[Insert Title Here]

really bad feelings..

2009-12-02T19:21:04Z

have you ever come across somebody you haven't seen in 14 years, and recognized them, and politely said hi to them as if you didn't know who they were, and hope they didn't recognize you, and quickly turned down the next aisle like it didn't matter, and then felt stupid for not stopping and talking, and then walked past them again quickly, trying to avoid eye contact again, and then felt stupid for still not talking to them, even though you want to know how they've been, what they're up to, if they remember you?

yeah that feeling sucks.

I'm sorry person i came across who i haven't seen in 14 years, recognized, politely said hi to as if i didn't know you, hoped you didn't recognize me, then quickly turned down the next aisle like it didn't matter, felt stupid for not stopping and talking, and then walked past you again quickly, trying to avoid eye contact again, and then felt stupid for still not talking to you, even though i want to know how you've been, what you're up to, if you remember me.

frankyfred @ 2009-02-19T11:06:00

2009-02-19T16:12:04Z

have you ever banged your forehead into the keyboard and then pressed [Enter] just to see what website came up?

that's about how i'm starting to feel about this whole "being unemployed" thing. applying to every online job opening i can find, going to job fairs, walking into every building with a "Now Hiring" sign on the window, i'm going crazy!

25 random things about me

2009-01-28T19:57:37Z

i'll do the "25 things about me" thing, but i don't feel like tagging people, so do it if you want, or don't. (coming up with 25 random things is harder than one would think.)

1. I only get a haircut maybe 4 times a year. that's not very often for a guy.
2. I'd never taken a major art class until last summer, and the professor thought i was too good to be a first-timer.
3. I like Brie (the cheese.)
4. I enjoy hard-labor; working with my hands, lifting, moving, (shoveling snow!!!)
5. I can shoot well.
6. In elementary school I was the best free-throw shooter on my basketball team. I stink at it now.
7. I once sang in a concert at Lincoln Center in NYC.
8. I think Thunderstorms are awesome!
9. I'm unemployed right now. I blame the economy.
10. Family is very important to me.
11. I once told myself i was on a diet and lost 30 pounds.
12. I'm not a good cook, i just get very lucky when i throw stuff together.
13. I have no idea why John Cusack is my favorite actor; he always has that confused look on his face and stares off into space when he says his lines.
14. I get bored with Rubik's Cubes quickly, and therefore have yet to solve one.
15. I want to buy a house.
16. Peep hole that ewes homophones in correct lee in righting an "oy" the heck out of me.
17. I also like word-play (see # 16).
18. I want to some day visit Damnikov in the Czech Republic.
19. When i moved back to MI from NY, i reclaimed some of my mother's plants from our old yard, including her Iris, Hostas, and Lilac.
20. My favorite food is the kind that i can eat.
21. Some times, when something isn't working right, i hit it, and it's fixed.
22. My college German placement test was the exact same test as my high school 4th year German final, and I passed both with flying colors, so i tested out of 4 years of college German. If my high school German teacher had registered me with the firm that wrote the test before i took it, I could have won a sizeable scholarship, but he didn't so i didn't.
23. I still believe that Tapioca pudding is made with fish eggs.
24. I like taking pictures, and i think i'm pretty good at it.
25. While we were still dating, I read the Forward to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary to my wife over the phone and she loved it!

frankyfred @ 2008-12-23T17:09:00

2008-12-23T22:09:42Z

My Cactus is telling me that it's Christmas.
ie. it has flowers blooming all over it. really pretty. peachy orangish pink. very big.
ie. it's a "Christmas Cactus"

so, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

frankyfred @ 2008-11-05T07:57:00

2008-11-05T13:00:58Z

..so we'll see what happens...
..i guess..

(Sander Levin and Carl Levin for Prez and VP in 2012!) (i don't think it matters which is which...)

For Those Of You Who Didn't Hear:

2008-10-03T02:11:37Z

For Those Of You Who Didn't Hear:

I'M PREGNANT!

i'm not really, but my Wife IS!!!

I'm gonna be a Daddy!!!! I'm gonna be a Daddy!!!

...that is all.

frankyfred @ 2008-09-18T16:01:00

2008-09-18T20:04:33Z

What Happened on my Birthday, 2008?

Sulu (George Takei) married his longtime partner, Brad Altman.

Thank You!

2008-09-15T23:26:00Z

I did have a happy birthday yesterday, Thank you!
I ate too much.
the 32-inch hdtv my wife and i bought for eachother last month is sweet! and i get to celebrate it as my birthday present next year too!
Hurricane Ike evn stopped by and gave me some sweet rain for the whole weekend!
so much, in fact, that my back yard was completely flooded with 5 inches of water this morning! (but it wasn't in the basement!)

we went to see a couple houses on the market on saturday, during the torrential downpour. one house had a huge yard, but no basement. another house had a small leak in the roof over the kitchen, and a very musty basement, but both of those problems can be easily remedied. it also had a rather sizeable property.

i really want to buy a house.

Kat's moved in with us as of labor day weekend. she -->NEEDS A JOB<-- if any of you know of one that needs filling.

we went to see "Burn After Reading" yesterday. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet, but i will tell you that Brad Pitt and George Clooney both were very good, and i recommend that you see it if you like confusing movies.
AND BRAD PITT DIES !!!
( ^spoiler^ )

i think that is all for now.

frankyfred @ 2008-08-21T08:25:00

2008-08-21T12:27:52Z

"i've got my gear in my sack. i've got my pack on my back. Today's the day i'm going camping!"
(it's a song)

Tahquamenon here we come! i'll take lots of pictures and maybe i'll figure out how to post 'em right away so y'all can see 'em.

frankyfred @ 2008-08-18T17:32:00

2008-08-18T21:34:01Z

Happy Anniversary to my Wife!
Love you!
Love, ME!

On The Last Day

2008-08-09T01:58:52Z

"On The Last Day"
today i got laid...
...off.

they told me yesterday that sales weren't where they should be, and the busy season is over until christmas starts up in a month or so, and that they don't have money to keep me on until then. so i'm unemployed for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer. oh but what a last day today...

a lot happened between 8:45am and 7:30pm, but the important part is that Paul W. Smith, famous voice of WJR (AM 760 Detroit), came in and bought $3500 of patio furniture and wanted it delivered today. AND he wanted the delivery person to load the truck with all of his old patio furniture and drive it to his [soon-to-be] ex-wife's house when they got there. did i mention i was the delivery person? so i loaded up Paul W. Smith's new furniture, drove 49 minutes to Grosse Pointe Park, unloaded his furniture, packed the truck with at least 4 old ratty patio furniture sets, a stone bench and a heavy-ass unicorn statue, and drove it all to the wife's smaller, less impressive house.

did i mention Paul W. Smith held in-depth conversations with me the entire time? well he did..
"hi i'm Paul."
"hi i'm Franz"
"It's nice to meet you Franz"
"actually we've already met, ten years ago at a charity golf outing...."
and he remembered!!!!!!
we also talked about his bitter divorce and his ungrateful wife taking the kids, the old ratty patio furniture, all of his money, his bitter divorce, lots of things.
and then when i was finished unloading all of his wife's new crappy patio furniture into the tiny-ass yard she has, he handed me a $100 bill! and asked me if that was enough. i said thanks and told him it was probably too much - meeting him was already enough. but he laughed and said it was ok and thanks for all my help and i said thanks and you're welcome and nice meeting you again and then i left. drove the 49 minutes back to work and punched out two and a half hours late, but $100 richer, and a little bit wiser/happier.
and today was my last day for a while

so if anybody needs help with yard work or anything, i'm officially for hire for a while.
holla!

modern luxuries

2008-06-17T03:45:19Z

modern luxuries
like electricity
suck when you don't have them
for an entire week.

[this line intentionally left blank]

but i made it through the dark ages,
and back into the age of technology
and light
and air conditioning
and refridgerators that aren't filled with spoiled food...

more later.

a few things...

2008-04-19T03:40:16Z

a few things..

1. did anyone feel the earthquake at 430 friday morning? because i didn't. i was fast asleep.. though i did wake up at 5 wondering what time it was..

2. does anybody know somebody who is selling a reliable car for cheap? i'm definitely in the market right now. like, within the next week i need to get a car.

3. Go Wings! you can do it! i think..

4. at least you're doing better than the Tigers.. what happened to them? from worst team to second-best team in two years, and then back to worst team ever two years after that? geez...

5. my dad is going to get his big toe permanently fused at a 15 degree angle. i don't see how that will help anything. crazy NY doctors..

6. work is great! i'm outside all day, getting a nice tan, losing weight, pulling muscles i never knew existed. for instance, the one on my side just below / in front of my shoulder blade pops out of place every time i move my left arm.

7. emily went out with the girls tonight and i'm all alone. without cable. bored. hungry. lonely...

8. ANNE, how'd your interview go in NYC? how fancy was the hotel room? did you send postcards to anybody? why didn't you send me a postcard?

ANNOUNCEMENT:

2008-04-02T13:42:49Z

ANNOUNCEMENT:

for all of my anarchist friends and family who thought i could last longer, i'm sorry. i've failed you. i was sticking it to the man for a little over two weeks, but unfortunately for me, the attraction to the other side was too strong. i wil again be working and paying taxes starting today.

the good news is, i'm not part of the fast food industry anymore!

that is all!

ATTENTION WAL*MART SHOPPERS:

2008-03-24T20:10:16Z

another reason NOT to shop at Wal*Mart,
as if you needed another reason...

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/256.0/popup/index.php?cl=7106460

when all is said and done....

2008-03-17T19:58:51Z

when all is said and done, i quit my job.
i don't need to explain myself, but i will.

the official explanation is:

between my recent marriage and new scholastic endeavors, I feel that my commitments outside of work require a more reliable work schedule than the industry can offer me.

but the real reasons are:

schedule me to work all five days that i have requested off [well in advance] in a two week period.
not try to rearrange the schedule to accomodate my requests, once i have brought the possible oversight to your attention.
poor management skills altogether on your part.
poor wages.
not scheduling enough employees to run an effective shift.
not giving employees enough hours.
not enforcing "call off" policies.
breaks not being permitted or given (i believe this is against the law too).
inaccurate accounting practices.
creating a hostile work environment.
yelling at employees infront of customers, instead of calmly and quietly consoling them in the back.
having to clean up messes in the bathrooms because other employees forget to go back and clean it before they conveniently leave early and not remermber to tell you it's disgusting until you discover it on your own and can't make them clean it because they already left.
shift supervisors sharing confidential memos to the store manager, with other employees and then laughing about them.

but it doesn't matter now. i don't work there anymore.

OH and i have a second interview with English Gardens on Thursday!

frankyfred @ 2008-03-04T12:45:00

2008-03-04T17:49:13Z

thank you Brett Favre.
for 17 years.
for multiple records.
for finally quitting.

frankyfred @ 2008-02-16T20:33:00

2008-02-17T01:45:50Z

so i'm at work right,
i look down and i've got a half-eaten donut in my hand,
and all of a sudden i realize it's disgusting and i can't finish it. because
my job really sucks. glad i'm getting out of it.
i'm tired of yelling at my underlings for not being model-employees. trying to teach them the right way to work fast and hard and well, and they just don't get the concept.
and of my overling(s) being incompetent too. how do you run a business without vital mathematic skills. i'm talking 3rd grade stuff here.
all of this made my donut taste bad, to the point where i had to throw it away.
it's like if Anne stopped liking books, because Chaucer forgot how to spell or something..
(sorry Anne. i should have asked your permission before using you as an example. 'sok?)

on a lighter note, we got our Wedding DVD! it's awesome! Hope and Fran do Marvelous things! if anyone needs a videographer, i'll give you their information!

i just bought...

2008-02-07T23:15:24Z

i just bought !

surprisingly enough,

2008-01-18T23:35:18Z

surprisingly enough, the eggplant parmesan was superb!
or to quote me, "F*cking Awesome!"
here's how i made it. i kind of sort of followed a recipe from foodnetwork.com, but not exactly..

take 2 eggplants, cut them into 1/2" round slices and lay them flat on a cookie sheet. generously sprinkle salt over the slices and let them sit for about an hour. this weeps the bitter juices out of the eggplant, and makes for a better taste. after an hour of sitting, rinse the slices off in cold running water, and blot dry with paper towel.

then you'll need three bowls. one with flower, one with eggs and milk, and one with bread crumbs.
the foodnetwork recipe called for 6 eggs and 2 tbsp of whole milk. but i barely used half of my batch, so i'd say try 3 eggs at first and see what happens.. i also used 2% milk..
heat up some vegetable oil in a large straight-edged frying pan.. about 1/2 inch deep. the recipe says 400 degrees, but i didn't check the temp on mine. just make it hot.
dredge the eggplant slices in the flour, then the egg/milk mixture, then the bread crumbs and place in the hot oil to fry. do 4 or 5 at a time. flip them when they become golden brown on the underside, and then remove them when the second side is done too.. i'm not that scientific about these things, people. just cook them...
when you get them all fried and done, layer them in a casserole dish with spaghetti sauce (i did a jar of classico and a can of whole peeled tomatoes, cut up), fresh mozzerella, and grated parmesan cheese...
preheat the oven to 400, stick the eggplant parmesan in for supposedly 30 minutes, but i only did 20 and it was fine. and then serve and enjoy.

oh and i used italian flavored bread crumbs. their recipe called for 5 cups, but i used i think 3 cups and still threw out most of them...

Bon Apetit!

frankyfred @ 2008-01-15T17:27:00

2008-01-15T22:49:42Z

on a whim, i bought eggplant today at the grocery store.
i'll be making eggplant parmesan for dinner on Thursday i decided.
when was the last time any of you bought eggplant on a whim?
and that's why i am who i am.

the snow finally returned to Michigan. maybe i'll get to use my toboggan more than once this season after all!

em and i are fighting the battle against colds right now. we're slowly winning. we should be fullly healed just in time for the summer allergy season to kick our butts again until flu season roars up again!

frankyfred @ 2008-01-10T17:26:00

2008-01-10T22:42:26Z

so my dad was in a car accident this week. he's fine. his car is totalled..

some lady assumed that the green light meant she could turn left infront of oncoming traffic.
my dad was watching a person walking on the right shoulder, making sure not to run him over, and never saw the lady turn left and plow into him...
the sucky part, besides having to buy a new car again, is that both parties involved have the same insurance company, so my dad can't sue her or her insurance company without his policy getting cancelled as a result...

the other sucky part is that that whole stretch of road is synonymous with accidents from people entering or leaving the mall right there, so the insurance company will probably lower their settlements based on the hazardous area or something.. really i think it's the NY State drivers as a whole that suck...

dad's looking at an 05 Impala to replace the 03 Sebring i just bought him...

so keep him in your prayers, that he isn't sore for too long, and that this whole shebang isn't too expensive from which to recover..
(haha, she-bang.. i just inadvertently made a funny!!...)

frankyfred @ 2008-01-04T17:46:00

2008-01-04T23:13:49Z

i'm at work right now.
bored.
this feels kinda wrong blogging while i'm working, but other people i know do it too, so i thought i'd give it a try...
i should be cleaning the store or helping my employees tend to their customers. a few of my employees have told me i'm one of the most active of the managers here, wherein i actually do work instead of just sitting in the office and not helping out.. but here i am, sitting in the office and blogging, feeling guilty about it. and they're not saying anything about me not being up there helping. jsut going about their business cleaning and tending to the customers like this is normal for the managers to not be up front......

why is it so easy for you?
right. because you're not in the restaurant biz.

i could be telling of exciting happenings and conversations while working, but i haven't yet..

i was told today that i can't jump. specifically that i'm not black, and therefore cannot jump...
from a white girl...
and i'm not racist.

yeah that's not exciting either.. sorry.. not as exciting as transcribing letters from the father of the founder of the Heavens Gate Cult, or recording pictures of gravestones into a database or anything else...

frankyfred @ 2008-01-01T20:50:00

2008-01-02T02:21:45Z

everybody please pray for Emily's health to return quickly.
she's had a cold since we got home from Christmas in NY, and her first day of work at her new permanent job is tomorrow.
i doped her up pretty good with drugs and decongestants and put her to bed.

now i'm going to attempt to clean a little of the house that hasn't seen clean since we left for Christmas in NY.. we've discovered that being sick kind of drains your energy and desire to wash things...

in other news, work still sucks. someone doesn't know how to count money. someone else doesn't know the first thing about grammar or writing professional-looking documents that are handed out to all employees and expected back with signatures. i proofread my copy, added my thoughts and ideas of how to make it sound/look better, and then signed it and turned it in. lots of ink all over that page.......

but anyway, please send your best thoughts and wishes and prayers to Emily so she can recover enough to not frighten her new job away tomorrow..

ps. I LOVE SNOW!!
pps. and all the presents we got this year. useful things.. like a pipe wrench. bypass loppers, a guitar case, external hard-drive, java-based barbecue sauces, books, chocolates...

frankyfred @ 2007-12-27T19:54:00

2007-12-28T00:58:57Z

drove 6 hours to upstate NY for christmas.
drove 5 hours home from upstate NY christmas day night. heavy fog. no traffic. no lines at the borders.
drove 2 hours up to Em's Grandparents' cottage this morning (a 3hr trip usually).
and i'm installing Norton and reinstalling some malfunctioning Windows components on their computer.
then i get to drive back home tonight... that's a lotta driving!
Karl and Meaghan's babies are all cute. i have pictures.

man i'm tired...