arc-o-rama

my mighty nokia monitor became a mini lightning storm last night--and
i didn't even pour water on it.

what was more unnerving is that no breakers blew.

popeye the cat?!? and...it's fucking snowing!!!!!!!

the fat girl seems to dig spinach!

indeed, nitwit, aka "zorro" (from julie), aka fatty, aka kitty, aka fatty, aka evil bitch, aka little whore, aka pussy pussy (in hungarian), seems to have a new alias:

popeye!

she's been sort of satanic lately about her disdain for the cat food that was on sale, so i stuck some baby spinach in her bowl. she totally ate it!

we've been getting along great lately. soon, she will have a "jeremy vacation," though.

i think that she's figured out that if i'm not home by nightfall (such a great sci-fi story), she's been left for days. if i come home after dark, the cat screams at me for a couple of hours.

maybe it's time to jettison this cat for one that doesn't give a fuck.

this snow shit is bullshit. i'm glad that i'm getting to go to the west texas for a couple of weeks.

lots of water, sunscreen, and a snakebite kit are all i require. i'm stokeed. i wish that i could express this shit. i'm going with a fucking nebraskan that i think is a moron (he decided on his last trip to the texas border that it was the most horrible place on earth), but i'm going to have a great time.

after all, this is my home. sure, it's a horrible place, but that's a certain KIND of beautiful for me. i'm planning lots of photos here. i might even have to take a photo of the worst restroom in the u.s. (according to the onion), since i know precisely which one it is.

been there, pisseeed on it.

doctor visit; illness; kung fu; a battery quest; travel plans; canvas hat; beard update; organ work

i got a note from the doctor:

mr. ziehe is on a medication that temporarily affect his thinking. (illegible text) he get used to it this side effect will go away.

beautiful.

i've been sick for two days--i blame it on the steak that i ate sunday night, or janette got me sick.

the greatest thing on earth are the $1 dvds at the grocery store. i'm currently watching
blood of the ninja, aka

it's pretty amusing.

today, once i felt like getting out of bed and quit the turd-o-rama, i looked into getting this antique camera working. it appears that the motherfucker is calibrated for silver batteries! such great news! i was toying with the idea of getting a digital camera for my upcoming travels.

the travels are an off-road excursion from el paso to san antonio. the best part of the deal is that it's one of my all-expenses paid trips. whoo hoo! i get to visit my favorite places from early early childhood and get paid to do so. since i'll only be using the railroad right of way, i've rented a suv for this excursion. i'm actually really looking forward to this. i have to track ms. clayton down to visit her, and see the grandparents.

i have procurred a super-cool waterproof canvas hat (think super vietnam hat) for my fieldwork, so that my neck doesn't get so red anymore.

the beard is progressing nicely--should be a sufficient disguise for the del rio excursion.

i recorded some organ music today that i want to put to rest, but got the phrasing all fucked up. maybe tomorrow...

this kid blows me away

really.

check this shit.

the tracks that fucking turn me on are "maiden voyage" and "watermelon island."

you gotta love those jazzy names and shit, bitches. the weakest shit, though, is that if you click "buy now" the fucking lame sony corp. doesn't even acknowledge this kid.

he's a FUCKING MONSTER ON THE PIANO. really really really.

this is worth checking out! i should've used the caps lock more on this post.

i am pisseeed.

it appears that the angels' tour will be moving away from me during my texas trip. that totally sucks. what's worse, is that they won't be in denver. the mighty cloud playing on the floor, and my dumb ass talking bass amps with michael must be to blame. that, or scott c. is a fuck.

i said it. even though no one else formerly (i guess that i'm it) of the cloud would.

still, the angels' soundcheck was funny to me. m.g. totally telling the sound monkey which band on which eq unit to fuck with.

m.g. is a mighty m.f.

i'm trying to schedule my trips to coincide with some shows that are interesting. so far, i've had no luck.

i did locate an amazing public jazz radio station in denver (the devil's whorehouse). seriously, y'all need to check it. listening to jazz has gotten me much more relieved about my playing. unfortunately, a lot of the new recordings do interesting panning, which doesn't translate well to the speakerless wonder that is the batmobile.

i ought to fix that.

something weird just happened at the safeway

i had dinner with erich and vera and then, on my way back from boulder, i stopped at the en route safeway to pick up a few supplies.

on the way out of the store, i dodged some kids that worked there and were talking to their friends during a break.

then, as i got into the batmobile (or, fumbled with carkeys), i was approached by a woman.

(this is where shit gets weird--and i'll kick this out in a weird format to match)

hot, 40-something granola-ey woman: is this your car?

me: indeed, it is.

h4sgw: what year is it?

me: it's an '83.

so i talked about old volvo wagons and shops and engines and crap for 45 minutes with a strange woman. what was not attractive about this woman was that she approached me in a parking lot. she had to be derranged.

she starts in on the sex appeal of these cars. this was truely a FUCKEED situation.

i decided that i wanted to go at this point and she wouldn't let me. she kept talking and talking, and standing behind the car, preventing my escape. i didn't want to run her over--this is the one time that i didn't get totally awkward when having to speak to a strange, attractive woman.

questions that i want the answers to:

• am i not scarey enough anymore to keep this from happening?
• what am i doing differently now?

heather

today, i weeded through my email and deleted spam that made it through the filter. i had a message from heather in ventura. totally outrageous. i really didn't expect to hear from her again. i don't know if i will reply, though. she inquired about the band, and i'd rather not have to explain that i'm a complete fuck-up.

something accomplished

referencing this post:

today i accomplished something and registered shit. now, wait and see if anything gets accepted.

finally fucking back

from the eastern colorado. i got my samples, and i learned a few things:

• the dodge ram with a hemi ain't all that;
• the preservatives for groundwater samples are more satanic than the groundwater (hno3 sucks--especially on your face/eyes/lungs); and
• don't move too fast with a so-called utility knife (i really have fucked up my left thumb now. fucked up = almost cut off. it looks bad and hurts like hell--probably the fucking nitric acid. no bass playing until i have an opportunity to assess the thumb's situation).

so tomorrow, i'll be rid of the dodge. i need to do laundry and hope that most of my field clothes don't dissolve (that's some good acid, man).

in other news, since i've been in a sans-razor situation, i've got this amazing white beard going on. too silly, really. ho ho ho and shit.

i've put in >70 hours this week and need to rest.

the funniest sticky note

on a box of donuts at the facility:

"these donuts are for white people and indians.
they are NOT for white mexicans."

i love this facility, and the handful of employees are too funny.

jason heller was right

those outkast records really are good shit.

tonight, before watching the robot movie, getting sweaty (dancing with myself--thank you, billy) with the outkast and others.

i'm a terrorist, and, airports suck, synthesizer surgery, no underwear, and much, much more!

i totally got fuckeed by the tsa in wichita. more on that later (i'll expand this post).

expansion begins here:

after doing the surface water samples of the ditch adjacent to the former refinery, i had to get the chains of custody in order and jet to the ups. it turned out that the nearest, latest UPS location was a ups store (i thought of marie), and i would be the asshole that showed up at 6:57 when they close at 7. it really wasn't a big deal, though, because i have an account and only needed to bum some tape from them.

i drove up the rock road to the lamest holiday inn ever to take a shower and figure out what united fucking airlines deal was for thursday night departures. of course, wichita isn't a major airport, so i had to spend the night. i had a tremendous chinese food jones, so i cruised down the street to a place that would satisfy my requirement for the chinese food.

i sat next to the only gay couple in wichita, and they made out and smoked in the non-smoking establishment. very punk rock, really, but i didn't want to see dudes making out. it just wasn't totally appetizing.

after dinner, i decided to walk around a bit and have my after dinner smoke. behold! the mighty jessica called me. she had great timing, and i was so excited to hear from her. it's so nice to hear from friends (and be functional enough to chat while i'm on the road). we talked about her job stress level and interest rates and not wearing underwear (my girl-friends are the best because i can tease them about crap like that. after all, i'm the gay friend). i'm still a bit bummed out that things didn't work out with her, but at least we're friends (for a while now, too). i love her.

i went back to the motel, jerked off and watched a pimp my ride episode. these car/bike building shows are my new addiction. i also dig the wild boyz, because it makes fun of steve irwin, who's a total idiot.

managed to get out of wichita 6 hours ahead of schedule, which meant getting my ass out of bed at 4:30 wichita time (3:30 jeremy time), and heading to the airport. on the way there, i realized that i'd packed the map of the city away deep within the suitcase of doom (the clothes carrier--none of my suits still fit my obese ass--mostly in the shoulders, though). i had to fill up the rental truck--a 2005 chevy colorado with 36 miles on it--i don't know how i could have possibly put 70 miles on it driving around a little bitty facility. that car (more of a car than a truck) will be reviewed soon on the bod-rides page. no one has seen that yet, except the mighty wull, who was listening to classic country last time i saw him--then he switched to the all prince station.

anyhow, at the gas station, i did the quick car clean out, and gassed up--it's about a penny cheaper in kansas compared to thornton. then, as i prepared to leave the vacant gas station in a more questionable part of town, i realized that, somehow, the car key gnomes had fucked with me in a bad way.

the keys were located within the trash barrel with the fountain drink cup (diet dr. pepper) that i had jettisoned minutes earlier.

it turned out that i knew where the fucking airport was from memory. i didn't require a map, so all was good. i was given the choice of denver or chicago at the check-in. denver sounded more appealing because i don't like either airport in chicago, and i don't know anyone to visit.

i got a cup of coffee and proceeded to the mighty line for the tsa. fucking assholes.

everything was going great until i tried to carry on the water-level-meter (aka interface probe). they totally busted me. luckily the cameron-cool logo consists of two crescents, and my license photo looks like i'm insane. they did a wipe sample on the interface probe (this isn't what you should call it, even if it's correct), and since it's totally contaminated, i was busted. it's not that bad, really. i'd make out with it.

so i got interrogated and searched, and had to check it in. despite essentially being a giant measuring tape with a beeper, it apparently can be used as a weapon. wtf, dudes? on my way BACK THROUGH SECURITY, i was in a different line, and the geezer tried to bust me again, on the random stop deal. i must look like a maniac--er, that's why i'm on these pills, right? the supervisor stopped him from fucking with me again. it's a good thing, because i don't like people in my space. next time i'm flying, i'm not going to wear underwear, though, and wear a stainless cockring, so that when i have to drop my pants, i can freak some other passengers out.

i read lots of the novel while waiting and flying. i'm getting into it now. i want to see the main character naked--she seems like a girl that i could totally get into, even if she is into fashion. more about the book in my book report later.

today, i did synthesizer surgery--since the k2000 isn't under warranty (and it's not classic gear with collector value), i can be a wildman with diy upgrades. today's fun was the fan upgrade. next, it's the ram upgrade (once i track the parts down--it's amazing that 1991 is an antique, really), then there's the hard drive that needs to be installed (same problem with obsolete equipment there), the pram upgrade (more programs!), the os upgrade (i might have a pro do this--requires soldering and a bunch of maybes), and the mighty sampling option (that one is several hundred dollars, but then i can totally do my own samples, instead of relying on someone else's pristene bullshit). i'd like the expansion rom boards, when i can get 'em for a decent price on the ebay.

wtf? shuffle isn't working....it's all waylon all night long. there's worse things, though.

tonight, i'm going to try to sit through i, robot and eat green beans. tomorrow, it's out to eastern colorado for the rad samples. i've devised a way to get to the random locations, despite my gps being too cheesy to do it. it's all pythagorean and shit. the math crew would be proud. maybe a story problem about this shit, doggs.

a card carrying member

i totally forgot that i had sent my ascap application in before the ill-fated tour. this is quite ironic, really.

this ain't kansas anymore

after the denver airport debacle, i did indeed make it to wichita. that was a clusterfuck if i've ever seen one. united airlines goes onto the list with the colorado department of revenue.

speaking of the list, it looks like i'll be in del rio next month. ha ha. that's dear old dad's last known address.

i'll be out of town most of the summer. since that's confirmed, i need to call gann and let him know that i'm going to be unavailable mostly, unless that's not an issue. kind of a bummer, really.

the next voicemail was from the doctor, regarding my test results. i don't want to talk about that shit here. people that matter will know, otherwise, they don't really need to know, right?

this weekend, i'm off to the hot zone in eastern colorado. i'm stokeed to be working with radioactive waste and shit, oddly. really, that's the next big thing in this business. as the oil situation gets more whack, hopefully more nuke plants will be built. if i play my cards right, i can make some money before i get cancer. (big edit here) i probably won't have to worry about that anyway.

i got a serious sunburn yesterday.

that cat is pissed that i left her home alone. she's pisseeed.

3 hours of sleep makes the ol' attention span and vocabulary suck.

i have been rockin that 50 cent record recently, and it's alright, really.

stair falling 101 - i'm going to whine here

i fell down the stairs twice today, and now i'm all beat up. just hurt legs, arms, ribs, back, shoulders. luckily, i didn't break anything or get another concussion. it would've sucked to get seriously injured and have to locate a hospital. i was actually attempting to walk down the stairs to get a snowshovel. i've decided that the sorrels are too goofy for technical walking. they're nice and warm and stuff, though. i only get to wear them every couple of years.

united airlines hasn't decided that my flight is delayed in the morning. it looks like the wichita weather forecast has improved, so maybe i won't have 3 days of sampling in the rain.

almost a tire-chain moment

i was supposed to go to the folks for lunch--i think that mom wants to hang out with her kids once a week--and we've sort of been doing this shit on sundays as schedules allow. i think that they're totally becoming weird old people. mom's big purpose in life (besides working at the er all night long) seems to be trying to mend shit with me.

after falling down the stairs and the ninja episode, my plan for lunch was aborted, and i decided to watch some tv. the dish got too crusty and quit working. i did assertain that the "DON'T PANIC" movie is coming out this month. i didn't even know that was being made. i need to go to more movies, but i got used to going with friends, and it's not the same otherwise.

i took a nap, and dreamt of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. upon awaking, i called my mother back (her call woke me up), and i decided to take a trip to the amputee albertson's for peanut butter, jelly, and bread. i should've gone to the sooper place, because that super cute supervisor girl with glasses usually works on sundays. the albertson's is usually like a twilight zone episode, which is more entertaining than beautiful girls that drive honda civics (i'm not stalking her, really). at least i'm not peeing on her car or something strange.

i fell down the stairs again. the mighty volvo got out of the hole just barely. the top of the hill didn't have much snow, but i thought that i was going to have a ghost-buffalo-tire-chain moment for a second. wait....i didn't have nevada extortionist tire chain salesmen working against me. i didn't want to shovel, though.

i'm currently eating a modest peanut butter and jelly sandwich. not as good as the dream sandwich, but that's alright. i'm contemplating taking some ambien and surplus vodka, but i have some shit to do before i fly to wichita in the morning. just some stupid shit so that i don't have to clean house when i get back, but the ambien is a hard motherfucker, and i have no idea what booze would do.

last night, i played some pool with the wull and had a couple of beers. this was a special occasion to celebrate his tenure-track employment. he beat me by one ball 4/5 of the games. i thought that the spirit of led zeppelin had possessed me at one point, but alas, this is a lame sports bar, with homely middle-aged women (trying to be hot and young again), these 50-something dudes that are always there (they can play some pool, and talk about pussy), and really enibriated mexican guys (CNs, if you will, or not--i never quite understood that one, but it's a weird term anyway). erich and i talked about each other sucking, how i'll have to visit him in the durango so that he can go out and drink beer and play pool, and how he's going to a conference about the moore method of teaching mathematics. essentially, he'll give his students a bunch of axioms at the beginning of the semester, and then spend the rest of the time making them prove shit on the board in front of the class. then, when they fuck something up, he's supposed to ridicule them. basically, the teaching method is all about ridicule. lovely, ain't it? we talked about cars, and how i've modified my plans because of the gas crisis, and the last rental car racing experience. i'm still not sold on the hybrid shit, but a 4-cylinder coupe or maybe a decent v6 car will work just fine.

i wanted to talk to mahoney about the price level and crap today. i finally got through to him about the impact of petroleum--you'd expect a trucking industry type to be less dense, but that wasn't the case. essentially, i see everything costing more soon. my clients are already freaking out because i filled up the rental car--then, i mark it up 10% and bill them. a lot of the weekend talk radio has been about the maximum oil production. i totally got a d- in the natural resource econ, but i don't remember that being discussed. everything was in terms of price, not quanity. the price will continue to rise until you get to the last drop. eventually, the petroleum price reaches that of the backstop technology, and then, consumers start using that. economic theory is great and all, but it seems to me that if no one is using oil anymore, it'll get cheap, and stabilize at the backstop technology price. maybe that's where we are. i hate being out of the field.

blizzard boredom

i totally fell down the stairs today, and thought that i broke an arm and some ribs, but somehow i escaped any real injuries.

my hypothesis is that i am indeed a ninja.


sort of like the real ultimate power site, the ninja burger site had this, and i totally couldn't resist. it amused me and scared the cat for about 5 minutes.

myspace proclaims

Jeremy has friends.

it seems that i have no longer broken the myspace, and i wasted time putting my schools in there. that was a little tedious.

link-age required!

working on the box of dirt - rides page. i've fingered out how to do up a blog-based deal.

i require decent automotive links, though. (this is where y'all are supposed to comment)

watch out for a complete re-vamp of the box of dirt shit if this experiment goes well. it would be nice to be able to change my pages from my telephone.

really burnt up

my cheesy camera sucks. i wanted car photos, and it cut out some important details. oh well, i'll still do the review, but sort of wanted a flicker-style notes thingy, instead of a tired old text-based deal. might have to use the flicker or do some development. probably going to add these pages to the box of dirt site, since it needs content.

this is a test

this is a test
Originally uploaded by jziehe.

blee blee blee

words of wisdom from mom

i returned mom's call today--i had been asleep when he called me.

she says "the al quaeda better get their act together if they're going to kill some catholics. they really should take advantage of this to kill some fucking christians."

beautiful. mom is now a terrorist strategist, and we talked about this for like 15 minutes on the radio phone. i expect the mibs to show up anytime now.

still working on the car review. actually, tito said something about me being a car guy, but i don't think that i was sober enough to make that comment write to the hard drive. oh well.

allow me to rip on dr. dre mixes.

the doctor does cheesy stereo friendly mixes. needs more of those low mids to really slam some speakers. sure subs are cool an' all, but your average white boy lame ass isn't using a decent rig. the low mids are the key to a slamming sound. maybe it's just radio friendly.

just bringing up the low mids like 100-200hz really makes it hurt so good.

why am i unleashing the blog-o-rama? i read an article about this shit (online, no less), and apparently hardcore bloggers allow it to take over their lives. this costs marriages and shit.

speaking of the rocky marriages, lisa complimented me on my work today, which stunned me and most of the office. she's loud, so everyone knows (or thinks) that we're pals. honestly, i've plotted her death many times. she's not even on the list, though. and...i'm not going to even list that shit here. i hope that i do get a terminal disease, though, so that i can do up that shit. none of this "have a stroke on the couch" or "drop dead during an oil-change" bullshit. my family's weak blood vessels are so so so so lame. goddamn faggots. nevermind that all of them are like house-sized men, and could beat my ass. lucky me--i got the same width and weight, but i'm a total midget, compared to the uncles. the uncles are all monsters, or WERE monsters. they all have succombed to the vascular crap, except richard.

i'm becoming richard, though. hopefully, i won't find jesus or some shit. i have too much furniture. i don't have a clothes processor, but i have a robot vacuum. i have a grey cat that only serves to be an outlet for yelling. not because she's a bad cat, just because she's a cat. i have four computers, though. at least i'm not working for the government, though.

the wull scores a job and other shit

looks like he's teaching at the mountain bike capital of the world. tenure-track and shit.

whoop there it is, e-dogg. congrats.

i'm sampling man. tomorrow it's the north denver and pecos yards' water treatment plants. friday, it's putzing with my wwtp in the cheyenne. next week, fucking solvent recycling in wichita. then, fucking bfe colorado at haz waste/radium o rama. been doing shit down at the former mercy hospital place looking for the asbestos this week. two weeks from now, it's south texas, playing water well guru with a fucking annoying engineer from omaha. it's good that i have family to stay with if i get fed up and quit. better yet, it looks like we'll be out near the del rio, and i might pay dear old dad a visit--it's been 16 years since i dealt with his ass, and i'd love to fuck with him--leave a note in his windshield wiper, or even better, a face to face confrontation. if you have hate in your heart, let it out, right?

shit, girl, at least i have a phat ride for this. seriously, the rental car of the year. it's faster than the impala, and has a funky-fresh seat (like a couch and shit). the car review will be forthcoming--maybe tomorrow or friday.

no change on the med situation. i still feel about the same. did the fucking blood test shit yesterday. a hot blonde with a somewhat british accent took my blood. only 3 vials this time, though.

still, i think that maybe i require a different stabilzer, because i'm still going to pieces while watching robbie knievel on tv and nascar races and shit. i'm not feeling that mania like playing rock, though.

mr. gann finally called me back. we're both the worst at returning calls, apparently. i'm having thoughts that i might be too busy at the jobby to rock anymore. i need a lull, so that i can get established in a band, and then start turning down travel again, like i did during the cloud situation. i'll call him once i find out more.

i had to call e-dogg about this shit

they misspelled his first name, but "oh well."

3/19/05 - 3rd place - CU Criterium

Eric McAlister sprinted to a podium finish after 55 minutes of brutal pain. The support from teamates Mike Olivero, Peter Shaffer, Dave Jones and Lee Gerakos made it the first race of the season feel like a group ride. All the Acme Racing Team entrants stayed close to the front, pulled back flyers and breaks and worked very well together.

Erich McAlister leading up to the final sprint.

Erich McAlister close to the line in the final sprint.

tough as shit

i think that the elephant 6 mobile would be tough as shit with this.