Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Random Crap

A few weeks ago I decided I didn't like how I signed my name. So I sat down with a pen and a pad of paper and started experimenting with new ways to do it. It took me a bit to do...you have to make it legible but at the same time you don't want it looking too textbook. Then there's the whole "how does it feel when I write it" factor that I had to consider. I finally managed to come up with a nice mix of the old style and enough new flair to appease myself. I've been signing it more or less the same way for a couple decades now so it's taking me a bit to get used to doing it differently. It does give me a sense of something "new" every time I pause and remember to use the new signature though.

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Went to the annual October Birthday Extravaganza at the parents' house this past weekend to celebrate my dad and sister's birthdays. Everything went fine and I had a good time; it was a typical birthday visit. My oldest nephew is in the midst of puberty and is changing dramatically every time I see him. It's cool to see the beginnings of what he's going to look like as an adult. You can definitely see my brother in his emerging face and body type, with some of his mother's features mixed in as well.

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I had supper on Monday night to celebrate Lisa's birthday. Her mother and older sister drove up from Florida to surprise her and she invited a few of us over for food. Her sister made her from-scratch sauce and meatballs served over mini-penne pasta with a nice salad and bread, and we ended the meal with Mark's homemade tiramisu. Everything was fantastic. We managed to work our way through at least 4 bottles of wine between the nine of us (not to mention the wine vinegar dip for the bread and salad and the wine & rum in the tiramisu) so things were getting a bit giggly by the end of the evening. I gained at least 5lbs, but it was all worth it.

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Had lunch today at a little hole-in-the-wall fast food Chinese restaurant near work called "New 1 China". The food is excellent and very reasonably priced. The fortune in my fortune cookie read: It's time to bring out your dreamy, loving side. I know it's just a random phrase in a cheap cookie, but considering the direction my thoughts have been heading lately it's creepily appropriate.

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Monday, October 8, 2007

Signs

It doesn't matter what they are.
It doesn't matter where you see them.
It doesn't matter.
Follow them.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Night Court

A little over a month ago I had the pleasure of being pulled over by a police officer on the way to work and given a ticket for driving with an expired license. As soon as he pulled in behind me I knew I was going to get a ticket for something but I had no idea it would be for my tag. I never received the renewal notice this year, so naturally I didn't think anything about it. I'm not harping on the cop at all; he was just doing his job and it really is something I should have noticed (it had expired 3 months before). I went later that day, paid the $28 to have it renewed, and have been waiting until this afternoon for my court date.

Now it's been almost 20 years since I was last in court (for a speeding ticket) but have they changed the rules at some point? I was expecting to go into the courthouse, find my name on the court roster telling me where to go, and then sit in court waiting for my name to be called. That's what I had to do last time and I while I wasn't eager to sit there for hours or be there at all, I was kind of looking forward to watching the court process and hearing about other people's cases before I was called on. Instead I get there and am immediately herded into a line of at least 50-75 people that stretches around the "lobby" and through the snack room. Through the course of chit chatting with the other degenerates like myself in line I found out that for most minor infractions like expired plates, speeding tickets, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, all you have to do is pay at the window and you're free to go. No sitting in the court room, no talking to a judge, just pay the city off and leave. There were lawyers standing near the front of the line helping people and instructing them where to go and what they would need to do before they made it to the window.

I understand how the courts should be reserved for bigger things and have no problem being able to get my ticket taken care of in 20-30 minutes instead of hours on end. All I had to do was show the lawyer my updated registration and I was free to go, I didn't even have to talk to anyone at the window. Hopefully that counts as "showing up for court" and I won't have the cops looking for me for failure to show.