Letters From a Winning Loser

nhandy @ 2009-12-25T12:24:00

2009-12-25T17:24:33Z

Merry Christmas!

We had our usual Christmas Dinner: Fondue. Any holiday dinner where your grandparents can shout MAN DOWN! Is a winner in my book.

Speaking of books: I got bookshelves, bookends, Case Closed books(I have 1-16 now!,) and more books on Mythology and folklore. My favorite is Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide. I can't decide which one in the book is my favorite monster. Konaki Jiji Is a killer Cabbage Patch kid, but Tofu Kozo is a little kid that kills people by offering them blocks of delicious Tofu. Nurikabe is just plain awesome. Seriously. Ever laugh at someone who walked into a sliding glass door? That's what it does, it's just an invisable wall people walk into. You get it to go away by tickling it's feet. Vampires and Werewolves just suck in comparison to that.

I'm starting to record Let's Plays. Uploading them here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhilTheJanitak
I recorded a bunch while everyone was asleep and I had nothing else to do but was a complete doofus and remembered to hit the record button on the sound but not the video capture. :B I'll just record again.

And since I have some before Christmas Day stuff (And I've already shortenned my reading list quite a bit today.) I shall do that now!

Phil

P.S. Forgot to mention, I've started writing again. My brother gave me a lap desk to work on!

nhandy @ 2009-12-04T12:52:00

2009-12-04T17:52:32Z

Dear friends,

1: Why have they not made Mario Paint for the Wii yet?

2: Been helping around the house today. Found some bumps on the dog's back, where she's been itching, the other day so we took her to the vet. Turns out she had an allergic reaction to the shampoo they used when we took her to the groomer. She's got shots and antibiotics and she'll be getting baths at home now. Thank god that was all it was!

3: Everybody's been feeling down lately, so I'm amping up the POWER OF CHRISTMAS.

4: The power of Christmas compells you. Go hug somebody. Right now. Or buy some bubblewrap at the post office. Or piss off your enemies by singing christmas songs. Whatever the power of Christmas compells you to do.

5: The elf on the shelf is watching you. No seriously, I can see it in your webcam. Just act casual and throw a shoe at it or something. You can always tell people you saw a spider.

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-12-01T10:42:00

2009-12-01T15:42:16Z

Guys!

Guys!

Hey guys!

Guess what!?

WEMADE"the Elements of Style" ATWORKTODAY! 8 D
The holy grail of English Grammar,(A grammail, if you will.) The punctuation bible, the book every writing guide and professor I've had have said is the best guide to writting ever written...EVER!
AND.

WE.

MAKE IT!

WHERE I WORK!

...

I GOT TO TOUCH IT BEFORE IT JITS THE SHELVES!
(It's blue this time.)

I got to help set the machine up, but it was time to go home before I could work on it(dude,would'adoneitforfree!) but I did get to gaze longingly at it as I left!

My coworkers were shocked and terrified by my display of nerdage. (Most of them thought I was mute for the first three months I worked here. Plus, they are mostly into Nascar and fishing. They do not know the joys of book nerd nerdvana.)

In unrelated news: Velma from Scooby Doo sounds a lot like Fran from the Nanny.

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-11-26T11:23:00

2009-11-26T16:23:13Z

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
8D
For those of you who don't do Thanksgiving...
HAVE A NICE DAY!
8D

nhandy @ 2009-11-18T20:16:00

2009-11-19T01:16:19Z

Dear firends,

I got bookends like they have at the Library for my birthday.

...

83

I AM IN MY NERDY HAPPY PLACE! 8D

Also, random question: Can Aquaman talk to otters? How aquatic does an aquatic mammal have to be for it to count? (Work was boring last night.)

From the depths of the Dewey Decibal system,
Phil

Feels Like Christmas!

2009-11-04T13:28:22Z

Dear friends,

Giving mom her Christmas present early. She has really dry skin and everytime she tries to put lotion on, the dog licks it off her arms and legs as soon as she puts it on. The dog's got dry skin too, scratches herself so much she's breaking skin in some spots. So I bought a humidifier and set it up. Best one I could get on my budget. Mom's been complaining for years about how our old big one's broke. The one I got only holds a gallon, but anything bigger or better was $70.00! As it is, My Christmas budget's already gone as it is! I bought a big red bow for fifty cents (One that I can reuse!) and put it on the humidifier. I'll get mom a calendar so she'll have something to open on Chritmas.

He'd to hoping she like it.

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-10-26T20:30:00

2009-10-27T00:36:13Z

Work went great! I'm pretty much all better. Nose still needs to be blown slightly more often than normal and I have cough drops to deal with what's left of the sore throat. Slept well today, yesterday, not so much. Had a strange nightmare where a bunch of people I know were going to a friend's funeral, except that friend was alive and cracking jokes as we were talking about going? Very strange and surreal until it turned into a beach party.

The beach party is actually what worries me. That was just...so confusing.

Kowabunga.
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-10-25T21:06:00

2009-10-26T01:09:23Z

Back to work!!!

:D 8D :D

just need DayQuil and lots of cough drops to be safe.

|3

Ah, income, I will say I have missed you once it's time to pay bills. Let's never fight again!
<3

nhandy @ 2009-10-24T04:35:00

2009-10-24T08:45:11Z

The cough syrup everyone in my family keeps raving about? Yeah. Demulcifier. Broke up all the snot in me so I'd cough it out. Totally wasn't the problem, but what do I know. So the stuff I was taking to stop my cough was making me cough more.

So I've been sucking down cough drops like crazy until it wears offWHYDOESTHEMEDICINEIDON'TWANT12HOURANDTHESTUFFIWANT12SECONDS!?ASLFFFFFFSSSSS!

...

...Coughing made my abs hurt...

nhandy @ 2009-09-15T20:13:00

2009-09-16T00:38:58Z

Dear friends,

The Septic is finally getting replaced, so the yard is all torn up and things are crazy right now.

Got my Futon st up and I'm moving back next door into my old room at mom and dad's. Much more comfy than my bed in the basement, but it's warmer. :/ Can't win 'em all.

Nightmares went nuts last night. I kinow I should refer to them as Hallucinations but the people who settled the town had the same ones so I'll keep calling them that. Anyways, they went overboard.

First one I didn't mind. It was just a random bloody hand print on the collator. I was throwing on an insert at the back and it just randomly showed up on the line. (The slanted, polished metal surface with moving pegs that pushes the books into the binder.) It didn't startle me too much since I knew it wasn't real. I just unfocused my eyes and when they focused again the hand print was gone.

The second one startled me. The metal on the line looked like it was suddenly covered in red and green maggots. Just crawling all over the place like static on a TV screen. Normally I'll see that, but they're whatever color the thing they're squirming around on is. I tried the unfocusing trick, but all it did was lessen it, not get rid of it. They kept appearing and dissapearing like they were waves.

The third one scared the shit out of me. It's rare I see one or two in a day, let alone in a few hours, but three almost never happens. I looked up and a giant hand made of gray dust, about five feet from palm to fingertip, burst out of the wall, reaching for me, then dissapeared. Needless to say, I jumped about a foot, hit the stop button, and used the excuse that I'd missed a book to cover it up.

Fourth was random people that weren't real at the machines stored on the other side of Collator 3. Not really doing anything, just chilling.

The last two were on the way home. One of the trees had rattle snakes draped on all its branches, I just assumed it wasn't real since rattle snakes aren't THAT common around here. The last one was woman in a flourecent green shirt walking down the road in the other lane. She just dissapeared when I got closer.

The only one that really bothers me is the hand. I normally never see anything that aggressive. Anyways, with any luck they'll probably calm down for a while. Had 2 bad nightmares (The while you're sleeping kind) a few days ago. Worst case scenario, I'll just have to put up with it until November.

Trippin' balls
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-09-07T03:39:00

2009-09-07T08:42:09Z

Dear friends,

Making myself stay awake so I'll be on my normal schedule for work.

Dottie had me worried, I kept calling her but she just wouldn't come inside. It's really not like her. Turns out all that happened was she had mad a nest for herself in the honeysuckle at the corner of the house and fell asleep. She barked to be let in eventually.

Took the dock out, plumbing at the lake still has to be winterized.

Didn't give my brother the "I tried to tell you this was a bad idea but you just wouldn't listen" speech when the second clothes dryer he'd decided we HAD to have turned out to be gas instead of electric. I still have no idea why he thinks we needed two clothes dryers.

Got a voicemail from my friend Steve. He moved to China last month to teach English. He said they were desparate for teachers. It's a great opportunity, but I have a lot of questions to ask and even more to think about, so I've been a little down lately.

Pchatted with Tcarah, Fax, and Nelren, which was a lot of fun. I needed that and the Swrp. Feeling much better, just needed a little dose of silly.

Phil

P.S. Dangit. Now Tcarah's got me watching Trigun.
I hope you're happy young lady! >:W

nhandy @ 2009-08-25T20:45:00

2009-08-26T00:53:10Z

Dear friends,

Things have been busy lately and I just haven't found the time to post.

My friend Steve moved to China, overtime at work finally died down, we rescued 4 kittens who are adorable.
Got no sleep today, took the dog to a groomer to get a bath and her claws trimmed because I really didn't want to do it myself. She behaved herself until right at the end of the appointment when she got homesick and started crying.
Things have been normal lately, so home sweet home decided to prove it's still Silent Hill today. Guy that runs the apartments across the road lost his mind today. Stripped down to his underwear and started chasing cars. Everybody locked themselves in their homes and apartments. He was throwing rocks, screaming, one family came home from dinner and were trapped in their car. Mom was tired and I've got work soon, so neither of us wanted to deal with filing a police report. We called the building's owner and they took care of it.

The usual,
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-07-21T08:08:00

2009-07-21T12:26:53Z

Dear friends,

I suck at updating LJs.

Got a new computer, still learning how to use a PC again. I used to know how, I swear!

Stray cat had kittens in the roof. a few got stuck in the crawl space and died, others fell, did not land on feet, and died. (Piles of dead kittens are not something I enjoy waking up to!) One did survive. Black with gray stripes and blue eyes. Shouldn't get attatched, but his mother abandoned him before he was weaned, so we've been bottle feeding him. Adorable little guy. Mom calls him Buzz Saw because he's just a mass of claws climbing all over the bottle when we feed him. Loves people, lonely little guy.

My friend Steve is moving to China next month.

My friend Matt is getting married in October.

I'm happy for Matt, going to miss Steve even though we'll keep in contact through the internet, and a little jealous of both. Life feels a little stagnant, but I need to wait and save money so I can go back and finish school.

Debating sending LSSU a check so I can count as an official Alumni. Doing so will make it much easier to go back, plus it nets me medical insurance for after I leave where I work now. Major score is full Library access and how it'll make it easier to come back.

Have a "My Chinese Coach" for my DS. My friend Dane's wanted to learn Chinese for a while. Amy will do it if we all do it too. Even though we'd be on the other side of the world, I think it'd make Steve feel better. I'm already terrible at Spanish, French, and Japanese, Might as well just keep going until I'm bad at every language.

Busy as ever,
Phil

P.S.
Staying up late today so I can finall send out those book boxes.

nhandy @ 2009-07-12T07:23:00

2009-07-12T11:28:52Z

I think if I sneeze again I could use my eyes as projectile weapons.
Got two birthdays to go today on very little sleep, sneezing fit woke me up. Ache all over now, took some medicine.

One of the strays had kittens inside the roof of the garage. Mother is solid black and doesn't like people, kittens are back and grey tiger striped with blue-gray eyes and love people. We know this because we had to make sure they didn't have any broken legs when they started falling out of the roof.

It's raining kittens.

Phil

P.S.
I'll get those book boxes out eventually. Sleep's all screwed up since I keep having sneezing fits that wake me up. Maybe I'll get them out this week?

God I suck at that "organizing" stuff sometimes.

nhandy @ 2009-07-09T08:06:00

2009-07-09T12:10:59Z

I worked in press today.
With that worthless sack of shit that looks just like Baby Hewie.
I only did about 2 hours of actual work in an 8 hour night.
There were several bins of ruined sigs because Baby Hewie doesn't know what he's doing.
Currently in "I want to kill everyone and everything" mode.
Looking to cure that soon.
Buying a video capture card so I can use my compy as a tv (For PS2 and Wii) and record off of it.
Will buy computer once I know what kind of plugs the capture card needs.

Grr.
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-07-07T21:21:00

2009-07-08T01:28:03Z

Apartment is a no-go. Utilities and other hidden fees nailed me to much on every place. I still need to get away from my brother, so I'm going to help mom and dad clean out my old room so I can move back in. Carl mentioned to mom that my moving back in with them would be like a slap in the face to him. Good. He needs it. Maybe the self-centered son of a bitch will get his head out his ass.
Going to use the money I set aside for 1st month's rent and deposits to get a new computer for Let's Plays. Hopefully you guys'll see me posting to Youtube soon. Keeping my Mac for banking. One computer for play, and the laptop for work. This way none of my credit card and banking information will be on the one I play around on.

A little down today,
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-07-06T21:24:00

2009-07-07T01:30:49Z

Dear friends,

Way too much to write about.

4th of july was fun. Went to see fireworks at the lake, friends and family, 40 people came. 8 unexpected.

Onward to next step of getting an apartment! Setting up appointments to go and check out the apartments in person. All of the one's I'm looking at are a little out of my price range, but I can manage.

Have 2 book boxes to send out, should have them out sometime this week.

Busily,
Phil.

nhandy @ 2009-06-24T08:22:00

2009-06-24T12:33:33Z

Dear friends,

Today was pretty good. Started on binder 2 throwing a section on, then worked on a sit and spin on Binder 3, then threw on book blocks on binder 2. Sit down jobs for 2/3rds of the day, and a slow one for the end. Matt was the operator on 2. The guy has OCD really obviously and whenever you work with him you get an almost uncontrollable urge to shrove the pissy little bastard up the bailer tube. (Oh, the loud clunking noise it would make when he'd reach a sharp turn! <3) So yeah, today he was on his man-period. At the end of the day, when he was done running over pedestrians with his menstrualcycle, he was easy to work with though. Talked to Alex for most of the day, which was a little tiring but nice. Alex is a good guy, I'm just not used to talking much in real life.
Still having trouble finding an apartment I can afford. The dog is all wound up today. Barked and growled at a grocery bag that blew across the front yard. Nice to know she will scare the shit out of possible asphyxiation hazards.

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-22T19:04:00

2009-06-22T23:11:00Z

Dear friends,

Not much new to talk about. Still making calls and checking out apartments. We got a shock collar for the dog so she won't run into the road. She knows what it is though, the moment we put it on she's like a totally different dog. Tail between her legs, slinking all over, moves slowly and calmly. We hate even having it where she can see it. It's on the lowest possible setting, but we keep her in her normal collar as much as we can.
Air conditioners are in. That's nice.
Apparently it's comedic gold when I say thank you? (Don't ask.)

boringly,
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-15T07:45:00

2009-06-15T11:48:23Z

Dear friends,

Not much new going on. Didn't get to hang out with friends this weekend, we rescheduled to...This weekend I guess. God that looks confusing now that it's written out. Apartment will wait until I save up some more cash. Dad got called back to work, but we're not sure for how long.

Doing Ok,

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-13T03:29:00

2009-06-13T07:34:13Z

All of the apartments I've found within my price range are right next to pizza places and ice cream places.

...

I've got to make sure rent will be low enough for me to start up martial arts again. (I decided to stop when dad got laid off, just in case. He got called back, but we don't know what that'll mean in the long run yet.)

I'm still snickering at the fact that God's apparently trying to turn me into a marshmallow. This will be tricky.

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-11T09:41:00

2009-06-11T13:55:31Z

Ok, so my car has been getting kind of loud lately, so I planned on taking it to the repair shop tomorrow.

Then I hit a pot-hole on the way home from work and my car suddenly got MUCH louder and I could hear something dragging.

Got on the phone, called home, told family I needed someone to meet me at the repair shop.

Two blocks before the repair shop, I noticed a dark car behind me at the stop light. As I pulled away, I saw it was the police.

One and a half blocks before the repair shop, they pulled me over.

After the License and Registration thing, the cop said "Well sir, the reason I pulled you over was back on one of the side streets I noticed something was dragging."
"That's my muffler sir, I hit a pot hole on the way home from work and I'm heading to the repair shop right now."

So I didn't get a ticket.

After turning the corner and stopping at the stop sign, when I started to go there was a loud "CLUNK!" that half the town probably heard and my car limped into the repair shop's parking lot. The place wasn't open.

Dad came, we had breakfast at McDonald's, and then came back just as they opened.

They're having a slow week and we're repeat customers, so they decided to look at my car immediately.

They moved my car out the parking lot, the exhaust system stayed behind.

Seriously.

Only one part out the whole thing was still physically attached to my car when they pulled it into the garage. Luckily, the part that was still attached was the most expensive one.

At least the problem was easy to recognize.

$400 bucks to replace. The apartment is back on it's old schedule, but big whoop. I need that car so I can go to work.

And that was my day.

I'm going to bed now.

Nighty night..

Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-08T19:16:00

2009-06-08T23:27:50Z

Dear friends,

Feeling pretty good today. Work was easy, handwork all night. Just had to stay awake.
Mom and dad were both home when I came home after work, so we had a talk. Basically, I need to move out. Financially, staying here is a better idea and it'll help me save up faster so I can finish my education sooner. But, my non-financial needs are not being met here, and it's to the point where I can take the hit financially to meet those needs. (Long story (VERY long story) short, I can't live with my brother anymore.) I have no clue what I'm doing though, but I'm learning fast. I have at least another month, possibly two before moving will be financially possible, but that's ok. It gives me time to shop around.
Mom and I went to the bank and had breakfast. My credit card debt will be completely gone by the end of the month! I asked about my debit card and now I can make sure that debt WON'T come back! :> Now to save up for the move!
Mom had her usual and I had feta, tomato, and onion omelet. I payed. (I volunteered. Dad's laid off, so out of all of us I actually have the most in liquid assets.)

Looking forward,
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-03T17:24:00

2009-06-03T21:34:32Z

dear friends,

Had a good day. Work was busy, I filled pockets on binder 3. Started with 2, then 6 (That REALLY made me break a sweat!) then handwork, then the normal 4 pockets. Busy but not stressful.
Went to bed as soon as I got home. Asked carl to get the dog since I went to bed, so naturally, he forgot. Came and got her after I woke up and now she's starved for snuggles and tummy rubs and will not be ignored.
Been playing Spelunky on Carl's computer. GOD that game is addicting! I'm so terrible at it though, I die constantly, but I still have fun.
Got tons of laundry done and put away. Carl made a hideous pink cake that looks like something out of a Tim Burton flick. Huge dark gray spiral on the top. It was supposed to be chocolate frosting, but it didn't turn out. Could someone please beat some sense into my brother? It's ok to throw out some food if the recipe is a failure, you don't have to come up with some nightmarish frankenfood monster just so you don't throw out something that tastes shitty.
He hasn't done his dishes yet and I'm not doing them for him, so the kitchen is dead to me for now. Breakfast was chinese food since it's all gray and sort of rainy.

Yours,
Phil

nhandy @ 2009-06-02T08:12:00

2009-06-02T12:29:02Z

Dear friends,

Left early from work. Used my sick time to do it. Alan had me helping in press, which I don't mind, except that today it was completely pointless!

1.)We had more than enough work in our own department.

2.) The lazy bastard (But let me tell you how I really feel) I was assigned to didn't need the help. Most of the time he wasn't even AT the machine that HE was supposed to be RUNNING! He was just off chatting with people!

5.) The machine was going slow.

I mean: reeeeeeeeeaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyy sssssssssslllllllloooooooowwwwww.

He had more than enough time to do the job himself. I don't mind helping out, but this was two people doing one person's job just for the sake of being lazy. I could have been in my department actually getting work out.

4.)Press had more than enough people already. I was at T5, right next to the press office. There were at least three people in there at all times DOING NOTHING!

5.) He stopped the machine so he could step out for a cigarette break. We are a factory. We have a 10 minute coffee break, and a 20 minute lunch break. Random optional smoke breaks were eliminated during the 1970's recession because they raped our output and weren't fare to people who didn't smoke and didn't get to stop working whenever they felt like it. Now, we get fired for that shit.

6.) The extra half-hour spontaneously tacked onto the 10 minute coffee break. Seriously, I could have gone to handwork and sent out 8 boxes of the Scholastic job that's back there. Standing around waiting for that fat fuck was a waste of my time, and the company's money.

So, yeah. After 3 hours of failing to talk myself into staying all day, I couldn't take it anymore. Used my sicktime, went grocery shopping, folded socks, cleaned up the house a little, did some laundry, and I don't regret the decision at all.

Righteously indignant,
Phil