The Rule of 4

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
*SPSS Inc. - Account Rep (Best)
*Real Estate Agent - Century 21 Scheetz (most short-lived and painful)
*Mitchell's Fish Market - Server (Best Paying)
*Father (I sucked at this job...)

Four movies you could watch over and over:
*Rudy (Best Football Movie. Ever.)
*The South Park Movie
*Remember the Titans
*Old School


Four television shows you love:
*24
*Nip/Tuck
*Family Guy
*Freddy...yes, Freddy

Four places you have lived:
*Dallas, GA
*Perrysburg, OH
*Indianapolis, IN
*Chicago, IL

Four places you have been on vacation:
*Maui
*Puerto Rico (twice)
*Aspen (flyfishing)
*Vancouver (salmon fishing)

Four websites you visit daily:
*Deadspin.com
*bluegraysky.blogspot.com
*espn.com
*ign.com

Four places you would rather be right now:
*At home, in bed
*Pburg, with the family
*Golf course with Skaggs and our Dads
*A bar, with my friends

Umm..

Do I even need to comment? Van Dammeit it's Friday!

Last Day...

Finally, it's here. My final day in TAG, my final day being berated by the public for something they rarely understand. I about lost it when a guy very simliar to this choche-monkey deemed himself as too important to discuss the personal matters of his phone number and position at 'douchebag' software. Listen, guy, take your self-appointed CEO position at the company you started after getting fired from for sexual harrassment and shove it up your ass. You're asking for information on a 5 fucking figure investment, we don't just short-end all these fucking leads. You don't matter on any speck of your existence, most likely your wife is cheating on you with the 17 year old hispanic boy next door. Your daughter hates you, and probably smokes better weed than you do. So quit with the attitude and go waste one of our Field Sales reps times when he tells you that our software costs more than your whole operating budget for the year. Bastard. You wouldn't like me angry...

Blue-Gray Sky

I implore all of you to visit Blue-Gray Sky for what is a fantastic overview of the Fighting Irish season this year. I'd love to see a comparison of the top 10 plays from last year to this year's. I get goosebumps, chills and overanxious for next year's season to start. Anybody have an idea of how to keep myself occupied until at least April 22nd for the Blue and Gold game, let alone Sept. 2nd?

Seriously people...seriously.

This all stems from my trip on the El this morning. An apparently 'trendy' young lass was wearing something oddly simliar to the picture to the right. Explain this crap to me. Please? What is the deal with this new fad? Ballerina Shoes? Prada, Adidas, Nike, you name it. They have BALLERINA SHOES being sold to the public. What is the functionality for this? I've been told that girls on the way to work wear more comfortable shoes or shoes that are warmer than what they have to at their job. What in the HELL is the functionality behind wearing what is essentially a padded sock? In case there is a sudden outbreak of criminals that can only be fought off by pirouettes and whatever else people do in the ballet. I can understand wearing sneakers, boots, hell even Uggs have some sort of functionality. But, unless you need to beautifully spin out of the way of an oncoming passenger on the El, don't wear this crap. You look like an idiot, and most likely your feet are cold. Boo that man.

Welcome to the real world?

It seems that I am no longer a 'big boy' working in a grownup job. Everyone that I know that supposedly is the previously said person does all of 2 hours of work over the full 8 hours. That's what I did for the first 4 months at SPSS. Now, it seems with my new promotion I will no longer have the ability to read 15 different sports blogs and keep as up to date as humanly possible with the outside world. I now must learn to manage my time, keep focused and succeed at work. Frankly, I'm excited about it. The new team I'm working with is very well lead, by one of Shannon's best friends who originally got me the job at SPSS, and is very successful. I'm stoked to start the next chapter in 'Mature' Ryan. Hooray for me.

Supply Room - 0 RV - 2

It is true, the Supply Room has officially been made my bitch, again. I recently moved 3 cubicles down in the TAG department before my permanent departure to Higher Ed. Feeling the need to resupply myself, I hit up the Supply Room with a fellow employee in tow for backup. The score? Paperclips, a magnetic Paperclip thingy, SPSS coffee mug, medium sized binder clips, a refill for my medium calendar (it's 06 baby!) and a fucking staple remover. I am all that is man!

Because Rucker strong-armed me...

1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT? I've got beautitful scars on my shoulder from semi-reconstructive surgery. 6 anchors holding it together, and very nicely I might add.

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM? Well, since I have all of one room, that's an easy one. I've got most of my hats hanging by my closet, and an awesome painting that my buddies girlfriend painted for me above my bed. Picture frames and Scarface ensamble still need to be hung.

3. WHAT DOES YOUR CELL PHONE LOOK LIKE? Black Razr, cause that's how I roll.

4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO? I've been enjoying the latest from John Mayer Trio, love that CD. Other than that, DMB, Gavin DeGraw, Ben Harper, Switchfoot, etc...etc...

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? The same moment Chuck Norris cried.

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? To have my personal finances cleared up. My previous irresponsibilities will be screwing me for years.

7. WHAT DO YOU MISS AT TIMES? My close friends that I abandoned in my trails across the midwest. Sniff...

8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION? Hmm, for being a materialistic person, I'm not that hopped up on one thing. My dvd collection is important to me.

9. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SMELL? A fresh beer on Saturday mornings in October. Booyah for College Football.

10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC? Sometimes when I'm trying to sleep.

11. IF YOU DIED TOMORROW: Chuck Norris would throw a party in thanks that he was no longer getting his ass kicked by a 185lb college dropout.

12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY Tri Cao. The motherfucker tazered me for a good 20 seconds. That shit hurt.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME? I don't wear cologne much anymore. If Shannon decides to buy me anything, then maybe. Otherwise, the combination of my personal musk and Irish Spring Sport do me right.

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX? I've changed...no more curly blondes, I'll take my thick shoulder length brunettes.

22. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SINGER(s)? As previously stated, I'm enjoying John Mayer, but it's not the singing so much as his blues guitar. Probably Chris Martin as a singer.

23. FAVORITE BAND(s) - See #4.

24. WHAT KIND OF BOOKS DO YOU LIKE TO READ? I've been reading action/adventure books lately. Not the choose your own adventure kind, but maybe I should look into that. Recently have been working on a success-type book from the same guy that did Men are from Mars, Women are 'Crazy Asses'.

25. FAVORITE DESSERT: Hmm...anything, I love me some sweets.

26.HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR COFFEE? In someone else's body. That shit is gross...

27. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE ? "Only God can judge me"

28. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING? Depends what you mean by leaving. Like, leaving for the afternoon? Leaving for a gang bang? You're leaving me open for failure here...I'll just say No. You may not have the ability to decide if you want to fall in love with someone, but you do have the ability to shield yourself from being hurt.

29. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU? Actions speak louder than words.

30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:18

31. BLONDES, REDHEADS OR BRUNETTES? No more Blondes for me, and I've only gotten hurt by Redheads, so I'll go with the Brunettes.

32. WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN? Shannon Lynn Moser.

33. WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST? Blatant stupidity and reverse racism. I hate that shit.

34. HAVE YOU EVER DONE A PRANK CALL? I work in a call center, you figure that one out.

35. WHO IS YOUR CURRENT CRUSH? That Hansel's so hot right now.

36. WHAT IS YOUR WORST FEAR? It used to be Failure, but I've done that enough to be able to pick myself up. Losing another person I care about scares the shit out of me. And the Boogeyman.

37. SAY SOMETHING TO SOMEONE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN/TALKED TO IN AWHILE: What the hell? Why would someone I haven't seen or talked to in awhile be reading my blog. You sir are an idiot.

38. HAVE YOU EVER SAID "I LOVE YOU" AND NOT MEANT IT? Used to be my speciality. Not because I'm an asshole (that's apparent for other reasons), but because I used to put so much stock in finding someone to love me that I would make myself believe that I was in love. When I wasn't.

39. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED OUT THIS SURVEY? Hoping that Rucker wouldn't ask me to fill this out, attempting to get work done.

40. IF YOU COULD GET PLASTIC SURGERY, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Plastic surgery? Never. Have you seen Nip/Tuck, the Carver is still out there!

41. WHY DID YOU FILL OUT THIS SURVEY? I blame Rucker.

42. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ON YOUR PIZZA? Sausage and Mushroom.

43. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL? Quit drinking at bars.

44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY? Tivo, or tickets to any ND game next year. Or all of them.

45. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF IT SUDDENLY STARTED RAINING BLOOD? Who the fuck came up with that question? Sadistic bastard.

46. Do you believe that myspace is the devil in disguise? Myspace is an online social faction...if the devil is doing his deeds through myspace, I know I've picked the right side with Christianity.

47. What is your favorite animal? Chinchilla. They're soft. :)

48.Whats you're favorite sport team and your favorite player from that team? Hmm...that's difficult to put my 'favorite' tag on one sports team. How about the Fighting Irish and Darius Walker. My darkhorse for the Heisman next year.

49. What is good and what is evil? Once again...you ask me my favorite animal two questions earlier then this question? What the hell?

50. Who is your favorite person? Papa Valle. He's the shit.

Holy Crap, I am Alive!

Hello, all my loyal listeners. I apologize for being absent, I'm a lazy bastard and realize that nobody really reads this anyways...except for Rucker. Thanks for the support, Alan. Now where was I...it's been almost a month and quite a bit has happened.

Christmas was awesome. I drove home and retired the 'Clipse, considering I just take the El to work every day and to say parking is a bitch would be an understatement. Our family usually does a good job of getting together for Christmas, even though we're slowly starting to spread out from Toledo. It was great to see Sara, my Marine cousin, who finished her stint with Toys for Tots in Philly. Couldn't be more proud of the accomplishment she had there, setting records for the amount of toys. My G'Mas birthday is Christmas Eve, so our tradition has been to go to dinner with everyone in the family. This is always a good time when you try and get 15-25 people together at one restaurant on Christmas Eve. I always pity the server who has 7 different checks and we always change seats multiple times. Then I remember that people used to do the same to me so many times that I deserve to be an ass every once and a while. Unfortunately, Shannon's visit was shortlived and did not include the usual Christmas festivities. Instead, we got to celebrate the recent engagement of long-time BFF Andy Frazier and the soon-to-be Courtney Frazier. Seen here...
The engagement party was a phenomonal event, which included all of our Parentals and seemed like something we should've done years before. I don't believe we had ever gotten Andy, Steve and I's parents together in the same place, even though each set of parents had such a huge impact on each of us growing up. It was an awesome time and included many beverages and lots of laughs. Who would argue with guys that are this good looking?

It's always great to know that I have such a supportive group of guys that I couldn't be more proud of everything they've accomplished. Christmas was great, as usual. My brother, Austin, landed an Xbox360 which my father somehow got a hold of one at Circuit City. Which is great, considering he soldiered in front of Best Buy for a few hours attempting to purchase one in the frenzy of the marketing buzz saw that is Microsoft. Needless to say, Austin was pleased. After Christmas I headed back to Chicago for a few days of work in the semi-warm climate that is rather confusing. I swear I was wearing short sleeves a few days after Christmas on the way to work. Crazy shit. Good news about that week was I had been considered for a new position as SPSS. This was right along the ideas of my master plan and I seemed to have a good chance of landing the new job.

The following weekend, Shannon and I traveled to Indianapolis (actually Fishers) to visit Kris, Le and Tri to celebrate the New Year. And, holy crap it was a good time. Shannon and Le looked their best, as usual...Tri ended up tazing me and Kris at about 4am, which was painful but hysterical. Kris and I got in a french onion dip fight, don't ask. Overall, I drank enough to kill most normal men and managed to not puke. Good times were had by all, and it was especially nice to spend some time with Rally the night before NYE and also on NYE when he decided to wear the same shirt as someone else at the party...and no, I do not have any pictures of him and Scott which sucks. But imagine showing up at a party where you know 3 people and you're wearing the same shirt as a total stranger. Little weird, but well worth it. Here come more pictures...
I'll finish this update up with talks of my promotion, soccer, Skaggs, ND-OSU fiesta bowl thoughts and much much less entertaining stuff. Stay tuned...