanted to accept... but I wasn't very confident of my skills at the time. I talked to him some more and told him I'll think about it and call him back. So the past several hours and talking to Goob about it, I believe I can do it. I know I can do it.

Wish me luck.

Speaking of today, I did get to Wegmans and purchased about a week and a half of tv dinners. They look yummy and I hope they work out for me. I've still got some extra food I want to clear out so if I don't start tomorrow I'll start Tuesday. Wish me luck!

Since Friday and Saturday are my days off for the foreseeable future, I've been trying to get as much done on Friday as I can so I can relax on Saturday. Doesn't always work out that way, but I do my best.

On Friday I visited my Dad and stepmom, and gave them some gifts I bought at the Wharf in Newport, RI. For my stepmom I bought a Rhode Island Red Rooster candle holder, with butterscotch candles. See, when my stepmom redecorated the kitchen, she mentioned that she liked roosters to my brother who was helping her. Soon enough, everyone was bringing in rooster-themed stuff for the kitchen and there were roosters everywhere in the kitchen. I learned that after I had given her the gift. My stepmom wasn't crazy about them, but just thought they were a nice thing. Oh well. For my Dad I bought him a bag of saltwater taffee, one of his favorite candies. At first I was going to get him a nice geode at the geological shop there at the Wharf, but I kept thinking of coming home and telling my Dad, "Hey Dad! I went to Rhode Island and I bought you this rock!" Needless to say, I think he liked the taffee better. While I was there I visited with my step-siblings and my sister. I also contributed to help get my brother Eric's bike out of hoc. It was his birthday so I had no problem chipping in.

I was planning on going out to the drive-in with my friend Kelly after getting home. When I arrived at her street I called the phone number she gave me and all I got was an answering machine. I didn't have her exact address so I didn't want to knock on some stranger's door. After driving around a bit and calling and honking, I gave up and drove home. I haven't gotten any word from her since. I don't know

Saturday I made the decision to try doing TV dinners to plan my meals. I didn't do much else about it, but I did get laundry done and played some Warcraft with Goob. After Goob went to bed I did some cleaning up around the house. It's not perfect but it's at least acceptable if I have some friends over(yeah like that ever happens :o). At least I got some good rest for the next day.

Am I exercising? Check.
Am I eating less than before? For the most part, check.
Am I eating healthy? I have no idea.

That's my current issue on the road to losing weight. Since Chicago I've managed to keep active and eat less, but I'm not very good at eating the right stuff. In fact, I'm not even sure I am eating less. I find myself buying food at McDonald's(which is a strict no-no) and not even realize what I've done until I've pulled out of the drive-thru. So I've talked to my step-mom about this and about easier ways to plan out meals and snacks. I asked about Nutrisystem and other programs that plan out your meals for you, and ship you the food. I wasn't too big on the cost($300 for a month of food with Nutrisystem) so my step-mom suggested Healthy Choice dinners. I'll end up spending more money on that than I would normally, but they're not as expensive as Nutrisystem. I think I'm going to start doing those instead of this random attempt at buying healthy food.

Mel Gibson is my favorite actor. From Mad Max to Lethal Weapon to Braveheart, and Payback. I think he's a great actor, and I thought The Passion of Christ was a movie that had to be made, and probably the only movie ever done right.

Recent events have had my torn. For those who haven't heard, Mel Gibson was arrested for DUI. Apparently in his drunken tirade Mel said some very defamitory words about Jews and as with most public figures, Mel was immediately criticized and ostracized. Some people say a drunk man says what a sober man thinks, and I'm not sure I believe that.

Mel did apologize at first but was criticized again saying it was half-hearted and weak. So he apologized again, and pleaded for help from the Jewish community. Are these the words of someone who hates Jews? I don't think so. I only hope he is as sincere as he sounds.

Well, I am no longer an Adelphia employee. I am currently now employed by the second largest cable communications company in the US- Time Warner. So far, it's a decent company, but right now we're in transition. I myself am currently taking care of Adelphia customers that do not realize they've been bought out by Time Warner, and it's been rather cool. The availability(agents waiting for a call to come in) is awesome and we no longer take calls from Florida, where hurricanes provide a constant need for troubleshooting. It's been downright calm for me and I find myself looking for stuff to do.

Besides playing on my Nintendo DS, I've been reading a great deal of Wikipedia, mainly the comic book events. I swear, the whole Crisis on Infinite Worlds thing is super insane. And then comes along the Infinite Crisis which is even more convoluded. This is worse than the whole Age Of Apocalypse thing that Marvel ran.

Oish, I have so much to catch up on.