When I Cannot Let it Rest

In my work for the State of California as an accounting technician, every last working day of the month I am required to 'balance the checkbook' for three different divisions in my section. I really enjoy my work, but the last working day of the month can be a very stressful time.

For years now, as a little treat for myself, whenever that day fell on a Friday, I made it a habit to go out to dinner. I used to go to one of two different buffets, but that got to be to fattening (lol), so now it's either a trip to the Olive Garden or Appleby's.

This month, I ended up at Appleby's.

Now, my great-grandmother and many others have often told me that God puts us where we most need to be. Whenever we save a life, help a friend change a tire, help a child who has fallen down, or a winter coat at a 70% off sale, it's because God put us there, and I like to think God had me decide on Appleby's last night to witness the stupidity of man.

Since I was eating alone, I saw no point in waiting for a table or booth, so went right up to sit at the bar. I hadn't been there very long (just long enough to order a glass of water with lemon and the chips and salsa appetizer) when this one guy took a seat not to far from me. What made me notice him was the fact that he was wearing a tank-top.

Please know that I have nothing against tank-tops, I just don't think you should wear anything that exposes your armpits to a restaurant.

Something else that drew my attention to 'Tank-Top Man' was a tattoo I noticed on his upper left arm. The tattoo? It was of a bible passage, not the whole thing of course, just
'Leviticus 18:22'.

Now, I am not a Bible scholar, but I do have a passing familiarity with the Bible, and believe me when I say, it really made me mad that he would display such a tattoo in public. I mean, why not one of the following tattoos instead;

• God hates shrimp - Leviticus 11:9-12


• God hates poly-cotton blends - Leviticus 19:19


• God approves of slavery - Exodus 21:20-21 & Ephesians 6:5-6


• God wants you to pay your taxes without griping about it - Matthew 22:17-21


• God approves of the killing of women and children - Deuteronomy 2:33-34

Oh, and lest I forget;

• God hates tattoos - Leviticus 19:28

I'm sorry, but I'm really getting kind of sick and tired of so called 'Christians' picking and choosing what parts of the Bible they are going to follow.

I also came very close to calling the police on that guy. Why? Well;

1. He had shrimp with his dinner.


2. That tank-top was probably a polly-cotton blend.


3. In a conversation he had with the bartender, he started to complain about 'Those fat cats in DC wanna raise our taxes again'.


4. He had that ugly tattoo.

That's four biblical violations right there.

A Miserable Savings Account

Being single visits a kind of constant, low-intensity misery on a person - at least on a person who doesn't want to be single.

Coming home to an empty house, not having anyone to confide it, facing illnesses on your own - being alone hurts, but people can get use to it.

But being in a long-term relationship doesn't spare you from all that day to day pain. It just banks it. Every day you're not alone, a little misery gets put into a miserable savings account, where interest is compounded hourly.

The day you and your loved one separate, or even worse your loved one dies, all the pain that was avoided when you were coupled gets paid out at once with all the accumulated interest. You will suffer a windfall of misery.

I still wish I could open that miserable savings account though.

A Thing I've Never Done

I honestly don't know how it all got started, but somehow, my e-mail address book was hacked into, and someone or some group with nothing better to do, started bombarding my friends, family (including a 13 year old niece), and co-workers with spam adds for porn and Viagra.

I have said, and will continue to say (and please excuse the yelling) "I HAVE NOT SENT, NOR WOULD EVER SEND ANYONE (well, maybe Ann Coulter, Michele Bachmann, and Maggie Gallagher to annoy them because they annoy me) ANY INAPPROPRIATE E-MAIL TO ANYONE!"

I've said this till I'm blue in the face and my eyes have crossed, and for the most part, I like to think that my friends know me well enough in the first place that those e-mails were never from me, and in the second place would accept my word to be as good, if not better than platinum (gold can be so garish).

One 'friend' however has chosen not to believe me, and that makes me very sad and angry because they know and think so little of me, that they would assume my instant guilt for a thing I've never done.

I'm Sorry, but Not Sorry

Today was a cardio day at the gym, and I had a great workout for the most part. My only problem is that I don't know why some people even bother going to they gym if they insist on maintaining certain unhealthy habits, and then take offense because I took offense.

I was on the treadmill, going strong at 3.9 MPH with a goal of going for a full 60 minutes. I had been on for about 20 minutes and everything was going fine when this one gentleman got on to the treadmill next to mine.

Ordinarily, that would not have been a problem, but I could tell within less than a minute that the guy was a very (and I do mean VERY) heavy smoker. The man reeked of smoke, and I found the odor offensive. I have nothing against people who smoke, as long as they don't do it around me, but this guy stank of it so much, he might as well have been a giant pile of tobacco ash.

If I had just started on the treadmill, I could have gone to another, but I had already been going on the one I was on for about 20 minutes by that point, and I don't like breaking my stride when I've been going for that long. So, I took my little towel and held it over my nose, to block out the smell.

This apparently offended the guy, because he made a big to do about stopping his machine and stomping off to another one further away from me.

Part of me wanted to apologize for giving such offense that he felt the need to throw a temper tantrum, but . . . I wasn't sorry.

Last Night I had the Strangest Dream

In the dream, I learned that a flood was coming and I had no time to escape the path of destruction. I didn't even have time to write a farewell epitaph. All I could do was try to secure myself to a stone table (I have no idea why the table was stone) and pray for the best.

I could see the water getting closer and closer, and hear the roar of it's waves getting louder and louder and time seemed to go into slow motion.

Finally, the rushing water of the flood was right upon me, so I put my head down and held on tight, but then the strange part happened. Nothing happened. For some reason, the water and all it's flotsam and jetsam passed over me and didn't so much as scratch me.

After the water stopped rushing, I thought at first that I would have to dig myself out of the mud and other debris, but with the exception of plodding though the mud which came up to my mid shins, the mud wasn't that deep.

I wish I knew what the dream meant, if it had any meaning at all.

Rude People & the 6:00 a.m. Cutoff

I've noticed lately that when I get to the gym before 6:00 a.m., it's not only less crowded, but the people seem so much nicer.

Today, I got to the gym at about 8:00 a.m., and the people were NOT nice.

I do a circuit training system I've been developing and tinkering with for a while now, based on the book "Spartan Warrior Workout" by Dave Randolf. When I say tinkering, I mean that I've adapted it to my somewhat hurried schedule, so that I get the maximum amount of training in the minimum amount of time.

The only monkey wrench in the gears comes when someone decides to use the same piece of equipment that I need to use.

I honestly don't mind sharing the facilities, for although I think I'm the most important person in my world, I believe in being considerate of others. I just wish certain others felt the same way.

At one of the chest press machines, I asked the person who had just finished using it if I could work in on the same machine. His response; "I've just got one more set". Well, he just sat there for two minutes (Yes, I timed him) doing nothing. If he was taking a break, why couldn't I use the machine in the meantime, because really, it doesn't take me two minutes to pump out 10 reps at the current weight I press.

Then, at the pull-up machine, a different person draped her towel over the handlebar and just walked away. I asked her if I could use the machine while she was gone, but she just said "I'm coming right back". Well folks, I noticed that she did come back after about 5 minutes. Where was she in the meantime? Talking to her husband/boyfriend or whatever he was to her. I wanted to scream "THIS IS NOT A SINGLES BAR, LADY!" but sadly, couldn't bring myself to do it.

Things like this always happen when I get to the gym after 6:00 a.m.