File this under "Shit that Dominates"

Just had a quick back and forth with my friend Sonia and wrote the following, which I now share with the world (apologies for the casual approach to caps and punctuation):

halloween is lame in the extreme. I hate it sooooooo much. but there will be people there. I keep telling myself I can handle it. if spencer weren't driving I couldn't deal. but he will drive so I'll just have to dj the ride out there so we don't listen to Europe "Final Countdown" the whole way. yeah this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZkllM8znx4

I was all set to embed the Europe video but it's been disabled.
F that noise.

Good news from tvland

Been almost two weeks since we last visited. I'm losing readers left and right but I don't have anything interesting to share. I work, I go to the gym, I study or do some kind of professional development, I go home. Sometimes I ride motorcycles.

Big news of the week is that my old roommate Charm was on TV for a while. I had heard he was on the Tool Academy show but I hadn't had a chance to to watch it. I finally caught an episode this past weekend. Well, I watched the first 8 minutes until it went to commercial. Didn't bother coming back after that. Turns out he was doing surprisingly well on the show until this weekend, when he got the boot and (predictably) blamed other people. You might remember this is the guy that I evicted for:

• Moving his girlfriend (pictured) into the house without mentioning it to me & the other roommate (when I confronted him about this he blamed her and said "I told her to keep it low pro, but she didn't respect it").
  
• Not paying rent on time.
  
• Not paying bills on time.
  
• Not keeping the place clean.
  
• Using stuff (my computer, other people's food) without asking.
• Making the other roommate miserable with his noise and lazy, filthy personal habits.
• Any number of other awesome stuff that you can expect from a roommate that sucks, such as: buying porn (titles: Big City Booty and Asses Extreme II) on the cable PPV and leaving me with the bill. I already paid him his full deposit, so that's sunk cost at this point. Sweet.
• Special Bonus: When I gave him notice his mom wanted to come and talk to me about it. She was convinced that he was getting a raw deal. It couldn't possibly be his fault that he sucks at life.

You can read the recap of how much he sucks over on the vh1 tool academy blog.

It was kind of fun to see him in action and watch him take his shit-show public. Judging by the comments it was not very well-received.

It's been a long week

Long week this week. Moved over the weekend, adjusting to the new commute and new roommates (one of whom is pictured). Still trying to get unpacked, I don't get home from work and the gym until after 10. All of which adds up to a reduced blog schedule. I'll get back to my usual post rate after I get my act sorted and settled.

New roommate just wants to love you. Unless you're a dog. Then she's a liiiittle bit aggressive, and by that I mean she might eat your face. But she's super sweet with people and she's doing her best to become more friendly with the other dogs. Aww, super cute. She's a rescue dog, and as far anyone can tell she's mostly doberman, with a mix of other stuff. But mostly doberman, as you can see by her coloring.

More later.
thanks for reading.

Change is good for you (??)

We're in transition right now at Chez Case. For example, we won't be at Chez Case after Saturday; we're taking our show over to Chez Spencer, which is a bit far from where I'd like to live but also a lot cheaper with no lease or similar financial entanglements, which is nice when you're in a state of professional and personal transition. Moving sucks, but I've been selling everything that isn't nailed down. Said goodbye to the washer and dryer yesterday, and sold Thunder (the blue bike) earlier in the week. Was sad to see her go but she's in a better place now.

On the plus side the new bike is looking better than ever with a new fender eliminator and rear hugger (that's the shiny orange bit over the rear tire). And I still have a job (as of today). So things could be worse.

------------

Really enjoyed this article about motorcycles from Slate. Excerpt:

The impression came one day in my late teens when my cousin taught me how to ride. Out of a shack that passed for a garage he wheeled a dusty old machine with the word Honda visible on the tank. He started it with a few vigorous kicks, indicated the throttle and clutch, and mentioned something about brakes. I managed to kick it into gear and hit the throttle, sending a stray dog running for his life.

In that moment, it dawned on me: I had found one of earth's highest pleasures.

I know what you mean...

Sad faces, mechanical challenges, and good customer service

I spent several hours last night installing a new part on the motorcycle (a Taylormade fender eliminator, if you must know). Except it wasn't the right part. So I called the distributor today and told him hey, that's not what I expected, and he said yeah that's the new part, replaces the old part. Oh. That's kind of annoying, I said. Yeah, we're talking to some people about that, but you know how it goes. Indeed I do sir, indeed I do.

I had some questions about the install because this kit was not going together as expected (some pieces missing, some pieces don't fit quite as well as I'd like). He couldn't help me, told me to call Taylormade. I said sure. So I called Taylormade Racing and asked for help. They put me on the phone with, no joke, Paul Taylor. As in, the boss. Bear in mind I didn't buy a super expensive or exclusive part (as these things are measured).

So I talk to Mr. Taylor, who sounds like he stepped straight off the set of Masterpiece Theater, and he gives me the scoop on my 2nd generation part (quality improvements, he says), the install, and the missing pieces (our mistake, he says). And as annoyed as I was last night with my bike in pieces scattered around my garage, and that my part doesn't match what I was sold on the website, it's all better now. And it only took 5 minutes on the phone.

Still have to install it tonight when I get home though. Should be easier a second time. Maybe.