Thanks Bush Gardens

Busch Gardens came with the love. We waited in line to talk to the man about our little dalliance in irresponsibility. They said that they would replace my yearly passes for a mere five dollars and 30 cents each. This was for my own good, if there was no penalty for losing the passes, then what is to stop us from just disregarding them completely and just showing up all willy nilly and having them print out fresh passes everytime? Chaos would ensue. I know just where these passes are and will not make the same mistake twice. If I do I wont blog about it though, it will be my own secret shame.

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It's the consequences, and I feel lucky to be able to take my medicine and go on with our Rhino Rally riding selves. Still couldnt talk the boy into riding the Roller Coasters though. The other kid didnt want to ride on the log flume because she didnt want to get wet. I didn't want to ride the thing because the line was ridiculously long.

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Got a picture of them petting a snake, ate some 6 dollar theme park popcorn which is on a par with carnival popcorn, all salty yet tasty and absent extra butter like you find at the movies, Then we went shopping, and then to a fancy dinner. It was a good day.

Fun pass Horror

Looking all over for my Busch Garden Fun passes and really stressing about not being able to find them. Do you think Busch gardens has us in a database? I cannot be the first person to purchase 3 yearly fun passes, and then stupidly misplace them? If we show our identification cards wont they be able to pull us up in there computers and verify we paid for them and re-issue? or is there some fine print that says if you dont have them then you are a shitty ass Father? I would read the fine print right now if only I could find the things...

Jake DeSantis telling it like it is

Brian from Mpls wrote a post on the AIG Bonus payments and He and I would appear to be on the same page. http://brianinmpls.blogspot.com/2009/03/pay-them-now-or-pay-more-later.html He has the same general beliefs on this issue as I do. We believe this is a prudent use of this money and it is necessary. I saw that post and commented on it, but did not intend to write a post of my own about it. Until today.

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Today, I read a resignation letter written by Jake De Santis, directed to the CEO of the company, Mr. Edward Liddy, and it perfectly nails it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?_r=1

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Those Bonuses should probably not have been called "bonuses" that is the first trigger that gets the underwear of the masses all botched up in their asses. If they would have just called it: "Deferred compensation" I think they would be much better off now, but hindsight is 20/20, and Language is very powerful.

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They probably should have also included a clause in the contracts that this "deferred compensation" is not payable to anyone who resigned prior to the date of the payout.

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Having said that: the way congress, the majority of the media and the general masses are jumping all over this, its like a feeding frenzy. It reminds me of McCarthyism and in fact, the AG of NYC mentioned a "black list" which is absolutely freaking unbelievable. (he used a different word though He just called it "releasing the names" which was smart on his part)

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Mr. DeSantis sent his letter to the NY TIMES and people commented out their asses about it. They were either in support of him or they ridiculed him. Those that mocked him seemed to be mostly angry because of the AMOUNT he got paid. Its not a witch hunt, it's a RICH hunt. below are some of those comments:

Here is a comment made by Heather in Albany, Ca:

If the company is essentially bankrupt because of the actions of a select few (which in itself is hard to believe), it only makes sense that everyone in the company suffers-- the company rises and falls together. A 700,000+ bonus? What world does he live in? (Not my world, that's for sure). He admits that he has overpaid for years and that he won't feel the devastating impacts of this financial recession. Yet, still, he wants our sympathy? Like an indulgent child.... get over yourself.
— Heather, Albany, CA

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Notice how her anger is focused on the fact that SHE doesn't make 700k in a year. Heather, maybe you should "get over yourself"

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Here is a quote from a guy named Cleo.

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OK, Jake, I'm going to say it again: NOBODY deserves to be paid $700,000 for a year's work. It's an obscenely huge amount of money that can have no relationship to the work actually done. Even if you had worked 24-7 it would be too much. The only reason you and your ilk have been able to lay claim to that much loot has been that you all were smart enough to rig the game in your favor and elect your henchmen to political office while hoodwinking a gullible public into believing they too would profit by the game. The game is over now, and the reasoning supporting excessive compensation has been exposed as a lie. You guys weren't the best and the brightest, you were failures, cheats; you are not a rare commodity, you are a in fact a dime a dozen; and you can easily be replaced by people who will do an honest days work for honest pay. So slink off to whatever chateau you acquired with your ill-gotten gains, lock the gates and sulk. We are happy to get rid of you.
— Cleo, San Francisco, CA

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Good thing we have "Cleo from San Francisco, CA on the case. He knows what the value of work is and evidently what the market will pay has nothing to do with supply and demand and skill or talent. PEOPLE can "easily be replaced" per Cleo -- if we ever need a complete moron then voila we have our replacement and his name is "CLEO"

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Here is a comment from AB in Boston:

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Mr. De Santis,You forgot to mention a little detail: AIG didn't pay your $700,000 bonus. We taxpayers did. You may feel relieved and honorable in donating that money to charity, but that's my money you're giving away, and that is one more transaction of yours (and your company's) that I did not approve. In fact, I'd rather have my money going to save the US economy than to some other cause of your choosing.If your company is sinking, even if out of no fault of your own, you should be sinking too. Life's unfair--just ask those who have lost their jobs or their homes thanks to your colleagues.
— AB, Boston, MA

-AB has so much bitterness and he gets his arguments mixed up. It is a valid question if our government was right or wrong in making the decision to bail AIG out financially. I can argue that either way, but the fact is The government DID bail them out and part of that bailout would have to include compensating the people that have the skill and ability to fix it. He is in effect arguing that we should pay a doctor to operate on a patient but not allow him the use of a scalpel or other tools that the doctor needs to do the operation. just a ridiculous argument

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I did not comment in the NY TIMES article but I will comment here now:

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Bravo Mr. DeSantis, BRAVO. and good luck to you and your family

Bill from Gainesville

Brand Loyalty

A couple of hard days at work for the Billster. Now I need to buy some more Golf Balls.
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I purposely buy Nike golf balls. Not because I think they are better then any other brand or the way they are made will help me hit them further, or roll them truer, but because It makes me feel all TIGER LIKE -- You know, Him and I, we hang with the same brand of Golf Balls.

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So Yes Nike, Your endorsement deal with Mr. Woods has brought you brand Loyalty from this one customer. I probably buy $50 worth of Nike Golf Balls a year because I associate your brand with Tiger and I find it amazing to watch that dude Golf.

Golfing for a living

Just to clarify. I have to go to work tomorrow, On Monday, and after some stuff that has to go on in the morning I then have to go and play GOLF. Then eat a fancy dinner and stuff. So tomorrow is going to be all about working. Its GOLF but its important GOLF. The type of GOLF you play when you could be working. Its the kind of GOLF that when you talk about it in your blog you spell it with all capital letters.
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Then on Tuesday, its like washing your hair. You have to do it all over again. You know wash, rinse, repeat only it will be Talk about some stuff in the morning, Golf in the afternoon and then Go to a fancy dinner in the afternoon. My hair will certainly be sparkly and full of body, metaphoraly speaking I will Become a duke, or a prince or whatever metaphor you want to use and then play GOLF. The kind of GOLF in which you are still earning a paycheck for working but at the same time you are Hitting GOLF Balls. Like its your fucking JOB, cause you know what IT IS MY JOB. .

more thoughts on drinking

If you drink beer, or margaritas, or say there is some kind of shot called an Irish Monkey and you drank. like, three of those.... are you really drinking the yeast and hops or the milk and banana juice, or the tiple sec? what the hell is triple sec? (an Irish monkey evidently does not have any bananas in it but it is clearly a banananeeeee type of taste. )

Clarification on the drinking business

Not water. there will still be lots of water drinking going on around here on account of that being the best thing you can do for yourself when you previously drank a bunch of beverages that include alcohol as part of the ingredients.

Tomorrow will be different.

Tomorrow is a relatively big day. Some shit is going to go down tomorrow, and after its all over It will be like when a prince marries a princess. Tomorrow some shit is going to get all official like.
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Tomorrow will entail me earning a paycheck. which is like many Mondays, except tomorrow will involve Golfing, and princehood. It will also involve some stress
even though the outcome is guranteed the ritual of it all will be enough. Enough that I will have to quit drinking early tonight.

A Cartoon from a child who's parents recently went through a divorce

This Cartoon was sent to me by a friend via E-mail. I do not know the actual source. I am adding it to my blog as a post for a couple of reasons.

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1) I think it is HILLARIOUS.

2) I cannot think of anything to write about, not that I dont have lots of stuff I COULD write about, but with the self censoring I do, I know that although I could rip off some funny shit about various situations I find myself in currently, I choose not to. That is just how I roll.

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Bill contemplates donations

The ad says YOU COULD WIN THIS CAR FOR $99
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This is the 2008 Ferrari F430 Spider, and I am no economist or anything, but Pretty sure its worth more then 99 bucks.





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The ad says that they are going to sell 7000 tickets at 99 dollars a pop and if your ticket is drawn you do have to pay the taxes. ----- So I logged in to the website: www.MajesticRegistry.org and found out that the raffle has either been cancelled or postponed.
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So really, I CANNOT win this car for $99 after all, but it made me think.

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1) I was Going to do it--- Then I thought to myself where would I get the money to pay the taxes, then I remembered I wont really have to worry about that because I wont win, and besides, if it was something I couldn't handle (the taxes) I could still sell the car to pay the taxes and pocket the difference, but I wont win anyways so I might as well do it... How is that for logic
2) I did not really believe that I was going to be the lucky person out of 7000 people -- I get that: a 1/7000 chance is very slim, but I rationalized to myself that it's for a good cause (the raffle money goes to help children with Cancer and blood diseases)

3) Why don't I just send them 99 bucks anyways even though the raffle has been canceled?

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Maybe I will? - I will call the number tomorrow and maybe post about it later . Because what kind of a "darkened soul," would you have to have if you WANTED children to have to deal with cancer and blood diseases and the ickiness that goes with all that?

PETS are NOT allowed, OR are they?

I think this is a double negative. I believe if they just had the word "Pets" and then the circle thingy over that with a line through it, then that would mean "No Pets" In this case however the sign says "No Pets allowed" and then they have the circle thingy with the line through it which I do believe makes it a double negative. This is actually an invitation to bring pets.

I dont think a mascot is a pet, but it is a Gator and I am sure some crazy drug lord has a pet Gator, and Auburn treated us like a Dog in slashing the big dance dreams of the Gator Nation.

Is it me or is that an official Arena employee giving Albert the business about No pets being allowed?

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Also this has nothing to do with anything about pets, and whether they are allowed or not allowed, but this field of ICE was here in the same spot that the wood plank floor was at later. Its a Multidimensional arena and I hear that if the ARENA football league makes a comeback that the STORM also play here.

This is a picture of Billy Donovan at work. Standing on the Plank Floor that used to be ICE, wishing he would have taken the Magic Job....

A Chuck Klosterman quote

"There are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you’ll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there’s still one more tier to all this; there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of these loveable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they’re often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really, want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone"

Chuck Klosterman wrote that

More thoughts about defining yourself

If you have defined yourself and are unhappy about that definition then maybe before you give up on yourself you should look at how you are. Maybe you are a perennially competitive team that constantly goes 9 and 7. Sure you can be disappointed that you only occasionally make the sixth seed, and maybe you are disappointed that you are constantly outed in that first round only to watch the rest from the sideline. Remember there are lots of 3 and 13 teams. Remember that although you may not ever make it deep in the playoffs you sometimes at least make the playoffs. Maybe you should be happy that you don't completely suck. Maybe you should evaluate it and just say look, I am consistently in the top third of the league and although I don't ever truly dominate, at some point I cause upsets among the elite and I don't completely suck. Maybe you should just say HEY, I am above average but not exceptional. Maybe I should quit striving to be EXCEPTIONAL
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Except maybe striving to be EXCEPTIONAL and failing is what makes you a slightly above average type of guy? If you just accepted Average maybe you would soon become below Average? How is it that we define ourselves?

Defining yourself

Definition.
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What is it about definition that not only makes us who we are, but also what we resent. Once you are in your Thirties you have basically defined yourself. You have lived long enough and made enough decisions that you cannot say something is an accident, yet even then, you can point to events and say that is why this is an exception.

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Really though, there are no exceptions, you are what you are. To use a football analogy, Bill Parcells is on record as saying it best. "You are what your record says you are" Don't act like you should be an 8 and2 team when your record is 5 and 5. You can point to those three last second defeats in which the other team scored on the final play or the one where the wide open receiver dropped a sure touchdown pass on your fourth down play with time running out. It doesn't matter. You gave up those last second touchdowns. You are the one that dropped the touchdown pass while you are wide open. You are not 8 and 2 YOU ARE that 5 and 5 team.

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You have defined yourself its okay if you are 9 and 1 when you believe you should be 10 and O that is different. Maybe that one loss was an exception and maybe you won those 9 games without any of them being close.

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By your midlife you are who you are and even if you don't like it, that's how it is . You can still play out the string but you are who you are, Even some 5 and 5 teams can still make the playoffs and maybe you can also. In the end though thats all you have done. your 5 and 5 ass is not going to the Superbowl. You should just be happy that you did not get your coach fired. You have defined yourself and the events of your life and the people you have meant something to, and who have meant something to you, have created a certain definition about yourself.

Broke Fans

Tomorrow night looks like some more SEC basketball tournament action for the billster. Plus the local Economy will do well as Kentucky also won today. -- Seriously, Tampa People just hope and pray Kentucky and Florida win throughout, -- because that is the majority of the fans. It is kind of disapointing that it wasnt sold out tonight though. Probably something to do with everybody being Broke and stuff.

SEC TOURNAMENT BASKETBALL

Went to the first round of the SEC BASKETBALL tournament tonight.
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Just some observations.
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1) Arkansas had a tough year-- they were 2 and 14 -- Their fans certainly ran their mouths more like they were 14 and 2
2) Kentucky is like a HUGE ball rolling down a hill, It doesn't matter that they were mediocre this past season- their fans still came out like it was the mid 1990's --- More Kentucky fans than any other including maybe even the Gators and it is only 2 hours from Gainesville.
3) Ole Miss has beautiful cheerleaders --- I think it may be a rule that if you live in Oxford Mississippi and you are a woman it is required that you are also hot.
4) Their is a Bar across the street from the Forum that is only open when stuff is going on at the Forum?
5) I saw David Warner with his shirt off running stadium steps about 3 years ago He could be an Underwear model. He probably may also be able to play in Europe based on how he played tonight.
6) Billy Donovan is My age but he is a little bit more successful then me in pretty much every area of life, Financial, Physically, career wise and he is still married
7) Tampa is a GREAT place to host this type of shit.
8) I think the Gators victory tonight will be enough, even if they lose to Auburn tomorrow night to get in the NCAA tournament.
9) Why can't I ever buy a stadium hot dog and not end up with some of the condiments on my shirt?
10) LIVING !!!

A true story, pretty much

Tonight, I went to one of my favorite bars and sat down at the stool. The discussion turned to the bartendresses' upcoming nuptials.
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She is overboard on the wedding and I mocked her for that. I did it to her face and with such obvious sarcasm that there is no way she thought I was doing anything other then mocking her. She has a huge budget which she plans on paying between her and her husband to be.

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Neither her, or her husband to "Be's" parents, are going to be kicking in.

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Part of her plan is to bring the Beatles back from the dead and have them perform at her wedding. She also plans to create her own table covers with the help of her family and friends.

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They are buying cloth that they intend to turn into table covers. She is also buying bland candle holders, with plans of painting each and every one with some kind of a magic paint that the beauty of it all, will evidently blind her guests and make them come together as one for world peace.

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I asked her if it would not be better to elope and keep the money to help with a down payment on a house. Something that would help the marriage, and the answer was no. It would not. She was sure about this. Would her parents and grandmothers approve of not being at her wedding? the most fabulous wedding of all time? How would they deal with her eloping and then shortly after buying the majority of a house instead of having the mother of all weddings?

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She is planning on mixing various flower seeds together to create a new kind of flower.

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So as a synopsis, up to now, she will have hand made table cloth covers, with hand made candles all painted individually, and the flowers will be an entire new species that is better then just roses. They will be roses that were genetically created for this specific wedding. In the meantime, John Lennon is going to come back from the dead, organize the Beatles for one gig and that gig is going to be her wedding.

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The photographer will be ANSEL FUCKING ADAMS himself, even though he also is dead. The person doing the ceremony will be the POPE. The Bar will be open for four hours and it will be the greatest party since the party that Morrison died at.

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So that is something to look forward to.... (lots of this was true, seriously most of it was true. )

A short synopsis

So here is a bunch of personal shit that I am thinking because of the events of this past weekend: ..... and then ...... so after that we did this:.......... and then after that, we talked about this: ...... then we did this.......... and then I drove back to Gainesville and in Gainesville this happened: ........... and then I drove back to Tampa, then my son called me and we discussed this: ........... then I watched that new T.V. show "Eastbound and Down" on HBO which is some funny shit, THE END
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P.S. - There is other background information as well on all of this and all that was going on as well, it is represented by cartoon cusswords such as this: --- $@^**#@! ---- also, the personal shit I was talking about is represented by dots. They look like this: ........

Spring Forward

Driving home from work today listening to the radio and I was informed that this weekend is the "spring forward weekend" I hate that weekend- Its just theft. Theft of an HOUR, and not just any hour, but a precious, sweet "weekend hour" --Its just some crazy custom invented by cavemen farmers (as opposed to the regular cavemen who had office jobs) so they can have more light to tend to their crops.

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This just in, but FOOD doesn't come from farms anymore people! Food comes from supermarkets and restaurants now. Truckers bring it to the supermarkets and they don't mind driving in the dark. I know, because I have seen them on America's Highways.

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Arizona has it figured out and I think there are also parts of Indiana that don't play this little "spring forward game" Its really the reason I went to College in Arizona. It had nothing to do with it being free for me, and everything to do with having four years of not having to deal with the mess that this weekend will bring upon us, plus the skiing.

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If you talk to a Zen priest like I often do, he will say that life balances out and this lost hour will also, because in the fall, we "Fall Back." We get our hour back, but that Zen Priest can suck it.

The word "Orange" is written 20 time within this post, Plus the Name"Rocky" Is written 8 times

It's not a deal breaker at all, but one of the things I love, is: Orange Juice with the pulp included.

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People can be real persnickity about their Orange Juice. The world is divided into two groups. Those that like it with Pulp included, and those who like it all smooth and kind of wimpy and watery, and with no character to it. They like their Orange juice to be like Rocky 6, which was a piece of crap movie when compared to the original Rocky.

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Once you give up on Rocky, you may have died a little inside, because seriously, when I was ten years old and saw Rocky in the Theatre, it was one of the finest Movies I may have ever seen, It moved me to that world where Rocky is just a guy with a big break, and now watching Rocky 6 on Showtime, or whatever, it's just sad. It's like Orange Juice with no pulp. You can still see the greatness that was Rocky in Rocky 6, what with the out of the blue chance given him, and you can still understand that Orange juice flavor when you don't have the pulp, but its just not the same. Has drinking watery ass, De-pulpified Orange Juice ever made you want to be a Champion Boxer as a living? Has it ever made you think about beating up raw meat in a Meat storage facility? Or own a restaurant and talk about your Glory days to your customers?

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There are those who think the kind of Orange juice that always did whatever it was told to do, who made straight "A's" and never mocked the other Oranges about their coarse behavior is the kind of Orange Juice to drink. They like the Orange juice that was raised in a household of uptight Oranges. Those Oranges who always worry about how the other oranges would think if they found out you were going to grow up and be the type of Orange Juice that got put in a bottle with the "pulp" included. Pulp and Pimp both start and end with the letter "P" and some O'J snobs associate those two words. DON'T JUDGE ME BECAUSE I LIKE SEX you watery ass drinking assholes.... (again, not really a deal breaker just let me have some drama in my blog posts)

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Sure, those Oranges know that its part of their chemistry to have pulp in their juice but they preferred to have it strained out of them. They think of themselves as more refined, they think of themselves as better then their pulp included Orange Juice cousins.

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I especially like Pulp included Orange Juice when mixed with Vodka. I am not talking about the kind of Vodka that gets bought in a real glass bottle, I am talking Vodka from a plastic container that is only designed to look like a glass made bottle. The type of Vodka that may have been distilled in Cleveland Ohio, as opposed to Smirnoffville or some other Finland/Switzerland/Russian ass type of City, And to make things clear, I am not saying you should drink Vodka straight when it is brewed in a suburb of Cleveland, I am saying if you have a Vodka brewed in a suburb of Cleveland THEN if you Mix it with pulp infested Orange Juice it doesn't really matter how rot gut it is.

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Signed, ---- a guy who may have consistently drank non-pulp having Orange Juice his whole life until he wasn't paying attention at the store the other day and accidentally bought a pulp filled jug and questioned his whole previous world and wondered why his mother (rest in piece) never coached him up on the beauty of a pulp filled Screwdriver ..... although he thinks basically his mother (rest in piece) just didn't know any better.

Obama, and the two things I agree with him about

Mr. Obama and I have found another thing to agree on. We both agree that College Football should have a playoff system. That's old news though, he said that even before he was the leader of the free world. Today though, the man was advocating buying stocks. His rationale was basically, "Hey look at how far this thing has plunged since September, it seriously cannot plunge any more, or at least not to much more." ---- So I think I might buy some "diamonds" or "cubes" real soon, or relatively soon, like within the next month.

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Just as soon as this other thing comes through and I can take care of the one guy and that woman. They are like that cartoon with the wolf and the sheep dog. The guy is the wolf and the sheep dog is the woman, and I am the sheep. They work all day, him trying to get at the sheep and then her trying to stop him from doing that, only he did get some of the sheep already, and she has to put some food on the table for the baby sheep dogs, and she is not protecting me from the wolf for the fun of it, so I just have to get that cleared up first, but then I am going to do my part as an American and invest in the stock market.

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But this is me making plans for the future. It has been so long that I have done that. So much of my life in the past two years has been just dealing with the bullshit of the everyday, and now I have found myself in a position to start worrying about the future again which is the way it should be, only now I realize how quickly and easily the future can be ripped out from underneath and that knowledge will hopefully make me more wise.

Goth Bars are weird

Cannot help but wonder about this past Friday night. I went to a Goth Bar and hung out with some friends of mine. None of whom were, or are, Goth in nature, but they get a kick out of the whole scene and wanted me to come along. I talked to this one chick who I am pretty sure is a dude. I knew it while I was talking to him but could not be 100 percent sure. This guy was not one of the people I went with to the bar but he was there and I was trying to be friendly. If she was a girl she certainly was not my type of woman mostly because although kind of pretty, certainly also not a woman unless of course she was.
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ME: "hey whats up, are you a dude dressed as a woman"
HER/HIM: in a manly type of voice: " fuck off"
Me: "Dude whatever, if you are a woman I am only stunned by the size of your hands and your deep voice. Can I buy you a drink and apologize if I offended you?"
HIM/She: "fuck off"
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so on the 2 percent chance this was a chick then I was totally rude to her but just going with my Gut feelings on the scenerio, probably this was a dude and he was only mad at me for not sucking up and believing in the fantasy he was trying to portray.