I’m a bit of an idiot behind the wheel sometimes and I’m really trying to change that. I like to speed and I get pissed off when I’m in the fast lane and someone who’s going a lot slower than me gets in front of me. I know I’m not supposed to be going 20mph over the speed limit but why do these idiots have to get in front of me only to go the same speed they were going in the lane they were previously in which is seldom over the speed limit. I could see if they wanted to pass the guy in front of them or speed themselves but they don’t. I’ll never understand this. Anyway, someone did this the other day coming home from work. I was in the left lane, which ends in ½ mile, flying past everyone and this guy pulls in the lane and he’s not going very fast. I stayed behind him for about a minute and he maintained the same speed but the lane was ending soon so I hit the gas, got in the middle lane and tried to go around him. Now the idiot wants to go fast and be in front so he speeds up but I have already closed the gap between me and the truck in front of me but he’s still trying. The lane ends and now he’s on the shoulder. The guy probably realized that in another 10 feet or so he’s going to be on the grass and finally slows down, I pass him and flip him off. 1 minute later I look in my rearview mirror and where is Mr. Can’t let this guy get in front of me? ½ a mile behind me….

I hadn’t done anything like this in a few months, I’ve definitely calmed down a bit behind the wheel overall, but this just adds to my disappointment with myself. Granted I was satisfied with the fact that I came out in front (:)) but I looked and felt like such an asshole afterward, I’m sure everyone around me who saw this (It was pretty obvious that I was going out of my way to block him from getting in front of me.) thought the same. I also could have caused an accident and hurt myself or someone else. Afterward I wanted to apologize to the guy but this was, of course, not possible. Now that I type the incident out and read it to myself my behavior seems even more moronic. I almost don’t want to post this but maybe this way I’ll remember it better the next time I want to do something like this in my car.

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Well, today was technically the last day of my 3 week vacation. I know I shouldn’t be whining just for the fact that I got to be on paid vacation for 3 weeks but I will because I’m so down about the fact that I have to go back to work soon. I had a great vacation but in the end it was just the fact that for so many days when I went to bed I didn’t have to worry about waking up and going to work the next day that made it so good. I just plain don't like to work.

Friday, 10/12 was my last day of work and I followed my usual weekend routine of doing pretty much nothing, which is always good. Then on Monday I got on a plane (that I almost missed) and went to Amsterdam, arriving Tuesday morning and leaving early afternoon on 10/24. (See my other blog for info on Amsterdam!) Upon returning home and adjusting to the time change I switched back into weekend mode until it was the weekend and time to go to Brewtopia, a beer convention, with my friend. When you go in they give you a small tasting glass which you can take to any of the almost 100 table set up by different micro-brewers. There are several hundred beers you can sample and I did my best to try as many of them in the 4 hour time period we were allotted. I actually only had a little over 3 hours because of the line to get in and train delays. The line kind of pissed me off because I arrived late but with pre-purchased tickets, I thought the point of pre-purchasing was so you don’t have to wait in a huge line, but I didn’t let that spoil getting hammered.

Then I sat around for a few more days until Tuesday, 10/30 (Getting alarmingly close to the end of the vacation at this point!), I hopped on a train to NYC for Whiskyfest. Whiskyfest is pretty much the same thing as Brewtopia but it’s a lot more upscale and with whiskey instead of beer. I liked it a lot more than Brewtopia because I enjoy bourbon a lot more than beer. It was great to actually talk to people who knew about whiskey, there were even a few master distillers there. I talked a few of the tables into giving me some free glasses. :) I also met the guy in charge of my favorite bourbon, Old Rip Van Winkle, and his son. The son had arranged to buy an old bottle (it was distilled by the company his great grandfather and grandfather were president of at the time it was bottled, 1964) from me, I even got them to throw in a nice polo shirt with their brand logo on it! I hope I can get away with wearing it to work! (Ugh, work, :() It was weird, I was drinking straight bourbon for about 4 hours straight, trying to drink in moderation and stopping by the buffet occasionally (the food seemed fancy but there wasn’t really anything there that I wanted), and I didn’t really start to feel any real buzz or anything until it was just about over but as soon as I got out of the building it was as if every drink I had the entire night just hit me once. lol

Anyway, I just relaxed for the next few days and now we’re at today where I’m bitching about he fact that I have to go back to work. Maybe, just maybe, I win tonight’s lotto drawing and I can extend my vacation indefinitely. I’ve been wishing for it all day. lol

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Well, I arrived back in the US a few days ago after spending eight nights in Amsterdam. Obviously these are two very different places in many ways. First off, Amsterdam is a city and where I live here is a suburban area. If you leave your window open here at best you’ll hear a car infrequently drive by, if you have good hearing and it’s a quiet night you might even hear some animals on the lawn in the summer. Over there, where I was anyway, it was very busy. You could hear church bells, people, cars, motorcycles/scooters, coughing from the coffeeshop on the first floor, and more at almost all hours. The architecture of almost all the tall, some crooked, buildings is completely different; obviously a much older style that what we have here. It’s cool how even things like supermarkets blend in with the rest of the homes and businesses on the block. I don’t know how many times I walked past the supermarket by my apartment before I realized what it was. Many of he streets have canals along them, Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice, Italy, with boats and houseboats docked along many of them, I was fortunate to have an apartment with a view of one although the view wasn’t anything spectacular (lots of trees in the way, I could see the canal, a bridge, a women’s clothing store, and a headshop).

I was in a place where several drugs and prostitution are legal and done in the open at legitimate stores and windows. I must say that this minor aspect of he Dutch culture really impresses me, their view just seems so logical in contrast to that of most of the rest of the world. They realize that these things are basically harmless compared to many other unhealthy things people can do legally and that fighting it is pointless because history has proven that these are things that there is enough demand for to keep people making it available, at the risk of their freedom in most places; hell, prostitution is commonly referred to as ‘the oldest profession in the world’. The whole situation with drugs and prostitution here in the US just seems to be driven by greed (I got busted with a dime bag in college and it wound up costing me $850…) veiled by disinformation. I never really understood what I did that was so wrong back in college that it would prompt someone to take the time to report me as their suspected (and, obviously, correct) culprit.

I’ll stop whining about the laws now, it’s pointless. (as are they…) and their penalty is not something I need to worry about because I stopped breaking them some time ago. I’m just glad I have the means to take a trip somewhere better every year or so (my 2^nd time there, a 3^rd is definitely in order and will probably be my next vacation!) and that this place exists. If this stuff is your thing and you want to go and check it out then I highly recommend it, I really doubt you will be disappointed if you do your research beforehand. If sex and drugs is not your thing or offends you then I also recommend it. These things are but a small fraction of what this awesome city has to offer (tons of restaurants, café’s, and bars, nice parks, famous museums, scenic streets, casino’s, and lots more…) however I am not ashamed to say they are a very big part in my attraction to it as my vacation spot! The only thing I don’t like about this is that when I tell people I’m going there I usually get some smartass comment with a reference or innuendo towards either the Red Light District or the marijuana. If it’s from a friend then it’s fine and welcome (assuming the right place and time) however if it’s just from some acquaintance at work then it is not at all appreciated. I don’t care if you’re “just trying to be cool” or funny, you’re not, that shit’s illegal here and there’s no guarantee that what you’re saying aloud might reach the wrong ears and result in a piss test I’m going to fail when I get back. Outside of work is fine, I don’t care who you are, but that’s just not cool there.

In conclusion, I really miss that place and wish I was still there right now. You have no idea how depressed I was on my last day! (I, of course, made the best of it though... :)) 

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Today I was at the mall and stopped in at the Apple Store. I don't really like mac's but the last keyboard for the imac that they released was awesome and a new one came out not too long ago so I thought I would check it out. I typed on it for about 10 seconds and decided I had to buy it. Not only does it look really cool (It's gotta be like 1/8th of an inch thick) but the keys feel great while I'm typing on it (It's like laptop keys). This was a little expensive but I think it was worth the $50 I spent on it. In fact, the only reason I'm really typing this right now is because I just plugged it in and I really want to type on it, I like to type and typing on this thing both feels and sounds good! haha I'm sitting here just thinking of things to fill up space so I can keep on typing. I guess it was a good purchase, I selected "Nothing" for mood when I started this and when I finish this sentence I'm going to go back to the combo box and select "Happy" (assuming that this is in fact an option on list for me to select anyway).

The only regret I have about this purchase is that some of the keys aren't recognized by windows. I have all the ones I need and I was able to remap some of the other ones to keys I wont use. There are volume control keys on it, I used these alot on my last keyboard, but one of them is not recognized by windows so I have to make F16, F17, and F18 the volumn control keys. I wish I could use the right keys for that. I also kinda regret this because my other mac keyboard, which I was very happy with and which still works perfectly, is not going to really get any use now. It will make a good backup though, I'm sure that if the 2 were used side by side the new one I got would be the one to break first.

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