The Saga of Gertrude...

Ok so we all remember the saga of Mildred and her poor offspring. Well as a recap, Mildred was a good for nothing pigeon mother that layed (2) eggs in a nest on my balcony. After they hatched she never attended to her offspring and as a result they died. One died because the bread I left outside for them was pressed into a suffocating helmet over one of the chicklings head, the other was just starved to death.

After this terrible occurence, another pigeon came by and layed (2) eggs in a nest on my balcony, we'll refer to her as Ethel. Now Ethel was a good mother and she kept her eggs warm and fed her kids until they were old enough to flap their wings and go about the world shitting on every car and on some innocent people.

It seems that in the underground pigeon network word has gone around informing all pigeons that my balcony is a safe haven to lay and raise kids. Its like my balcony is the shangri la of astoria for pigeons. So a couple weeks ago, I noticed Gertrude and her pretty shabby nest she built. I figured the wind would blow the nest right off the balcony. To my dismay the wind did not and she layed (2) eggs. She's been perched on the balcony day and night keeping those eggs warm. Even last night as I came out on the balcony to fire up the grill and make some Cajun style Rib-Eye Steaks for dinner, she kept her position and adamantly refused to leave. But I think she's getting used to the idea of me being around. I'm grateful for her accepting me out on the balcony as acceptable. I mean, the apartment is mine and all, but I suppose I'm intruding on her efforts to continue the "flying rat, good for nothing, no purpose on the food chain" process of rearing offspring.

So the story shall continue... Stay tuned for more exciting news coming from one balcony in Astoria.

A break from the normal serious entries...

So graduation seems to be upon us... yes, I am finally going to graduate. I feel like Jeremy Piven from the movie "PCU" he was in college for like 9 years. I am currently going through the motions to ensure that I walk in the spring commencement.

Here's something retarded for all (3) of my readers to ponder. Acepting your money for what the CUNY system calls "tuition" for services that are never rendered. Mostly because more than 80% of the classes are taught by "adjuncts". Adjunct here is another word for grad-school student. It seems to avert some costs the university has made it mandatory that some grad-school students of CUNY programs teach at the undergraduate level. For instance, I had a "teacher" that was younger than me during my summer 2003. Now when I say younger I'm referring to the fact that he still had not reached puberty yet.

Then there's the class where the "teacher" doesn't even know how to use the software for the course. I actually know more about the class than he does in certain instances. And more often than not he'll ask me a question about the assignments. The class has started just asking me questions directly or for an explanation of the topic at hand. One student has even "tried" to complement my by stating that the school should pay me.

So back to the topic, it seems I have to "apply" for graduation. Doesn't this seem agregiously odd to you as well? What do they think I was doing for the duration of my stay at school? Isn't my curriculum a testimony to graduation. So the purpose has been explained to me somewhat. The process goes as this.

I submit my graduation audit to office of my major. They verify that I have successfully completed all requirements for said major. They then submit my audit to the Office of Registrar, where they also check to verify that I have met all my GER (General Education Requirements) aka Core Requirements, and finally to ensure that I have completed the magic number of 120 credits in doing so. If all is acceptable they all sign off on the audit and I am allowed to graduate.

So here's something that is a bit of a touchy subject to me... Apparently, my school is too good to accept military experience as college credit. All the other senior colleges of the university accept military as some sort of college credit. I don't see why my school or how my school is "too good" to accept it. I don't care what course the credit is accepted as, just so long as it helps the cause of getting me to the magic number of 120.

Since I can see the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel", I've begun thinking about what I will do with all of my new found time. Tell you the truth, I feel "institutionalized" (from the movie Shawshank Redemption- if you haven't seen the movie, crawl out from your rock and rent/order the movie) like I wouldn't know what to do with myself and will find a way to get sent back to some institution of sorts. But that would mean more studying and exams and papers and crap of that sort which at this point in time I can whole-heartedly say.... NEVER AGAIN!!! But who knows what the future lies for me.

So thats me, and the happenings of my little life. In the words of Nick Professional Sports Guy

Good Night and help control the idiot population... have you stupid friends spayed or neutered.

Am I paranoid?...

So I've never considered myself to be a paranoid person. I've always thought of myself to be proactive in securing my safety and that of my loved ones. Now this may seem at a topical level to be a means of justifying what some would call "paranoia". But I see it as me refusing by all means possible to decrease the likelihood of my becoming a "victim". Now when I say victim, it is loosely meant to hold the description of anyone that has be taken advantage of. It doesn't mean actual physical harm.

Now, if you've read any of my other entries on this blog it may seem a bit out of character for me to write on this topic. But this rare occasion of my more serious side is the result of two occurences.

Firstly, I have a neighbor in my building of Egyptian decent. Now, that doesn't seem to odd, downright common these days. I mean, I myself, am an Asian man living in the state of NY in the United States... so no biggie thus far. Well, a couple months ago, this "neighbor" up and just disappears for about a month with his family(wife and three kids). Now nobody would've really noticed or cared for that matter because frankly, we have more important things to concern our lives with than that of the travel habits of other tenants in the building. Now the reason this came to light is because a strange red-ish color began to stain my ceiling in the bathroom. So like most people I assumed it was a leak of sorts and more than likely originating from the tenant above me. I proceeded in telling the super of this problem and he addressed it accordingly only to find out that the tenant above me too had the same red-ish discolored ceiling in his bathroom as well. Now this where you all should be going..."hmmmmm seems odd".

So accordingly, the super went to the next apartment above. Low and behold it is the apartment where the Egyptian man and his family reside. Now I've never had a real problem with this man or his family. They really kept to themselves and never really bothered or imposed on anyone.

But to no avail is the super able to gain communication with the family, let alone access to the apartment to see if the "stain" also plagued this unit. It was at this time that the super and thru the complaint of several tenants on the floor did a foul smell become the second issue at hand. It seems that a rather pungent and offensive odor was eminating from this apartment. And still yet to no avail was anyone able to gain access or find these people. I mean how could anyone, they were in Egypt, supposedly, visiting a sick relative. (i'll explain later how I know this)

Anyway, the landlord was notified and the police were summoned to help open the apartment so it would be official and all and not breaking and entering. Well, thankfully, the odor was just food that had gone bad, and the stain was nowhere to be found.

Now that all the ground work has been layed out, this is where it gets weird. The apartment was very mess, disheveled at that. Like the tenants were in an extreme rush to get out of there. Initially this seems consistent with going to visit a sick relative. But the man returns without his family. Its been several months and the rest of the family has still yet to return.

Recently, said man has gained several more "guests" that seem to be staying with him. Thus far I have seen about 4-5 men of the same ethnicity staying with him. They all travel at weird hours like they don't have jobs and just kinda come and go without any real schedule. And the man kinda has this ritual of staying in his car after he parks it in the garage for an additional 10mins or so before going upstairs to his apt.

Even more suspect, is that this group of men while speaking in their native tongue always seem to feel the need to stop communicating to each other when there are others no in this circle in the immediate area. They stop mid-sentence wherever they are if another soul walks up. Even more recently, said man has changed his physical appearance somewhat, he shaved his mustache and his hair seems shorter than normal.

And at just around the same time his entourage showed up, the word "Egypt" seems to be getting carved into every possible wall and door around the building. Odd I ask, or coincidence?...

Well needless to say, at this point I'm quite resolute in being as situationally aware as possible. Who knows what lurks in the future of weird occurences...

Part II to come... stay tuned kiddies for it gets better.

wow has it been that long since I updated my blog?

Indeed folks it has been several months. I apologize for the unannounced hiatus from writing.

So I do nothing pretty much all day, hit up a couple classes, maybe work a couple nights at the bar. But other than that, not much to announce. Chester is still a growing beast. He is officially 60+ lbs at just under 8 months old.




here is zorro and chester singing their duet debut of "If you leave me now..." by Chicago.


This is them singing at the highest note of the chorus... yes ladies and gents they are signed w/ a record label already... literally "def jamz records".

on an official poker note... now that the cold has enveloped us yet again, its time to shuffle up and deal!!!

there are several locations of texas hold em' poker... 2 of which are less than 3 blocks from each other. So kiddies, go out and rent Rounders and brush up on the lingo, b/c its a fast game and if you can't run w/ the big dawgs, then keep your asses on the porch!!

the other location is an occassional game in Brooklyn and one other spot in UES... (thats upper east side for you all you no nyc folks out there).

It's been a while...

Chester now...












Chester at 2 months old...














So let's recap the last couple weeks. Just been laying back and enjoying my summer. Enjoying some of my time reading books... books I've been meaning to get around to and some books that I could never seem to get the right mindset into reading.

Zorro had his surgery to be neutered and have his cherry-eye removed. Gotta say, there was a slight hitch. He was breathing very poorly, actually he wasn't breathing at all, they staff at the vet's office had to breathe for him. But after a couple X-rays and a sonogram, all is well. Z has been a totally different dog too. He's become extremely affectionate and a lot more tolerant. Definitely more tolerant of Chester.

Chester, still has been growing at a geometric rate. He's like a mutant. After playing for a couple hours, he'll take a nap. And viola' he'll be taller or his paws will be bigger, or he'll put on about 5lbs. He's become a beast I must say. And his appetite just won't quit. After a full bowl of food, he'll scratch at the bottom as if magically more food will appear.

So now you can see what the monster looks like.

So the moment of peace didn't last...

Saturday evening - driving to Brooklyn. Normally a 20 minute drive, became a 2.5 hour excursion. The traffic was rediculous. Now why would the DOT close down 4 out of 5 lanes? Me thinkith it tis to screw with all the motorists and piss off the new yorkers on the road by forcing them to view and experience the incompetence of Jersey and Connecticut drivers first hand.

So dinner in Brooklyn was good as usual. Karen's folks always cook up a mean dinner spread. And I can't say no to a well cooked meal - who would?

Anyway, we leave around 1130pm and as usual I take my normal route back to the Belt Pkwy. Only when I accelerate on the entrance ramp I feel the car sway a bit fight after a loud pop. Apparently my rear right tire blew out, now unlike most idiots I did not stop on the highway, especially since there was no should and I would have been stranded right after a blind turn. This would not have been a good place to be since the oncoming traffic wouldn't have seen me until it was too late. So I ride my chrome rims for about a mile and a half to the next exit and park the car.

I remove the spare tire and prop the car up on a jack only to find out that the tire iron does not fit the bolts. This is b/c the rims are after market rims and the dealership never gave it to me... this is partially my fault as I should have checked to ensure I had all the equipment necessary in such an emergency, my bust. So what is a guy to do but call AAA. Only to find out how incompetent they are. They tell me that my account has been cancelled when it was only a couple months ago since I renewed my contract and they sent my my new card with the expiration date on it even stating sept 2006!!! So I was forced to renew the contract over the phone with a credit card and $55. Could almost be considered highway robbery, but I did exit so guess not huh?

Upon looking at the tire it seems there was some foul play involved. It appears that some villian of sorts or a neighborhood delinquent slashed a slit into the base of the tire near the rim. This would have caused a slow leak out of the air, but the acceleration onto the highway caused the tire to increase its surface area and thus causing the slit to tear wide open. Hence, the blowout.

So now I need 2 new tires in the rear so they are balanced and I need 4 new rims b/c I rode my chrome rim for 1.5 miles rendering it a useless rim. But I can't just replace 1 I have to replace all 4. So let's calculate... 2 tires... $140 a piece, 4 new rims roughly $250 a piece... damn thats almost $1300 for a freakin' idiot kid that thought he'd be funny. Well listen up slappy, payback is a bitch... I hope it comes 10-fold and with such a fury as to put the fear of God into you. Because if I find you, and probably won't, I WILL PUT THE FEAR OF THE DEVIL IN YOU!!!

Ok my ranting is over... on a lighter note, this is my last week at work!!~! WOOOOHOOO!!!!!

Music Baton continued...

OOOOH...what a fun game this is!!!

1. The person who passed the baton to you:
Bloggy McBlogster

2. Total volume of music files on your computer:
Roughly 1GB, I lost a lot of music when I reformatted my hard drive.

3. The title and artist of the last CD you bought:
Best of the Bee Gees

4. Song playing at the moment of writing:
n/a

5. Five songs you have been listening to of late or all-time favorites, or particularly personally meaningful songs
Songs that I've been listening to recently:

"Letter to Elise" The Cure
"Plowed" Sponge
"All Over You" Live
"Sanitarium" Metallica
"Never Let Me Down Again" Depeche Mode

And the list goes on and on...

who's gets the baton next?

why of course that would be a