Longklaw.com

I bought a new TV a few weeks ago. Derek and I took his truck to Wal-Mart to get it. The new TV was quite a bit and was too big for my entertainment center. It was about a week before I could finally get somebody with a truck to help me get a new entertainment system. It was Jason’s girlfriend’s friend’s truck, but all three of them helped. I put the entertainment center together that night and part of the next day and Jason came back after I finished to help me put it into place. It was about another week before I finally got around to connecting my home theater system and consoles to the new TV.

This is when I started having issued. I noticed that there were always horizontal lines on the screen whenever I used one of these devices. I tried different cables (same problem) and I tried connecting my devices to the old TV (no problem). After looking around online I figured that I might just have a bad TV, so I figured that I would take it back and get something else.

Not knowing that he was getting ready to move on Monday, I emailed Russ to make sure that he was still in town. I thought that he still had another week or so here, but I was just trying to be sure. I think I used the word “truck” in the email, but I was referring to his jeep. His response said that he was picking up his U-Haul the next day and that we could use it to return the TV. He had some stuff that he needed to buy as well. So today we went to Wal-Mart in a U-haul to make the exchange. I wanted to get a different brand, but they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock. Right now there is a big gap where my TV should be.

I helped Russ and his roommate load all of Russ’s stuff into the U-Haul, and then we went out to eat later on. Once again it seemed like Russ new everbody in the damn place because they all work or worked at Service Zone. They undercooked my steak and overcooked Russ’s. Jon (the devil’s son) and his roommate joined us a shortly after week got our food. They ended up giving Russ a new steak and cooked mine some more. I had to listen to them run on about Horizons for a long time. I was almost completely lost.

Russ is leaving tomorrow. At this rate, there won’t be anybody left to help me move when it’s my turn. May/June 2005. I can’t wait.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. For various reasons, I didn’t go home this year. This was the first time in all my years that I wasn’t home for Thanksgiving. Oh well, next year I’ll probably be far from Jackson and won’t be able to go home then either.

The weather took another turn for the cold yesterday. Today I turned the heater on for the first time. Winter is coming.

After a night of heavy drinking, I find that I need 3 things: a few glasses of water, a decent meal, and a BM. After I’ve had those, I feel better in about an hour or two. Friday night was fun, but because of that early Saturday wasn’t.

The shifts in the temperature around here has also made me sick, literally. Most of the weekend was spent playing Everquest. I have to get back to more important things this week.

Oh well, today is payday. And the next weekend will be here soon enough.

I cast my vote this morning. I went around 7:30 this morning and I was very excited. This is the first time I’ve been able to go into a booth to vote. I don’t know why that seemed so cool! I had always voted absentee in the past, but this year I had my registration changed so I could vote here in Starkville.

My voting place is less than a mile from me on the same street that I live on. The whole process probably took about 15 minutes, and a good bit of that was spent trying to get through traffic. I think I saw only about 5 or 6 people around my age there. I’m hoping that more younger people will get there as the day goes on.

I’m sure I’ll be glued to my TV tonight. I can’t wait until it’s over.

Apparently someone that has the same name as I do also delivers The Commercial Dispatch around here. For some reason a lot of customers have been trying to reach him today, so I’ve been taking a lot of calls for him since I got home from work.

I get calls every once in a while from people around here looking for someone with the same name. It seems like wherever I worked or been in school, there’s usually at least one other person with the same name. The former fire chief of this town has the same name as me. He was fired and convicted on embezzlement or something like that a few years ago. A lot of people call here looking for him.

A couple of years ago a representative from Spiegel with a Caribbean accent kept calling me about some bill that I hadn’t paid even though I’ve never had an acount with them. She was really aggressive and kept telling me that I really needed to just go ahead and pay the bill even though I tried to explain that I really wasn’t who they were looking for. After asking some questions, I found out that the person they were looking for was a man in his 50’s that lived in a town about 30 miles north of here.

A couple of months ago Citi Financial called me many times about a loan that I had supposedly taken out in 2002. I explained my mistaken identity problems to one representative and I told her that I don’t have an account with Citi Financial. They kept calling anyway. I got annoyed so one afternoon I decided to keep calling them until I got a person who was willing to make sure that they wouldn’t call me again. It turns out that they had mistaken me for someone who lives in Starkville, just on a street that I had never lived on.

According to this article, some experts think that software programmers could soon become an endangered species in the United States. This could happen because jobs are being outsourced to other countries and because skilled immigrants are taking jobs that were once held by Americans. Being a programmer myself I hope that this prediction does not come true. Software project managers may be safe, but I don’t think I’ll be in that type of position anytime soon.

I’m back in Jackson this weekend, but this time it was for a sad occasion. Today I went to the funeral of my uncle who passed away on Tuesday from cancer. I had only seen him 10 days before on the day of my cousin’s wedding, which I wrote about here. I knew he wasn’t feeling well, but I didn’t realize just how it was. I found out today that after I left he said that I looked like a preacher in my suit.

I think I’ll get back to my reminiscing now.

It’s about that time. Last November was the first time I didn’t vote on Election Day in years. I blame Oktibbeha County for not getting my registration changed. I filled out the form 3 times before they finally got it right. It’s also partially my fault for not following up in time for the election.

I was wondering why Election Day is always on a Tuesday when most people have to work. I did a little research and found the following information on the Federal Election Commission website.

The Tuesday after the first Monday in November was initially established in 1845 (3 U.S.C. 1) for the appointment of Presidential electors in every fourth year. 2 U.S.C. 7 established this date for electing U.S. Representatives in every even numbered year in 1875. Finaly, 2 U.S.C. 1 established this date as the time for electing U.S. Senators in 1914.

Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. November 1st is All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics. In addition, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st. Congress was apparently worried that the economic success or failure of the previous month might influence the vote of the merchants.

I had a pretty good weekend. It was one of those weekends where you have a good time, but you feel bad for not making much progress on all the work that you have to do. Maybe that’s just me. Oh well, I shouldn’t complain.

I went to Jackson for my cousin Kim’s wedding. It was nice going back and seeing so many of my relatives, but I also hate being away from home. Until I move, the apartment I rent in Starkville is my home. I had to leave it for about 2.5 months over the summer, so that may be why I’m not eager to stay away for very long now.

I had fun at the wedding and reception. Why do people say I look like a preacher every time I wear a suite? My sister was the matron of honor. She and the bride have known each other for longer than I’ve been alive (over 30 years).

Weekends are never long enough.

Jeanne is here. I used to think it would be cool to live in FL after I graduated. Now I’m not so sure.

Is it a coincidence that this is happening shortly before the presidential election? Probably so, but at this rate FL won’t be around to cause any controversy in the election.