Well now...

I have had a hell of a week. Amy and I went looking for an apartment down in the Lehigh Valley and found a pretty nice place. Would you like to know where?

The town is called Weissport. Here are some stats on the town:

"According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²), of which, 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (18.75%) is water.

The town was a central hub during the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Canal era. The town served as the only boat building and repair facility along the Lehigh Canal. Today, the Lehigh Canal Park is a gem of nature and history for residents and visitors alike. The town is one of the cultural and historic resources along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.

Weissport is 2 miles northwest of Parryville and 1 mile southeast of Lehighton.

Weissport's elevation is 630 feet."

There is a little more about the town if you would like to click this blue text right here. The apartment building is what seems to be an old turn of the century hotel. And it sure looks that way.....but in a good way. The apartment is pretty bad ass. The only downside to the place is, it is that it is electric heat. so that is going to cost us a few extra pennies. But the rest of the utilities are included, so it should cost us about the same as it does to live here in Scranton.

The plus side is that there seems to be more job opportunities here for me. And we are a lot closer to the city. So Philly, look out! Amy and I are back in town (sort of). The game plan is to look for jobs in the city as well as in Portland. If we can get jobs inside the city we either want to buy a condo in the city, or a house right outside in the burbs. Either way, I am stoked to live there.

I was watching National Treasure a few weeks ago, and now I want to go to Philly in the summer to enjoy a nice day at some of the historic places, and then drink some really good beers.

Speaking of really good beers, We will be a little closer to one of my two all time favorite breweries. Troges! And I do think a visit to the brewery is a top priority once we move and get settled.

So now, where do I go from here. I make a few calls and get some things squared away. Then I call all of my utilities and get them transferred, or shut off. I am a little afraid to call my landlord and tell him I am moving because we did not get a lease to sign on the new place. The lady who runs the building is sweet and I do not see a problem, but I do not want to be homeless either. I also need to check on the Direct TV situation. I would really like to be able to have direct TV and not have to set up ab account with the local cable company. But then again I may get a nice package deal. I guess I could look into that now.

OK, I seem to be rambling on about nonsense. So I will go ahead and end this rant now.

That is all, carry on.

Cap and Gown Time!

OK not time, but maybe in a bit. But that means I have a plan.

My goal is to keep trying to get a state job. I have 6 or 7 exams scheduled for next January. And I am in the market for a few other fields. But here is the kicker. If I do not have a job by fall 2010, I am going back to school.

I am either going to go back to be an EMT.


Or to be a nurse.
I know I will make more money being a nurse, but it is faster and easier training to be an EMT. So take a little less salary but in school less time, so I would be working sooner and have to pay back less in loans. So that would make the initial cost cheaper. And as an EMT there are levels of training, each would increase my pay scale. And I want to do that! and I like to learn new things.

So those are my options for my life plan. Combine that with the best woman the earth has ever seen, and I think I am going to be OK. As long as Amy can deal with my cooking, of which I want to get better at. And now I will have time!

Well maybe. If I don't get a job right away and we move closer to her occupation, I will cook and bring dinner to her once a week. I do get lonely sitting at home when she is working. And I am only headed for day three of that.

There is yet another avenue to pursue! Cooking! I could be a chef! Though I know very little about food terms. But that is what Food Network is for! Well learning hot to cook and this:



Now that is entertainment. Well kind of. It would be better if the camera man filmed the ham being tossed.

Well Best of YouTube kind of sucks right now. This is the best video they got going for them right now.



Well that is all I got for you right now. Happy Turkey day. I'll be back Friday.

That is all carry on.

Tuesday Morning

Well it is 7:36 a.m. This is a first for me. Blogging this early in the morning that is. I figured, why not play some catch up while I am sitting here for 25 more minutes waiting to collect a paycheck for the next month and a half.

So I have my resume out there. To a lot of places and that number is goign to grow again today. I know you are all (especially Amy) are sick of hearing about this, but I am going to talk about a different side of this for a minute here. More about my "inner turmoil."

By that I mean how I am feeling on the inside. OK, I'll say it. Lets talk about our feelings. Mine are a great mix right now. Scared, excited, nervous, unsure, not really happy about being laid off, but I am happy I have Amy.

I keep going back and forth in my head about different things. Like should I compromise and find a $10 an hour job, just so I have a job. Should I hold out and find something that is in my field. Should I try a new carrier path.

Though I am scared I realize this is very early on in the job search, so by no means am I going to compromise.....just yet. Hell I only got the news a week ago! And I am still being working for a few more weeks, and I get 2 week severance pay. So I have income and benefits until the end ofthe year.

If something bad happens to me, I'll hit up the justice of the peace, get benefits under Amy's work becaue that will be a "qualifying event," then I am golden like Pony Boy Curtis.
Awww, that tough, tough hair.

Then again, I am Italian, I can always join the mob. They are hiring right? I guess I'll have to take a drive over to the Bada Bing and fill out an application. I am also Irish so I could always look into the IRA as well.

Side bar: IRA and Italian Americans please do not hunt me down and kill me. If you see fit I will turn in both my Italian and Irish membership cards.

I am also German, so I can always go play in the band Rammstein. There always seems to be a niche for hardcore German techno.

And if all else fail, I can join the circus. I mean I am an asshat, that has to be a qualifying skill to be a clown. I fall down a lot, and if you get me riled up I say some funny things.

Well my friends and followers, that magical hour is almost upon us. Ya that time I go to work and search the internets for a new job. Wish me luck, and remember, I am for hire! I do kids parties.

That is all, carry on.

Saturday UpDate!

*DISCLAIMER*
Warning, this video is amazing. So amazing you may shit your face.

For the subtle people out there. This is funny as hell as well, but you are a little less likely to shit your face. But only a little less likely.

To my Friends.

I would like to take a few minutes here to acknowledge my friends. I would like to say that I am truly lucky to have such great friends.

I know I only got the news that I have am being laid off a few days ago, but I am able to reply on this great network of people I have meet over the years. I have gotten into contact with some friends I haven't even seen in years, and they are more than willing to see what they can do for me. I ant you to know I will do the same for you all.

I guess college was good for something. Making some amazing friends! And Through a few of those friends I also got to meet Amy! And that above all else is the best thing that has eve happened to me in my life!


So to my friends, Thank You. I am out there looking for a job, and you all have my back. I am so appreciative for your help, and for being my friend. You are all:


This is for you friends!

Well now...

... mines as well go ahead and say this. I got laid off yesterday. My last day of employment is Dec. 18. I am looking for jobs in the the Lehighton/Allentown area. Amy is working down that way and there seems to be more jobs available. So it makes sense to move down that way. If you or some one you know has a lead on a job please let me know.

I am not really in the blogging mood today, as I am preparing my resume and looking for employment online. So please keep me posted if you know anything.

Thank you.

It's a beard friendly town

Yes DJ NFM (Nick) I am singling out you. You sir could not hack it with these pro's. Please go back WV, and get the hell out of NEPA. We do not want you or your terrible chicken wing tattoo. You can play music from your Mac Book some place else. I'll take a real DJ thank you.

Moving past that little outburst. This shit is crazy! The video is short, and you will shit your face when you see it!



Yes the beard championships are real. Here is a gallery of champions.



OK, I started this blog post a few hours ago. I have sense gotten news that both pissed me off and leveled me. Both income wise and my life plan. So this blog, is kind of done. It hap potential, and I was really excited about it. But outside circumstances killed it. Maybe tomorrow I will be in better spirits and can pick up where I left off.

That is all, carry on.

Must be Nice to Be Rich.....

.....and stupid. Saw this a few days ago. Got kind of tied up and forgot to blog about this sooner. So some rich guy was driving around in one of the most expensive cars known to man, and he drive it into a salt water marsh. Good thing he only paid in between 1.5-2.5 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE CAR!




There were a few other videos, but they got flagged and taken down. Buy oh! I found one. Hopefully this does not get taken down. Here is the car going into the marsh.



The man said there was a low flying pelican, so he swerved. I didn't see any birds at all. And yes, the car is totaled! Must be nice to be rich.

Moving on. There was another sight brought to my attention last week. Your Scene Sucks DOT Com.

It's kind of funny. If you scroll through the images I am sure you will find one or 10 that you have seen around. But oh wait! There's more! If you have $100 laying around you too can be made scene! The end product will cost you more, but you will at least have your deposit taken care of.

Or did you already find yourself on there? I blazed through them all, finding some similarities n my clothing to a few, but no description fit me. I am deeply saddened by this. I really want to know what "Scene" I fit into these days. The one the that was kind of close was this guy:
The Orgcore Punker. Minus the ability to grow a beard and the terrible band tattoos. Of which I have none. And I have been sentenced to wearing glasses for the next few months. But my glasses are thin metal frames that I have had sense high school and my punk rock days (though I always wore contacts).

Any way, enjoy running through some of the "Scene" kids. But remember, they use to be you.....or still are.

That is all, carry on.

We are GROWING!

We are making the Grant Clan larger! By two! As of last night my cousin Micheal is engaged to his fiance Carrie!

That makes two engagements in out family in as many weeks! Amy and I on Halloween (Saturday Oct. 31) and Mike and Carrie last night (Thursday Nov. 12). We do not fuck around in this Clan!

We love to drink and marry out sweethearts! Got a problem? Didn't think so.

So I am stoked for those two! It will be a hell of a Thanksgiving at the Grant house hold. I only hope Amy does not have to work on said day. He only has a week in at work, so she is the new girl and will probably get stuck working. But if she does, I hope it is her 3-11 shift, so she can get some dinner before she heads to work.

We eat dinner around 1 in this here family. This way Gram can see both of our Brides to be and their rings on the holiday.

I was thinking about blind people just now. People that were blind from birth, do they see images when they sleep? I found my answer. here it is:

"No, they wouldn't. Visual stimulus is necessary for the wiring of the brain centers that process and interpret vision. The way the brain works is to develop, early in life, a huge number of neural synapses (connection points between neurons that are used in cell-to-cell signalling). As you grow and learn, these synapses are pared away to make the brain function efficiently, and that's the central basis of long-term learning. However, if the brain or any part of it fails to get infromation from hard-wired inputs, then that part of the brain will atrophy (at best, fringe areas of a cortical region might be adopted by adjacent cortical regions for different processes). But the take-away message here is that the brain needs visual stimulus in order to devolp the cortical regions that process vision. In the use-it-or-lose-it sense, the brain will not waste energy building and maintaining processes that aren't used. The optical cortex would never know how to function as an optical cortex in a person born blind."

That is all, carry on.

The World is a Vampire

Sent to drain..... my sanity. Or fill me up with humor! Today I was again reminded why I need to carry a point and shoot camera at all times. I saw a sight that is burned into my retinas for at least the rest of the day. Let me describe the scene first.

Time 8:04 a.m. 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Moosic Street, Scranton PA. I am driving up Moosic St. Toward I 81 to head to work. I am in The Egg, stopped at a red traffic light. I am waiting to turn right, so I am in the farthest lane to the right (this is important because this puts me in the eye-contact zone).

Now the incident. It took place over about a minute to a minute and a half. I see a man running down the side of the road toward me. It looks as though he is a construction worker from far away, but there is no road work, or any construction in sight for that matter. That combined with the high rate of speed this man is running makes me scratch my brain and stair. OK, so at this point deductive reasoning tells me, this man is a runner. OK, that is established. On with it.

The man gets a red and is waiting for the car in front of me to make a right one red. He does and I pull forward and watch. The runner is wearing very short red shorts, a construction workers vest, not a runners vest. A Blaze Orange with yellow reflective tape vest. I know these vests, I sold them for 11 years to construction workers. He is also wearing a very very beat and worn old skull cap. All of this, fine and acceptable. The part that made me not look away is as fallows.

He was wearing a pair of leather palm gauntlet gloves! What the hell is that about! I saw them from across the street and said "What the fuck" out loud in my car. As the man ran past me, I could not look away. I made eye contact, then looked at his hands. He was also carrying one weight in each hand.

Now I know, he was just trying to keep warm. It was only 41 out after all. I myself grab and wear what is available to me when I am running in the winter, but gauntlet gloves! Come on now. This may only seem strange to me, because again, I sold these to working men for 11 years, but come on. There is something not right about this.

And here you go!


That is all, carry on.

How to Win!

The first step is to not play the game. Second step, buy yourself a treat with the money you didn't loose. Third step, enjoy your treat!






This is much more clear than The Underpants Gnomes idea.

So I want to get a few patches made that say "Meepers" or "The Meepers." I think jsut Meepers would be better. I think I will ask Amy's opinion after she gets up from her nap later.

Yes later, right now she is working. She is working in Palmerton at Palmerton Hospital. She started her new job today. Now she is the real bread winner in the family. Yes the family. Now that the parents know, I can mention this in an open forum.

Amy and I got engaged a little over a week ago. On Halloween to be exact. Though my romantic plan got ruined by mother nature, I still went through with it as planed. You see, Halloween 2 years ago is when we officially began dating. We had sort of dated in the past and we knew each other for years, but that was our "official" appearance a couple. Yes appearance. We went to Amber and Anthony's Halloween party. She was dressed as opposite Amy and I was Jeff circa 2002.

I know, I wasn't very creative, but I used my luchador mask the year before. Either way, we drank and had a good time. So this year I tried to do the same. The Bog was also working against me, but we pulled it through.

I think the two of us had a great night. And now the girl of my dreams, will be with me forever.

I am not sure I can more this blog post on after that, so I will keep it short and sweet today.

That is all, carry on.

Starbucks Allentown toll plaza. Vespa Poster. I think I may have taken this photo before. But who cares! It is a scooter!

Saw this on the street in Philly. Stock white ruckus. It was nice to see it. It was the first scooter I saw when we got into the city. Normally I see about 20 Vespas in the first 10 minutes, but that was not the case this weekend. First scooter I saw was a nice Ruckus. Later at about 9:30, Amy and I were on our way back to the car and we saw a fw scooters heading down the Parkway. Leanding the pack was a black Ruckus. Well it could have been a '09 Matte Grey, but it was dark out. Either way it was another Ruckus. First time I saw any in Philly. That made me happy.

T.G.I.I.A.S.

Winner of the WEEK!


Yes he did is Parkour trick. No he didn't do it with style. I say WIN!

Here is a slew of them. pretty funny stuff. One is pretty terrible. I saw the kid that falls from the roof earlier as a stand alone video. All I can say about that is, hope that kid is not dead and hopefully didn't break his back.



And one more for good measure.




OK, now for some sick Parkour.



This one is pretty long, but really really good.



This video yo should skim through, but watch the end. It is pretty dang funny.



That is all, carry on.

Really?

What the hell goes through this guys head? He sits there and thinks of the Knock Detecting Lock. Yes he mentions "What if mt neighbors hear m knock?" OK I'll change it. Well guess what, they heard that one to.

Another thing. First he says it it responds to absolute timing, then he states it responds to the tempo of the knock. Then he goes on to say that the knock could be fast or slow. Make up tour dang mind man!

OK, it is pretty flippin' cool, but in no way does the application of this work for a secure locking system. But this guys makes all sorts of things.


Moving on. Now this is something I can wrap my head around. He may be smashed, but he aint no idget!



Yup, he got it open! Took a few taps on the side of a building, but the cork was out. And if you don't mind a little foot in you wine, you are good to go.

OK. Amy and I are off to Philly on Saturday. We are going to see Body World and The Brain. It is at The Franklin Institute. I have never been to it, but Amy has. She tells me it is pretty bad ass. I only really ever say it on Casino Royal.

So I am excited to see this one. We are also going to hit up Dock Street and fill up my Growler with a tasty treat! Because we all know, I like tasty treats.

Speaking of these kinds of tasty treats, word came to me 2 weeks ago that I have a 500 plaque sitting in the office at Coopers! So we are going to try and have an unavailing of this master piece in three weeks. I should find out tonight if it is going to work out. So stay tuned for that.

OK back to this weekend! I am also going to try and stop back in Nodding Head for a quick pint if we are in the area, though I am not sure where the area is. I got a little turned around last time. But I have an excellent guide to the city....Amy!

And while we are there, we are going to stop at Bicycle Revolutions. I want to check out some Chrome bags. My R.E. Load has been giving my shoulder a work out. I was also tossing around the idea of a Bagaboo.

Bagaboo has an amazing bag design! Much like PAC Designs X-Strap.... OK, it is exactly the same thing, but cheaper! Yes it is much cheaper, the kicker, it is made in Budapest, Hungary! Not only a different country, but a different continent all together. Also to add insult to injury for PAC, the Euro is worth more than the Dollar, and USD is worth more than CAD. So why do you ask is the PAC bag over $100 more. I do not know!

With shipping from Hungry to the US it is roughly $255. The exchange rate fluctuates all day long. I have seen the bag for $249-$257 in the course of one day. It is kind of interesting to refresh the page ever few hours to see the dollar get weaker, then stronger, then weaker.

OK, back to Bagaboo. They make some really great stuff, and I was eyeballing them a while ago when I was looking into getting my R.E. Load. As you know I wanted to keep in in PA, which is why I went with R.E. Load. Or I would have gotten a PAC, Seagull or Bagaboo.

But with the Bagaboo having the X-Strap, that makes life easier. See I mostly commute on The Meepers, so I am always wearing a leather jacket. It is much much easier to get an over the head mess bag on then a backpack (which I am going to look at Saturday at Bicycle Revolutions). With the X-Strap, I get the easy on off of a mess bag, but the support of a backpack. Not only is the Bagaboo "Workhorse" much cheaper, it has better pockets!

I am a pocket fanatic. I like to have all sorts of pockets to separate my stuff. Things need to be organized, and I like a key clip and zipper pocket. All though most company charge this as an add on, Bagaboo is still cheaper. And you will see a lot less people with a Bagaboo bag, then a Chrome or R.E. Load.

OK, so around the Scranton area you will not see much of either Chrome or R.E. Load. In fact I only know of two kids with Chrome bags, one a Kremlin, and the other I think a Backbone, and one kid with a R.E. Load bag. I am sure there are much more with The U being in town, but I only rode with a few kids who rocked them.

OK, this is getting long and I am sure I lost you a long time ago. So here is where it ends for the day.

That is all, carry on.

Corporate American

Well now, I know you have been patently waiting for me to finish my next video, so I went ahead and did just that. So for all my fans, here you are!



Now wasn't that worth the wait? I know, I am pretty dang good. You wish you were me.


OK, OK. I know you really didn't care I was working on another video, but now you ave something to do for three and a half minutes. Now what greater gift could I give an idle mind? Oh wait.. what?

You were really looking forward to my video. Well that is fantastic! I will let you know I have plans for a few more. I need to work out what songs I want to use and how to execute them, but I am going to try and do one a month. Now I have some mountain bike video ideas, so don't be mad. I will probably make a fixed gear tour of Scranton. Both require me to make a new mount, but that will not be very hard or labor intensive at all.

OK on with it!

So I noticed that two of my post seem to be on the same day. My Social Distortion.... plays with pearl jam post and my ironic Happy Friday post. One was clearly posted a day before the other, and it is obvious I posted the Social D blog first, on Monday. But why does Blogger tell me my ironic Happy Friday post was also Monday. But I am sure it was Tuesday. To figure this out, I revert to Face Book and Tumbrl.

And yes both confirmed that Happy Friday was actually posted yesterday, Tuesday November 3. I guess this whole day light savings thing really hit Google hard. It's OK Google, I forgive you. I was just a little confused there for a minute.

Ok you probably know I hate Miller Light, but this is a great commercial.




That is all, carry on.

Happy Friday!

So I have desided today will be "Video Friday." Enjoy





Funny Hallway Stunt Fail - Watch more Funny Videos


Idiot Robbers Owned by Store Clerks - Watch more Epic Fails

That is all, carry on.

Social Distortion... plays with pearl jam....

Well as you may know, one of my all time favorite bands is Social Distortion. Mike Ness is just a down right bad ass! There is no topping this guy. Really, there is not. All those metal bands have nothing on Social Distortion. Then Fucking Perl Jam comes along and ruins one of my all time favorite songs. Chris was there and sent me some photos of Eddie Vedder playing "Ball and Chain" with Social D.

At first I was excited to see these photos (they will fallow the video) then today I saw a post on the Social Distortion blog with a link to the video. Now I am a little sad. Mike McCready is a pretty bad ass guitar player, Eddie Vedder is one of the biggest douchebags the world has ever seen. Sorry Chris.

OK, here is the video posted on the Social D blog:



OK, so it was a cell phone, and you can't hear shit, but the sight of Vedder makes me want to pet a puppy to calm down. OK here are the photos. One is only Social Distortion.

"Ball and Chain" with Vedder and McCready.

"Reach for the Sky" just Social Distortion.

OK, I need to see them next time they come around these parts. I am sad to say I have never seen them live. Something always happens, and I never make it there. Now I am going to make it a point to get there.

And here is your zen for the day, it
s pretty flippinf sweet.




OK, I have to finish a custom spot and give Canada a call. Yes I call the country and talk to the land mass from time to time. It calms me down.


That is all, carry on.