Who Let The Dogs Out?

So I get sent to Richmond, Virginia for a two week training to prepare me for my new job. I've been here since the 19th. This morning I walked out of my hotel room and right into the middle of biggest news story of the day. I went down to the second floor where we have breakfast and start our training at 8 a.m. As I get down there another employee says, "Did you hear the rumor that Michael Vick is staying here? It's probably just an urban myth." I agreed, although I'm in a fairly nice hotel only three blocks from the Richmond courthouse.

At 9:30 I during a break in training I went up to my room to get something. As I camme out of my room an older gentleman in a suit exited the elevator in front of me and opened the door of the room next to mine. As he did so I heard the voice of an African-American man before the door closed. I went downstairs only to return a few minutes later after the wheels in my head started to turn. As I returned three men in suits exited the room next to mine and headed towards the elevator and I overheard one say, "Court should take about an hour." After this I observe a hotel employee talking on a walkie-talkie, using the phrase "Room____ is a VIP room for today." Now the light bulb went on over my head! I went downstairs and went back to my training.

About two hours later we got another break and as I exited the conference room a steady stream of men with cameras and microphones began to stream past towards the conference room across the hall from mine. So I got into the line. It was the Michael Vick press conference. As I walked to the line filing into the press conference I passed George Thorogood, the singer, talking to one of my co-workers. He was as curious as the rest of us. In addition to the press, spectators began to file into the hotel lobby. Some had religious shirts encouraging Michael Vick to repent. A family with young children came in carrying signs saying "We Love you" A co-worker of mine began to almost shout at the children, "You love him? How can you say that? He hung dogs!"

So me, Michael Vick, George Thorogood, and hordes of media were all here today. Needless to say, I had to answer a lot of questions about my blog.

An Unusual Post From Me

This post is unusual because I don't really have anything to say, but I just felt like rambling. I may be posting more often (hey, this is the third time in a month). I recently started a great new job and I'm in Richmond, VA for two weeks of training right now. The new job has markedly improved my mood and that might result in a little more regular posting, but I don't know if I'll ever be back to how I was before I tailed off about 6 months ago. Oh sure, I'll still make fun of stuff, but I don't know if I'll put the time and effort into my posts that I used to. Anyway, I just want to thank all of you that still stop by even when I post infrequently. Your comments always make me laugh my ass off.

Keep Your Feet on the Ground

Ok, it's official. I'm tired of hearing about how the Space Shuttle has a nick in it and everyone's concerned that it will explode upon re-entry. Yes, of course I'm concerned for the safety of the astronauts up there, but...the stress on them and everyone else could be prevented.

Let's say you have a car that you drive to and from work every day. If there was a chance that every time a little stone nicked it on your way to work your car might explode on your way home, wouldn't you get a new car? Also, if the outside of your car was made of some material that was injured by foam or ice, wouldn't you decide to have your next car made of a much more sturdy material?

The bottom line is that NASA needs to make some new shuttles. Then again, why the hell do we even need to be in outerspace? What can we possibly learn up there that is of use here? Sure, it's kind of cool to go to the moon and the space station, but really, can anyone think of anything that is useful in our daily lives that has resulted from a trip to outerspace? Essentialy NASA is a bunch of guys who like cool gadgets and are probably sitting around their offices saying, "Man, can you believe the goverment keeps giving us money? Sure, we brought back some cool rocks and pictures, but I do that every time I go to the beach too. I can't believe they didn't shut us down years ago!"

The Clown Whisperer

Yesterday started out normally enough and then I saw the first clown. Yes, I said the first clown. There is no circus in town. There was no parade yesterday. But there he was, in front of the guitar store waiting for a ride. He sat on the bench and carefully arranged his clown suitcase and his other clown accoutrements in front of him as he waited. I became self-conscious that he might notice me staring even though I was watching him in my rear view mirror. He appeared to look in my direction, right at my rear view mirror and into my soul. A chill crept across my heart. I looked down for a moment, fearful that he was returning my gaze and I'd suddenly be mesmerized by his piercing stare. Then when I looked up again he was gone. It was so sudden that I wasn't certain he'd ever been there. There was no car pulling away. No trail of endless brightly colored handkerchiefs as he walked away. Just nothing. He was...gone.

Later in the day I was driving home from running some errands and as I stopped at a traffic light I looked at the car turning left, crossing the intersection in front of me. What I saw looking back at me was unbelieveable. Two clowns in a car. Yep, only two. But they were clowns in full makeup looking at me as they passed. "WTF," I thought. And then they were gone, just like the other one.

Why? Why are all these clowns showing up? What is the meaning? Why are they following me? As far as omens go, this can't be a good one. Randomly seeing three clowns in one day with no circus or parade going on? That is effing weird.

Speaking of seeing clowns, I'm going to see a couple tonight as I head to Syracuse for my annual get together with The Golden Boys.