The Universe @ MindSay 
everything
Your friend and enemy,
The Fuzzy Unicorn
One of the prime advantages of the west coast versus the east coast is that it's much easier to stay up to watch the sunset over the ocean, than it is to drag yourself out of bed and down to the water to watch the sunrise over the ocean, which it always chooses to perform at some ungodly early hour, when any self respecting light source would be keeping itself politely dim.
Long sentence. Nevermind, enjoy the pretty pictures.
There is something incredibly healing about the ocean. Combined with the sunrise, symbol of rebirth and new beginnings... food for the soul.
I've put in the applications to the apartment complex that I want to move too. Paid the application fees, and dropped off a check for the security deposit for one of their units if we're approved. I realize that it's only been two days, and also that I won't be moving in until 17 more days, but still. It feels like my life is on hold in some manner until I get the green light from them.
And even though there's no major reasons that I wouldn't be approved, I'm still worrying. I mean, I've got a good job. I made $25,000 last year working full time for only 3 months, and part time the rest. The only time I filed a tax return with more than that was my 2nd full year working at NCS. A full year working full time, plus Tonya working part time (full time off and on through a few jobs) netted about $30,00 for that year. Now I'm almost matching that by my lonesome, with less hours, and a better job. Farrah will also be bringing money in. Not as much as I am, but every little bit helps, ya know? In addition, my mother said she'd be a co-signer on the lease if we need one. So there's really very little reason to turn us down on the income front.
There's only 2 things that I'm really worried about. The first is our credit scores. Farrah says hers is worse than mine, and while that's very possible, mine's not all that grand to begin with. Mine's getting better slowly, and all the bad stuff on it is at least 18 months old, but it's still there.
The other thing is references. As much as I loved Tonya (and still do a bit), she's not the most stable of individuals, and has problems holding down jobs. As such, our income would fluctuate at times, and would get us into a bind. Crappy roommates also compounded the problems. So the only real good rental reference I have is from our old apartment in Lawrence. We paid rent mostly on time, and caught up quickly the few times we got in arrears. But our move out help never showed up, so the place was trashed when we had to move out. And that complex has sold 2 more times and changed names twice since we left. So even if I did list it, it'd be no good.
So I been trying to do stuff to keep my mind off of it. My D&D game is approaching the end of the campaign, and I'm ready for a switch to something else. So I'm working on a Rifts Japan game now. I'm typing up a pre-game handout for my players, since some of em aren't familliar with Rifts, some aren't familliar with Rifts Japan, and one has never played before. The first draft was 3 pages. It's in the 3rd draft now, and has grown to 6 pages as I find more basic stuff about the setting they should know before the game starts, and I prep some background for this game in particular.
Once I've got that pounded into a shape I'm acceptable with, I get to start working on the rest of that game. I know generally what I want to do. Just need to figure out how to connect the dots. I do like how many restrictions that Rifts Japan puts on players for character creation, because it means I can better predict what the group will be capable of. I put some additional restrictions in there so I can have a framework to build off of.
And then comes the planning for my other game. I promised Mike, who runs the gaming store, that I'd be running a Shadowrun game at his store this spring. So I need to get that one prepped. It's been a while since I've run two games at once. I'm not working full time, so I should have plenty of time to work on both of them. In theory. Worse comes to worse, the Shadowrun game may end up being every other week.
>The Great Wall of China was
>originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.
>
>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is
>based on a true story: Chuck Norris once swallowed a turtle whole, and
>when he crapped it out, the turtle was six feet tall and had learned
>karate.
>
>Time waits for no man. Unless that
>man is Chuck Norris.
>
>Chuck Norris once ate a whole cake
>before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.
>
>When Chuck Norris falls in water,
>Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris.
>
>Chuck Norris doesn't actually write
>books, the words assemble themselves out of fear.
>
>Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
>
>When an episode of Walker Texas
>Ranger was aired in France, the French
>surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.
>
>When Chuck Norris talks, everybody
>listens. And dies.
>
>Wilt Chamberlain claims to have
>slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime.
>Chuck Norris calls this "a slow Tuesday."
>
>Contrary to popular belief, there is
>indeed enough Chuck Norris to go around.
>
>Chuck Norris doesnt shave; he kicks
>himself in the face. The only thing that can cut Chuck Norris is Chuck
>Norris
>
>Chuck Norris grinds his coffee with
>his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.
>
>Little known medical fact: Chuck
>Norris invented the Caesarean section when he roundhouse-kicked his way
>out of his monther's womb.
>
>Chuck Norris once ate an entire
>bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
>
>Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
>
>Chuck Norris is responsible for
>China's over-population. He hosted a Karate tournament in Beijing and
>all women within 1,000 miles became pregnant instantly.
>
>Some people wear Superman pajamas.
>Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas.
>
>When Chuck Norris does a pushup,
>he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.
>
>One day Chuck Norris walked down
>the street with a massive erection. There were no survivors.
>
>Chuck Norris does not own a stove,
>oven, or microwave, because revenge is a dish best served cold.
>
>Chuck Norris can slam a revolving
>Door.
>
>Chuck Norris eats beef jerky and
>craps gunpowder. Then, he uses that gunpowder to make a bullet, which he
>uses to kill a cow and make more beef jerky. Some people refer to this
>as the "Circle of Life."
>
>The Sherman tank was originaly
>called the Norris tank until Chuck Norris decided it wasn't tough enough
>to be associated with him.
>The Army, for fear of Chuck Norris, renamed the tank and promised to
>develop a weapon more fitting of his name.
>
>There is no such thing as global
>warming. Chuck Norris was cold, so he turned the sun up.
>
>Chuck Norris did in fact, build Rome
>in a day.
>
>Once you go Norris, you are
>physically unable to go back.
>
A man once asked Chuck Norris if
his real name is "Charles". Chuck Norris did not respond, he simply
stared at him until he exploded.
>
We live in an expanding universe.
All of it is trying to get away from Chuck Norris.
>
Chuck Norris is the only person in
the world that can actually Email a roundhouse kick.
>
According to Einstein's theory of
relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday.
>
In a recent survey it was
discovered the 94% of American women lost their virginity to Chuck
Norris. The other 6% were incredibly fat or ugly.
>
Chuck Norris invented a language
that incorporates karate and roundhouse kicks. So next time Chuck Norris
is kicking your ass, don't be offended or hurt, he may be just trying to
tell you he likes your hat.
>
Who let the dogs out? Chuck Norris
let the dogs out... and then roundhouse kicked them.
>
When Chuck Norris goes to out to
eat, he orders a whole chicken, but he only eats its soul.
>
Godzilla is a Japanese rendition of
Chuck Norris' first visit to Tokyo.
>
When Bruce Banner gets mad, he
turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Chuck Norris.
>
Chuck Norris kills anyone that asks,
You want fries with that" because by now everyone should know that
Chuck doesn't ever want fries with anything. Ever...
Chuck Norris once kicked a horse in
the chin. Its decendants are known today as Giraffes.
In the first Jurassic Park movie, the
Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't chasing the jeep. Chuck Norris was chasing the
Tyrannosaurus AND the jeep.
Chuck Norris has counted to infinity.
Twice.
chuck norris doesnt sleep. he waits.
chuck norris put the bop in the bop shoo wap shoo wap
ps i got this in an email from morgan! love you!
So a lot's been goin on. I made out good on Ph4t L3wtZ day. Nifty clothes, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory DVD, 2 Harry Potter DVDs, and over $200 in gift certificates, cash, and stuff that got exchanged. That got me 3 computer games (The Movies, The Sims: Complete Collection, and Medieval: Total War), books 2 and 3 of George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, and 2 anime DVDs (Spirited Away and volume 2 of Hellsing). I also took advantage of pre and post xmas sales and got season 2 of Battlestar Galactica, and season 1 of Smallville.
I'm gonna be moving out in February or March. Not goin far, just to Lawrence, KS, which is about 15 - 20 miles from where I live now. But I miss living in that city so. Haven't really been apartment hunting yet. I talked with one of the property managers, and they say it'd be better to wait till at least the end of Jan. Also, all the move in specials places run will change between now and then. So right now I'm just setting money aside, and making a list of everything I'll need for the new place. Again.
Also realized that I have a conundrum that I haven't experienced before in this regard. Farrah's gonna be moving in with me a few weeks after I get the place set up. However, there'll probably be at least a month between when I sign the lease and when she'll be there. So in addition to making sure I find a decent place, furnishing it and all that, I should prepare for the worst. Hopefully nothing bad will happen. But since it'll be my name on the lease, I have to make sure that I could afford the place on my own if the worst does happen. That makes the search a tad more difficult. Granted, I've still got about 3 weeks before I start looking in earnest. I'm still split on whether I should take this into consideration, or not worry about it and figure her income into the budget anyways.
Work is going . . . interestingly. I found out that our previous Officer In Charge (what we have when there isn't a Postmaster) didn't send in some paperwork on me that he was supposed to. So the sick leave and vacation leave I was supposed to have been accumulating for the past year hasn't. Our new Postmaster said she'll try to get that fixed, but for us to get her to put her attention on anything on the Carrier side, we really have to ride her. Which is gonna make next month interesting, as it's Mail Count. Everything us Carriers do for 2 weeks will be counted, measured, and timed. The results will set our base pay for the route. Last time I had one, it was barely not a disaster, but only my small route was being counted. This time around all 5 routes are being counted. So there will probably be some grievances filed with the Union by one of us.
My relationships are progressing well. Things with Farrah and I are still great. She's having some difficulties over there, but that's mainly due to asshattery. As far as I know I haven't fucked things up yet. And I heard back from my lawyer today. Initial paperwork on the divorce has been filed. So I may be legally single by my birthday near the end of March. If I didn't need the money for the apartment, I'd go celebrate by hitting a strip club. And also if I hadn't heard horror stories about the strip clubs in Lawrence! lol
So there ya go. That's about the past month rolled into a nutshell. Yay nutshells!