Normally on Monday, I post my "Mike's Top 20, Mike's Top 10 & Mike's Top 5" list that covers my favorite songs, CD's and DVD's of the previous week.
Since this past Monday was Christmas and the upcoming Monday is New Years Day, I won't be doing these lists.
Instead, on Tuesday, January 2nd, I'll be posting a similar list entitled "Mike's Top 100, Mike's Top 50 & Mike's Top 25" that will encompass my favorite 100 songs of 2006, my favorite 50 CD's of 2006 and my favorite 25 DVD's/theatrical releases of 2006.
Not only will I be boring you with that but I'm also going to repost my top 10 favorite blogs from 2006. I'll rerun two a day starting New Years Day through Friday, January 5th.
This was actually an idea I came up with after having a discussion with a friend of mine in California. She asked me if I had a favorite blog that I've written. I couldn't say since I don't ever go back and read the things I've written.
Because of this, I thought I'd go and copy and paste every blog I've posted into my own makeshift journal in Microsoft Word. This is a big undertaking considering I've posted about 175 blogs this year under the name "Mike's @ Starbucks" and reposted a good majority of those under my other identity "DJ Mike The Janitor" since most of my blogs written under either name apply to the other.
Ironically, DJ Mike The Janitor only has (at present time) 100 blog posts. DJ Mike The Janitor is nowhere near as popular as Mike's @ Starbucks. Isn't that odd and funny?
Because it's my radio personality that got me started on MySpace to begin with. I have a couple of friends who give me shit for even having TWO profiles. I can't help it, I'm a MySpace addict.
Of course, DJ Mike The Janitor hasn't gone through much changes aside from the addition of audio from radio shows I've done in the past. And the addition of "DJ" to the profile name because I was getting sick of people asking me if I was a real janitor.
I was trying to, for a while, keep my two identities seperate. One profile would be dedicated to only radio friends, fans and colleagues. The other would be more personal and about who I am and who I know outside of my radio persona.
Problem is, the two are one in the same. There really are no divisions between who I am as a radio personality and who I am sitting in Starbucks or working in a Wal*Mart Distribution Center or operating a locomotive.
Then again, maybe there are. Or maybe I'm just getting one step closer to fully losing my mind? Whatever. I like losing my mind. I don't need it, anyway. I haven't been using it much. Maybe I could sell it on E-Bay?
Starting bid: .99 cents.
So, look forward to next week as I pour through all of these blogs. I'm amazed at how much I've written. I'm not kidding you here... when I pasted all of these blogs into a new Word document, they came out to over 150 pages of writing.
It's also is apparent there is quite a bit of misspelled words and run-on sentences and poorly written sentences over the time I've posted all of these.
But I don't mind.
I write how I feel and how I'm trying to convey the moment I'm in. If Microsoft Word is telling me that a majority of my blogs are not meeting certain grammar standards, so what? I'm not trying to gain a degree in English here.
Besides, all of you fine readers seem to be completely understanding of everything I've written. And I thank you for reading it. I truly do.
So, next week will be full of useless reruns as I buy into my own, self-made hype. All because it never occured to me to go back and read my early rants. So you'll get to share in the most classic moments as I repeat them for your viewing pleasure.
This is especially handy for those of you who have just joined my life in progress and would like a look back with me. Or it can be for those of you who are just too lazy to read back and see how I got from there to here and blah, blah, blah.
I just thought of something really funny...
... some of my blogs should be called "BLAHgs"... bwhahahahahahahahaha!
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.26.2006
"That was easy!"
Ahhhhhhh, Christmas time. At least it's over. Now I can return to my normal life of sitting in Starbucks and waste away.
You know what I got for Christmas? A couple of things. My mom got me a rubber mat for my front door area so I don't track mud, snow, water, dog/cat shit or blood into my house and get it on my carpet. I wanted one of those.
She also got me a cool Craftsman clock that is made out of an actual saw blade. I've wanted one of those for a while and she finally got me one. I have a large collection of clocks.
I don't know why I started buying clocks but I did. Now I have more than any one person could need. But I like them. And the "click click click" throughout my house is soothing. It's probably really annoying to others.
She also got me a cool dish towel with matching pot holders. As well as some candies and an orange for my stocking.
But the oddest, most funniest thing she got me was an Easy Button. An actual Easy Button from Staples. When you push it, it says (in the male voice used in the commercials): "That was easy!"
It makes me laugh. I can't wait to take t to work and use it to the point where I'm sure one of my co-workers will ram it up my ass. Then every time I move, there will be a muffled "That was easy" coming from my sphincter.
What's really funny about the Easy Button is the fact I had NO IDEA these were in existence. I was making a joke about making them myself, actually. My mom and myself were shopping in a thrift store a while back and I saw these lame closet lights they had for a dollar in there.
When you push the dome of the light, the light comes on. It runs off of a "D" battery and the light is not the best. But it would work in a closet, I guess. I used to have one when I was a kid in my closet. I remember it didn't light up worth a shit.
Anyway, I thought it would be funny to buy these lights and paint them like the Easy Button in the Staples commercial and sell them on E-Bay. I mentioned this to my mom as I was looking at them. Here I thought I had an original idea and the Staples people had clearly already had that marketed during the time they came up with that ad campaign. Duh.
I guess that's what put the idea in her head to make a special trip to Staples and buy me one.
I gave my mom a pound of decaf Christmas blend coffee from Starbucks, a gift set of Elizabeth Taylor perfumes she had mentioned liking, a little set of Starbucks cups Christmas ornaments and a bunch of candy.
I feel kind of bad because it wasn't the best Christmas as far as gifts go from me to her. But were both in the poor house and can't afford much. However, we had a great Christmas and a fantastic meal that she made. Which included a tasty spiral ham and all the fixings.
As I sat there hanging out with my mom enjoying the day, I thought of all the people I know and how they were doing and how they were spending their holidays. I also thought about where I was a year ago and where I am today in relation to that.
It was at this point I became overwhelmed with a sense of panic, despair and failure. It was so strong, in fact, I had to get up and excuse myself to the bathroom to keep from breaking down in front of my mom.
As I stood in the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered just when all of this shit was going to stop? When will I pull my head out my ass and turn my goddamn life around? When will I get my moment to shine and make my mom really, really proud? When will I make myself proud and keep my shit together?
Then I wished I could go out into the living area where the Easy Button was and push it. With that one push, everything wrong would be made right and I could breathe a sigh of relief.
But there is no such thing as an Easy Button.
There is, however, a silly prop/toy called an Easy Button that I know YOU all wish you had, huh?
I'm the coolest kid on the block with my Easy Button.
Man, I need a beer. Or twelve.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
You know what I got for Christmas? A couple of things. My mom got me a rubber mat for my front door area so I don't track mud, snow, water, dog/cat shit or blood into my house and get it on my carpet. I wanted one of those.
She also got me a cool Craftsman clock that is made out of an actual saw blade. I've wanted one of those for a while and she finally got me one. I have a large collection of clocks.
I don't know why I started buying clocks but I did. Now I have more than any one person could need. But I like them. And the "click click click" throughout my house is soothing. It's probably really annoying to others.
She also got me a cool dish towel with matching pot holders. As well as some candies and an orange for my stocking.
But the oddest, most funniest thing she got me was an Easy Button. An actual Easy Button from Staples. When you push it, it says (in the male voice used in the commercials): "That was easy!"
It makes me laugh. I can't wait to take t to work and use it to the point where I'm sure one of my co-workers will ram it up my ass. Then every time I move, there will be a muffled "That was easy" coming from my sphincter.
What's really funny about the Easy Button is the fact I had NO IDEA these were in existence. I was making a joke about making them myself, actually. My mom and myself were shopping in a thrift store a while back and I saw these lame closet lights they had for a dollar in there.
When you push the dome of the light, the light comes on. It runs off of a "D" battery and the light is not the best. But it would work in a closet, I guess. I used to have one when I was a kid in my closet. I remember it didn't light up worth a shit.
Anyway, I thought it would be funny to buy these lights and paint them like the Easy Button in the Staples commercial and sell them on E-Bay. I mentioned this to my mom as I was looking at them. Here I thought I had an original idea and the Staples people had clearly already had that marketed during the time they came up with that ad campaign. Duh.
I guess that's what put the idea in her head to make a special trip to Staples and buy me one.
I gave my mom a pound of decaf Christmas blend coffee from Starbucks, a gift set of Elizabeth Taylor perfumes she had mentioned liking, a little set of Starbucks cups Christmas ornaments and a bunch of candy.
I feel kind of bad because it wasn't the best Christmas as far as gifts go from me to her. But were both in the poor house and can't afford much. However, we had a great Christmas and a fantastic meal that she made. Which included a tasty spiral ham and all the fixings.
As I sat there hanging out with my mom enjoying the day, I thought of all the people I know and how they were doing and how they were spending their holidays. I also thought about where I was a year ago and where I am today in relation to that.
It was at this point I became overwhelmed with a sense of panic, despair and failure. It was so strong, in fact, I had to get up and excuse myself to the bathroom to keep from breaking down in front of my mom.
As I stood in the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered just when all of this shit was going to stop? When will I pull my head out my ass and turn my goddamn life around? When will I get my moment to shine and make my mom really, really proud? When will I make myself proud and keep my shit together?
Then I wished I could go out into the living area where the Easy Button was and push it. With that one push, everything wrong would be made right and I could breathe a sigh of relief.
But there is no such thing as an Easy Button.
There is, however, a silly prop/toy called an Easy Button that I know YOU all wish you had, huh?
I'm the coolest kid on the block with my Easy Button.
Man, I need a beer. Or twelve.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.20.2006
Get Gephardt
Here in Salt Lake we have this guy named Bill Gephardt. He does investigative reports on KUTV Channel 2.
He's done some really great stories on a variety of consumer issues that have made me cautious about how I do business as well as watching out for particular bad businesses.
Well, today I wrote an email to Mr. Gephardt hoping that he might be interested to something that has been bother me for sometime.
Now, why I've continued to do business with this place is beyond me. Being the movie fan that I am, I just can't pass up their three DVD's for 10 dollars deal.
I've bought some really great movies at this business and have even mentioned them in a couple of my blogs here on MySpace.
But now I'd like to stress to all of you, DO NOT take your business to GAME STOP. You will get ripped off and you will get cheated. Please enjoy the following email that I sent to Bill Gephardt to bring to his attention to what I feel could be considered criminal.
Granted, I'm at fault for continuing to go there. I am at fault for accepting this little amount of money offered for my DVD's that I sold there last night. However, pay attention to my point in the email and see if you feel that it isn't right what they are pulling with NEW game purchases.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings and salutations, Bill
I've enjoyed your stories in the past and found them to be quite helpful in a couple of situations I've been involved in as of late.
I'm not quite sure if this is something you'd be interested in but I'm really quite frustrated with it.
My complaint is with the franchise of stores known as Game Stop. They specialize, obviously, in new and used video games.
I have two issues. One really isn't anything I think you can help with but the other might strike your fancy.
First off, I took several used DVD's into Game Stop to make some quick cash. They also sell used DVD movies, by the way.
This is not the first time I've utilized some DVD titles to make a buck when I'm in a pinch. I'm a single guy and sometimes payday comes too late, you know?
Anyway, I traded in about 30 DVD titles and made a measly $29.31 in cash. Now, had I taken the in store trade, the amount would had been 20% more.
Here is where it gets sketchy. Once the clerk made her estimates of what she was going to pay me for the DVD's, her original offer was around $35.
Then she changed that and said that the amount would be LOWER due to "refurbishment fees". I asked what the meant. She explained that for DVD's or games that come
in and they think they have deep scratches or slight damage, they have to refurbish.
Ones that have too many scratches, they just won't take. She turned away one of me DVD's based on this fact.
I asked her to show me some of the other DVD's she was trying to charge me refurbishment fees for. On a couple of the discs, I saw some fingerprints but I couldn't see any type of other damage that would require a refurbishment.
Personally, this is a rip off. I've bought many used DVD's from Game Stop that haven't been in the best condition but they worked just fine.
Now, Bill, I realize that I didn't have to accept the offer and I could have just taken the DVD's back and sold them privately or at another store that deals in used DVD's.
I just wanted you to realize my frustration on this point. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I have my receipt here of what I sold.
They paid me a whopping .80 cents for the DVD "Collateral" which was a hug box office smash starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and directed by Michael Mann. Not too mention it was a two disc collector's edition.
They paid me $3.20 for the film "Dark City" which is a more obscure title but still a great movie.
I bought both of these movies NEW just a couple of months ago and these are a couple of the titles they claim had damage.
I pride myself on taking very good care of my DVD's and CD's. I feel this was just a tactic to with hold even more money from these great DVD's I allowed to be practically stolen from me. But it's my own fault, Bill. I know this.
Here is where you might find something interesting that just doesn't make a lot of sense. I also feel it is criminal somehow because of how they do it.
When you purchase a new video game for your Xbox, Playstation, Game Boy or whatever, it really isn't new.
You see, what happens is they remove all the games from the cases before they are stocked on the store shelves.
When you purchase a NEW game from Game Stop, you take an empty case of that game up to the sales counter. At which point, the sales associate will go to a large filing cabinet behind the sales counter and retrieve your game.
The game is actually inside a paper slip. It is removed from the slip and then placed inside the empty game case you've brought up to the counter.
I've only bought one NEW game title from Game Stop because of this. I even objected to it when I was making the purchase.
I expressed that I was of the opinion that the game was not at all new because I was not the one opening it. Not only that, it's obviously been handled a few times before being purchased as "new".
How can something be "new" when it's unwrapped, put into a paper sleeve and then removed from the sleeve and put back into it's original case upon sale?
These aren't NEW game purchases, Bill. Once they open those cases and remove the games, they become used.
When I told that to the clerk, she explained that they did this to free up shelf space and cut down on shrinkage.
That is absurd. This doesn't add up. How do I know I'm not buying pirated copies of these games? How is it legal to claim you're selling me something new when you've already removed it from it's case? This means peeling away the shrink wrap and peeling away the security tape that is standard on all video games, DVD's and CD's.
Bill, something is really fishy with this operation. As a matter a fact, as I was being ripped off on my DVD's, a gentleman came into the store to try and return a NEW video game he had bought for his daughter.
The employees of Game Stop refused to give him his money back because his daughter not only didn't like the game but they were having a problem getting it to load.
The one employee explained to the man that it clearly states on the receipt that you can't get your money back on new or used items.
The man objected and said exactly what I'm telling you now. That, even though he bought it new, it was handed to him already opened and it was used at that point.
The employee then read the bottom of the receipt to him about returns or exchanges. He then picked up the game he was trying to return and said that they had knowingly ripped him off and he was going to "Get Gephardt". I'm not kidding.
It was his comment and my own frustration that made me think I was going to do the same thing.
Do what I did, Bill. If you decide to do this story, go into a Game Stop and purchase a NEW game and see how they deal with the transaction.
I would even suggest buying a couple of new DVD's and taking those into Game Stop and seeing what they offer you for them. See if they try and say they're marked up and scratched and charge you less for your cash trade in price with "refurbishment fees".
Even if this doesn't make one of your legendary investigations, I feel better telling someone about it.
Happy holidays and all the best,
Mike R. Millen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there you have it. Whether or not he does a story on it doesn't really matter to me. I just felt that it was a legitimate complaint. I even filed the complaint with Game Stop on their website.
Something I didn't bring to Gephardt's attention (but I did bring up in my complaint to Game Stop) was the reaction of the store manager when I questioned how they could pay me .80 cents for Collateral but $3.20 for Dark City?
Even though the store manager wasn't the one assisting me, she made sure to chime in and be very rude. I asked if there was a website I could go to to complain about such business tactics.
The associate helping me said that there was and the website was at the bottom of my receipt. At this point, this is where the store manager spoke up and said, quite snotty, "Is there a problem?"
I said: "Ohhhhhh yes. You're ripping me off. I don't understand the logic on how you pay out for these titles I brought in.
She replied: "Well, would you like your movies back? Because we can easily do that."
I said: "No, I need the cash and I'll just know better to not bring my business here anymore."
And she said: "Yes, you could easily do that, too, and I'd be very happy with that."
Then I childishly said: "OH! Nice attitude, bitch. Way to mouth off to an already unhappy customer. Way to be!"
She then topped my comment with a laughable: "Well, Merry Christmas to you, too!"
That was pretty funny.
I know that I sound like a big fucking baby and that none of this had to happen had I just picked up my DVD's and walked out of that glorified pawn shop. But I didn't and just subjected myself to building anger and then frustration from my bad decision.
Had I just taken the time to sell these elsewhere or on my own privately, I could have easily made five to seven dollars per movie.
So, yes, I'm kicking myself for being such a douche.
BUT BUT BUT, I think I raise quite a valid point about the new game purchases.
Fuck Game Stop.
Buyer beware and stay away from Game Stop.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
He's done some really great stories on a variety of consumer issues that have made me cautious about how I do business as well as watching out for particular bad businesses.
Well, today I wrote an email to Mr. Gephardt hoping that he might be interested to something that has been bother me for sometime.
Now, why I've continued to do business with this place is beyond me. Being the movie fan that I am, I just can't pass up their three DVD's for 10 dollars deal.
I've bought some really great movies at this business and have even mentioned them in a couple of my blogs here on MySpace.
But now I'd like to stress to all of you, DO NOT take your business to GAME STOP. You will get ripped off and you will get cheated. Please enjoy the following email that I sent to Bill Gephardt to bring to his attention to what I feel could be considered criminal.
Granted, I'm at fault for continuing to go there. I am at fault for accepting this little amount of money offered for my DVD's that I sold there last night. However, pay attention to my point in the email and see if you feel that it isn't right what they are pulling with NEW game purchases.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings and salutations, Bill
I've enjoyed your stories in the past and found them to be quite helpful in a couple of situations I've been involved in as of late.
I'm not quite sure if this is something you'd be interested in but I'm really quite frustrated with it.
My complaint is with the franchise of stores known as Game Stop. They specialize, obviously, in new and used video games.
I have two issues. One really isn't anything I think you can help with but the other might strike your fancy.
First off, I took several used DVD's into Game Stop to make some quick cash. They also sell used DVD movies, by the way.
This is not the first time I've utilized some DVD titles to make a buck when I'm in a pinch. I'm a single guy and sometimes payday comes too late, you know?
Anyway, I traded in about 30 DVD titles and made a measly $29.31 in cash. Now, had I taken the in store trade, the amount would had been 20% more.
Here is where it gets sketchy. Once the clerk made her estimates of what she was going to pay me for the DVD's, her original offer was around $35.
Then she changed that and said that the amount would be LOWER due to "refurbishment fees". I asked what the meant. She explained that for DVD's or games that come
in and they think they have deep scratches or slight damage, they have to refurbish.
Ones that have too many scratches, they just won't take. She turned away one of me DVD's based on this fact.
I asked her to show me some of the other DVD's she was trying to charge me refurbishment fees for. On a couple of the discs, I saw some fingerprints but I couldn't see any type of other damage that would require a refurbishment.
Personally, this is a rip off. I've bought many used DVD's from Game Stop that haven't been in the best condition but they worked just fine.
Now, Bill, I realize that I didn't have to accept the offer and I could have just taken the DVD's back and sold them privately or at another store that deals in used DVD's.
I just wanted you to realize my frustration on this point. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I have my receipt here of what I sold.
They paid me a whopping .80 cents for the DVD "Collateral" which was a hug box office smash starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and directed by Michael Mann. Not too mention it was a two disc collector's edition.
They paid me $3.20 for the film "Dark City" which is a more obscure title but still a great movie.
I bought both of these movies NEW just a couple of months ago and these are a couple of the titles they claim had damage.
I pride myself on taking very good care of my DVD's and CD's. I feel this was just a tactic to with hold even more money from these great DVD's I allowed to be practically stolen from me. But it's my own fault, Bill. I know this.
Here is where you might find something interesting that just doesn't make a lot of sense. I also feel it is criminal somehow because of how they do it.
When you purchase a new video game for your Xbox, Playstation, Game Boy or whatever, it really isn't new.
You see, what happens is they remove all the games from the cases before they are stocked on the store shelves.
When you purchase a NEW game from Game Stop, you take an empty case of that game up to the sales counter. At which point, the sales associate will go to a large filing cabinet behind the sales counter and retrieve your game.
The game is actually inside a paper slip. It is removed from the slip and then placed inside the empty game case you've brought up to the counter.
I've only bought one NEW game title from Game Stop because of this. I even objected to it when I was making the purchase.
I expressed that I was of the opinion that the game was not at all new because I was not the one opening it. Not only that, it's obviously been handled a few times before being purchased as "new".
How can something be "new" when it's unwrapped, put into a paper sleeve and then removed from the sleeve and put back into it's original case upon sale?
These aren't NEW game purchases, Bill. Once they open those cases and remove the games, they become used.
When I told that to the clerk, she explained that they did this to free up shelf space and cut down on shrinkage.
That is absurd. This doesn't add up. How do I know I'm not buying pirated copies of these games? How is it legal to claim you're selling me something new when you've already removed it from it's case? This means peeling away the shrink wrap and peeling away the security tape that is standard on all video games, DVD's and CD's.
Bill, something is really fishy with this operation. As a matter a fact, as I was being ripped off on my DVD's, a gentleman came into the store to try and return a NEW video game he had bought for his daughter.
The employees of Game Stop refused to give him his money back because his daughter not only didn't like the game but they were having a problem getting it to load.
The one employee explained to the man that it clearly states on the receipt that you can't get your money back on new or used items.
The man objected and said exactly what I'm telling you now. That, even though he bought it new, it was handed to him already opened and it was used at that point.
The employee then read the bottom of the receipt to him about returns or exchanges. He then picked up the game he was trying to return and said that they had knowingly ripped him off and he was going to "Get Gephardt". I'm not kidding.
It was his comment and my own frustration that made me think I was going to do the same thing.
Do what I did, Bill. If you decide to do this story, go into a Game Stop and purchase a NEW game and see how they deal with the transaction.
I would even suggest buying a couple of new DVD's and taking those into Game Stop and seeing what they offer you for them. See if they try and say they're marked up and scratched and charge you less for your cash trade in price with "refurbishment fees".
Even if this doesn't make one of your legendary investigations, I feel better telling someone about it.
Happy holidays and all the best,
Mike R. Millen
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there you have it. Whether or not he does a story on it doesn't really matter to me. I just felt that it was a legitimate complaint. I even filed the complaint with Game Stop on their website.
Something I didn't bring to Gephardt's attention (but I did bring up in my complaint to Game Stop) was the reaction of the store manager when I questioned how they could pay me .80 cents for Collateral but $3.20 for Dark City?
Even though the store manager wasn't the one assisting me, she made sure to chime in and be very rude. I asked if there was a website I could go to to complain about such business tactics.
The associate helping me said that there was and the website was at the bottom of my receipt. At this point, this is where the store manager spoke up and said, quite snotty, "Is there a problem?"
I said: "Ohhhhhh yes. You're ripping me off. I don't understand the logic on how you pay out for these titles I brought in.
She replied: "Well, would you like your movies back? Because we can easily do that."
I said: "No, I need the cash and I'll just know better to not bring my business here anymore."
And she said: "Yes, you could easily do that, too, and I'd be very happy with that."
Then I childishly said: "OH! Nice attitude, bitch. Way to mouth off to an already unhappy customer. Way to be!"
She then topped my comment with a laughable: "Well, Merry Christmas to you, too!"
That was pretty funny.
I know that I sound like a big fucking baby and that none of this had to happen had I just picked up my DVD's and walked out of that glorified pawn shop. But I didn't and just subjected myself to building anger and then frustration from my bad decision.
Had I just taken the time to sell these elsewhere or on my own privately, I could have easily made five to seven dollars per movie.
So, yes, I'm kicking myself for being such a douche.
BUT BUT BUT, I think I raise quite a valid point about the new game purchases.
Fuck Game Stop.
Buyer beware and stay away from Game Stop.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
You can't be serious
Last night when I came into Starbucks, I had a few things to rant about in blog form.
So I did what I always do. I ordered a cup of coffee, sat down, plugged my computer in and logged onto the internet.
I also logged into my Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. I'm always on both while I sit here wasting away at the Starbucks should anyone want to reach me via IM.
It was at the point of my Yahoo logging on that I became completely deflated.
I had a "friend request" addition waiting for me on Yahoo from someone that I don't EVER care to hear from again.
This completely shocked me and even upset me. So much, in fact, that I became angry and didn't feel like writing my blogs anymore. How lame is that? All because someone sent me a message asking me to add them to my Yahoo Messenger list of friends.
As I sat here wondering what the hell this person was thinking, I contacted someone else on my Yahoo Messenger friend list to inform them of what I had just encountered.
The person whose attention I brought it to knows of the person who sent me the request. Both of these individuals are people from my past that I had a relationship with while I lived in Tucson, Arizona.
The person who sent me that request is a professional acquaintance and male. The other other person who I spoke to about this male is a female that I was involved with, briefly, personally.
What makes this really ironic, is the female has a sister. And her sister was a friend of the male who sent me this friend request.
This male was also my boss during my short lived time in Tucson.
Now, I didn't come to know the female because of the fact that my boss knew her sister. I actually met the female outside of my professional social circle and came to find out, after the fact (in quite a comical way, I might add), that her sister knew my boss.
Man, this is confusing me. Is it confusing you? I have to speak in tongues because this is a very delicate situation. Especially for me.
You see, my former boss and a few other people in Tucson brought a great deal of anguish and pain in my personal and professional life that will never be erased. NEVER. And it all happened over a simple misunderstanding that resulted in a bad choice of words on my part.
The situation was so bad, in fact, that I was terminated from my job because of this misunderstanding. It cost my former employer a settlement paid out to me because of the poor way it was handled.
To this day, I harbor extreme anger towards several individuals that were key to my termination.
Looking back on the situation, which I do from time to time, I often wonder just how bad any of these individuals feel about what they caused. I know, for myself, that I still feel very bad for the way everything happened. I sometimes wish I was in Tucson doing what I was doing and making a better life and career for myself as I had gone there to do.
Instead, after that, I gave up on my career all together and decided to do something else with my life. The whole, awful experience in Tucson ruined me. I truly haven't been the same since.
You've got to live and learn, they say. I lived this and I learned from it. I learned from it hard. And this situation that happened in Tucson has come back to haunt me and been a big burden in my life.
If I could change something that happened in my life, this would be it.
Because of the settlement and legal papers, I can't go into the specifics of what happened and how it happened. It's also something I've addressed many, many months ago in previous blogs.
My point here is that this all came rushing back to me when I saw this friend request from this guy. I found it to be unwarranted and cruel. This person was one of the few individuals that wanted to save his own goddamn ass while throwing me under the bus.
Even as I type this, my hands want to bind up into fists and I want to go down there and beat the living shit out of some of these motherfuckers.
Another one of the individuals who was partly to blame for my plight in Tucson also happened to contact me a few months back. I told this person exactly how I felt and sent a message of rage and anger that I hope to hell scared the shit out him.
But I must admit, I feel ashamed of this anger and rage. But it just isn't in me to forgive these people. It's not in my nature. Once I feel betrayed or wronged or mislead or lied to, I become a ball of fury that is relentless with unforgiving hatred.
It's not a healthy way to behave nor is it really an adult way to be. But, alas, it's who I am.
I'm just as hard on myself over wrongs I have caused as I am on others who have caused them towards me. And I'm sure you've all gathered that from my many blogs about my own feelings of despair and how I got to where I am now.
I know that it is this rage, this bitterness, this animosity, this anger, this unforgiving attitude that is, has and will be my continuing downfall. I've never been one to speak up until it's too late. And even then, when I do speak up, it's in such a hateful way that it makes me look crazy.
Case in point, my job at the rail yard. I loved that job and walked away from it because I had a falling out with my boss who I felt was not living up to his position or abilities or responsibilities. I also detected a possible drug problem with marijuana that was effecting his judgement.
Instead of just being his friend, because I did consider us friends, and pulling him aside to express my concern for what I was witnessing, I let him get to me until I just blew up and walked.
After I walked, I made sure to leave my mark even further by filing a complaint with the company outlying the problems I had been witnessing. This, in turn, caused quite a shit storm at the rail yard that has made me look like a real fuck there, I'm sure.
So be it. Because you know what, fine readers? I am a fuck.
Can you believe that all of this is what went rushing through my head over a friend request? Well, not all of this. A lot of it I thought about when I went home last night.
I often question my mental capacity and wonder if I should maybe check myself into some kind of mental health center. I'm not making this up.
The pain and wrongs and anguish and shit that has happened to me in the last few years has taken it's toll. Most of all, the embarrassment I feel because of my own actions that have lead into MORE issues are almost too much for me to bare.
Man... I have many demons that I'm trying to conquer and I'm battling a few right now all because of this fucker and his friend request.
What a dick.
No, I'm a dick.
The reason why is because the female I mentioned earlier (the one that has the sister that knows my former boss) suggested that maybe this guy is contacting me to bury the hatchet and make amends.
Perhaps. I doubt it.
And it's this doubt that I need to rid myself of. I need to have more faith in people as well as in myself. I know many of you reading this are probably thinking: "Jesus, Mike. Quit beating yourself up. Move on. Things will get better. They always do."
One friend of mine said I needed actual "Faith". I needed some "churching up". She went as far to invite me to her church and get some divine spirit.
It was all I could do to keep from laughing and she could hear it in my voice. But I didn't want to belittle her suggestion. I just don't agree nor do I believe in such a thing. But I do appreciate her reaching out to me with her version of help.
Wow, I've been typing this for over an hour and I still feel like I have more to convey. But in the end, what does any of this matter? Life goes on and so do I.
Needless to say, I denied his friend request.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
So I did what I always do. I ordered a cup of coffee, sat down, plugged my computer in and logged onto the internet.
I also logged into my Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. I'm always on both while I sit here wasting away at the Starbucks should anyone want to reach me via IM.
It was at the point of my Yahoo logging on that I became completely deflated.
I had a "friend request" addition waiting for me on Yahoo from someone that I don't EVER care to hear from again.
This completely shocked me and even upset me. So much, in fact, that I became angry and didn't feel like writing my blogs anymore. How lame is that? All because someone sent me a message asking me to add them to my Yahoo Messenger list of friends.
As I sat here wondering what the hell this person was thinking, I contacted someone else on my Yahoo Messenger friend list to inform them of what I had just encountered.
The person whose attention I brought it to knows of the person who sent me the request. Both of these individuals are people from my past that I had a relationship with while I lived in Tucson, Arizona.
The person who sent me that request is a professional acquaintance and male. The other other person who I spoke to about this male is a female that I was involved with, briefly, personally.
What makes this really ironic, is the female has a sister. And her sister was a friend of the male who sent me this friend request.
This male was also my boss during my short lived time in Tucson.
Now, I didn't come to know the female because of the fact that my boss knew her sister. I actually met the female outside of my professional social circle and came to find out, after the fact (in quite a comical way, I might add), that her sister knew my boss.
Man, this is confusing me. Is it confusing you? I have to speak in tongues because this is a very delicate situation. Especially for me.
You see, my former boss and a few other people in Tucson brought a great deal of anguish and pain in my personal and professional life that will never be erased. NEVER. And it all happened over a simple misunderstanding that resulted in a bad choice of words on my part.
The situation was so bad, in fact, that I was terminated from my job because of this misunderstanding. It cost my former employer a settlement paid out to me because of the poor way it was handled.
To this day, I harbor extreme anger towards several individuals that were key to my termination.
Looking back on the situation, which I do from time to time, I often wonder just how bad any of these individuals feel about what they caused. I know, for myself, that I still feel very bad for the way everything happened. I sometimes wish I was in Tucson doing what I was doing and making a better life and career for myself as I had gone there to do.
Instead, after that, I gave up on my career all together and decided to do something else with my life. The whole, awful experience in Tucson ruined me. I truly haven't been the same since.
You've got to live and learn, they say. I lived this and I learned from it. I learned from it hard. And this situation that happened in Tucson has come back to haunt me and been a big burden in my life.
If I could change something that happened in my life, this would be it.
Because of the settlement and legal papers, I can't go into the specifics of what happened and how it happened. It's also something I've addressed many, many months ago in previous blogs.
My point here is that this all came rushing back to me when I saw this friend request from this guy. I found it to be unwarranted and cruel. This person was one of the few individuals that wanted to save his own goddamn ass while throwing me under the bus.
Even as I type this, my hands want to bind up into fists and I want to go down there and beat the living shit out of some of these motherfuckers.
Another one of the individuals who was partly to blame for my plight in Tucson also happened to contact me a few months back. I told this person exactly how I felt and sent a message of rage and anger that I hope to hell scared the shit out him.
But I must admit, I feel ashamed of this anger and rage. But it just isn't in me to forgive these people. It's not in my nature. Once I feel betrayed or wronged or mislead or lied to, I become a ball of fury that is relentless with unforgiving hatred.
It's not a healthy way to behave nor is it really an adult way to be. But, alas, it's who I am.
I'm just as hard on myself over wrongs I have caused as I am on others who have caused them towards me. And I'm sure you've all gathered that from my many blogs about my own feelings of despair and how I got to where I am now.
I know that it is this rage, this bitterness, this animosity, this anger, this unforgiving attitude that is, has and will be my continuing downfall. I've never been one to speak up until it's too late. And even then, when I do speak up, it's in such a hateful way that it makes me look crazy.
Case in point, my job at the rail yard. I loved that job and walked away from it because I had a falling out with my boss who I felt was not living up to his position or abilities or responsibilities. I also detected a possible drug problem with marijuana that was effecting his judgement.
Instead of just being his friend, because I did consider us friends, and pulling him aside to express my concern for what I was witnessing, I let him get to me until I just blew up and walked.
After I walked, I made sure to leave my mark even further by filing a complaint with the company outlying the problems I had been witnessing. This, in turn, caused quite a shit storm at the rail yard that has made me look like a real fuck there, I'm sure.
So be it. Because you know what, fine readers? I am a fuck.
Can you believe that all of this is what went rushing through my head over a friend request? Well, not all of this. A lot of it I thought about when I went home last night.
I often question my mental capacity and wonder if I should maybe check myself into some kind of mental health center. I'm not making this up.
The pain and wrongs and anguish and shit that has happened to me in the last few years has taken it's toll. Most of all, the embarrassment I feel because of my own actions that have lead into MORE issues are almost too much for me to bare.
Man... I have many demons that I'm trying to conquer and I'm battling a few right now all because of this fucker and his friend request.
What a dick.
No, I'm a dick.
The reason why is because the female I mentioned earlier (the one that has the sister that knows my former boss) suggested that maybe this guy is contacting me to bury the hatchet and make amends.
Perhaps. I doubt it.
And it's this doubt that I need to rid myself of. I need to have more faith in people as well as in myself. I know many of you reading this are probably thinking: "Jesus, Mike. Quit beating yourself up. Move on. Things will get better. They always do."
One friend of mine said I needed actual "Faith". I needed some "churching up". She went as far to invite me to her church and get some divine spirit.
It was all I could do to keep from laughing and she could hear it in my voice. But I didn't want to belittle her suggestion. I just don't agree nor do I believe in such a thing. But I do appreciate her reaching out to me with her version of help.
Wow, I've been typing this for over an hour and I still feel like I have more to convey. But in the end, what does any of this matter? Life goes on and so do I.
Needless to say, I denied his friend request.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.18.2006
Mike's Top 20, Top 10 & Top 5
I'm exhausted. Really, really exhausted. I just got into Starbucks about 20 minutes ago. About 9:45 PM. I had to stay an hour later at work because we were slammed today. I worked my ass off and still needed two people to help me unload the remains of my truck. Thanks Kevin and Don.
When I got home, I pooped and went and laid down at around 7 PM or so. As I laid there, I started to drift off. I kept telling myself that I would just lay there for about 15 minutes.
That fifteen minutes turned into over two hours. I abruptly woke up wondering why my pants were around my ankles. Then I remembered that I had pooped earlier and was too tired to pull my pants back up. I just waddled over to my bed and passed out.
I can't believe I just shared my private bathroom moment. But you know what? I don't care. I'm still too tired TO care.
So, here is my weekly list. Some of this music I have enjoyed while drifting off on the toilet reading Entertainment Weekly and listening to my stereo play in the distance.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Depeche Mode "Just Can't Get Enough"
19: Sarah McLachlan "Do What You Have To Do"
18: Lenny Kravitz "Again"
17: Mudvayne "Dig"
16: System Of A Down "Psycho"
15: Michael McDonald "I Keep Forgettin'"
14: Steve Winwood "Holding On"
13: Guns N Roses "Paradise City"
12: Anita O' Day & RSL "Sing Sing Sing"
11: Mike & The Mechanics "Taken In"
10: Alien Ant Farm "Movies"
09: Hed PE "Killing Time"
08: Nirvana "Rape Me"
07: U2 with B.B. King "When Love Comes To Town"
06: D12 "My Band"
05: Staind "Mudshovel"
04: Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal"
03: Oingo Boingo "Little Girls"
02: Janet Jackson "All For You"
01: Eric Cartman from South Park "O Holy Night"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Lenny Kravitz "Greatest Hits"
09: U2 "Rattle & Hum"
08: Various Artists "Verve Remixed 3"
07: Various Artists "Verve Remixed 2"
06: Various Artists "Verve Remixed"
05: Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"
04: Sarah McLachlan "Surfacing"
03: Music From The Motion Picture "The Saint"
02: Music From The Motion Picture "Empire Records"
01: Music From The Television Series "South Park - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: Die Hard II: Die Harder
04: Casino
03: Copland
02: Pulp Fiction
01: Kill Bill I & II
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
When I got home, I pooped and went and laid down at around 7 PM or so. As I laid there, I started to drift off. I kept telling myself that I would just lay there for about 15 minutes.
That fifteen minutes turned into over two hours. I abruptly woke up wondering why my pants were around my ankles. Then I remembered that I had pooped earlier and was too tired to pull my pants back up. I just waddled over to my bed and passed out.
I can't believe I just shared my private bathroom moment. But you know what? I don't care. I'm still too tired TO care.
So, here is my weekly list. Some of this music I have enjoyed while drifting off on the toilet reading Entertainment Weekly and listening to my stereo play in the distance.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Depeche Mode "Just Can't Get Enough"
19: Sarah McLachlan "Do What You Have To Do"
18: Lenny Kravitz "Again"
17: Mudvayne "Dig"
16: System Of A Down "Psycho"
15: Michael McDonald "I Keep Forgettin'"
14: Steve Winwood "Holding On"
13: Guns N Roses "Paradise City"
12: Anita O' Day & RSL "Sing Sing Sing"
11: Mike & The Mechanics "Taken In"
10: Alien Ant Farm "Movies"
09: Hed PE "Killing Time"
08: Nirvana "Rape Me"
07: U2 with B.B. King "When Love Comes To Town"
06: D12 "My Band"
05: Staind "Mudshovel"
04: Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal"
03: Oingo Boingo "Little Girls"
02: Janet Jackson "All For You"
01: Eric Cartman from South Park "O Holy Night"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Lenny Kravitz "Greatest Hits"
09: U2 "Rattle & Hum"
08: Various Artists "Verve Remixed 3"
07: Various Artists "Verve Remixed 2"
06: Various Artists "Verve Remixed"
05: Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"
04: Sarah McLachlan "Surfacing"
03: Music From The Motion Picture "The Saint"
02: Music From The Motion Picture "Empire Records"
01: Music From The Television Series "South Park - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: Die Hard II: Die Harder
04: Casino
03: Copland
02: Pulp Fiction
01: Kill Bill I & II
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.14.2006
Eight dollars, two dollars, one dollar
I went out on a long adventure today. I'm actually at the Starbucks way later than my normal ass-sitting-for-hours-on-end time.
Today, I went out to make my car payment, get my oil changed and go over to the new Sam's Club to get my membership card. I also went to three separate Deseret Industries stores, too.
Let's start with Sam's Club.
I've decided that I don't like Sam's Club.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to wander about in there after getting my membership card. But I felt I should do a little bit of shopping since I am paying for the membership out of my paycheck every two weeks, right?
After today, maybe not.
Being an employee of the same company that runs Sam's Club, perhaps I'm out of line to make such a statement. Maybe it's a conflict of interest? Maybe the Wal*Mart Militia will give me a talking to and change my mind. If that doesn't work, I'm sure they'll torture me.
And you know how they'll torture me?
By trapping me in a Sam's Club with a forklift that makes that goddamn "beep beep" noise EVERY FUCKING TIME IT'S IN MOTION!
Is this necessary? Do any of you know my frustration? Today the forklift "beep beep" was just over the top and annoying and irritating. The past couple of times I've been in a Sam's Club, I can normally tune that out with the voices in my head.
Not today.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ALRIGHT ALREADY! FUCK!
Maybe some of you can't relate because you've never set foot in a Sam's Club. Here's the thing, they are constantly stocking the shelves with a forklift there. Or they are grabbing a large purchase for a customer from the floor with a forklift. Or you can hear the forklift in the back area.
These are the same types of forklifts we use in The Mothership to unload freight. Thank God they aren't fitted with that "beep beep" mechanism because I'm sure there would be some workplace violence taking place.
However, I do feel that our forklifts need some type of blinking light or strobe on them because some fucktard douche bag maintenance manager almost plowed right into me with his golf cart because he wasn't paying attention.
He was also hauling ass down the dock side of the warehouse for no apparent reason other then to show off how small his cock is. I should have rammed my forks right up his ass! You know what else, fine readers? This dipshit came so close to hitting me that he swerved hard enough to knock some paperwork out of his precious golf cart.
When I mean he was hauling ass down the dock side of the warehouse, I'm saying that he was cruising along the side of the warehouse where the garage doors are and there is always heavy forklift traffic and pedestrian traffic.
Fuck it, the motherfucker shouldn't have been driving like that at all in a busy warehouse. Not too mention he wasn't honking his horn to alert others around him that he's in the area. That's what we constantly do on our forklifts. It's not as annoying as the damn "beep beep" thing but it gets your attention.
Sometimes it doesn't, though. Like in the case of speeding cart douche. I was honking my horn A LOT before I came out into the straightaway where he was rolling along. Had I not caught my temper, I would have been fired for the multitude of swear words that would have come out of my mouth alone!
Man, what an asshole. I'm not kidding, he almost plowed right into the side of me. I almost shit my pants. I wish I would have because then I would have scooped it out of my pants and thrown it in his face.
Then I would have pissed on him for good measure. Then I would have slashed his golf cart tires. Then I would have gone to his house and nailed his wife! All while he was at work trying to figure out why he was covered in piss and shit and why his golf cart tires were slashed because he's clearly THAT stupid. Then he would have come home to his satisfied wife still oozing my man chowder and seen a note on the pillow that read:
"Boned your wife. Slow down. P.S.- Take a shower because you stink of piss and shit."
Anyway, my point is it might be worthwhile to install strobes on these lifts so retarded maintenance managers and other retarded people are more aware of forklifts operating in the area.
Geee, who would of thought? Wow... there are FORKLIFTS in a warehouse? And they're dangerous? NO! NO WAY! Really? I bet ol' maintenance manager thinks we unload trucks with Fisher Price toys or fluffy clouds or with our minds!
To believe this guy is a manager... way to set an example. It's like having a manager constantly telling you to "Do as I say, not as I do." Not that I've ever been told that by a manager in my working life. Especially not when I was working for a particular railroad company.
Sorry, I got off track there.
Where was I? Oh, right... strobe lights for safety. I think those would help. But then people would whine that the strobe lights were annoying and the flashing causes them to go into an epileptic fit or something.
The reason I'm whining about all this is because of Sam's Club. I don't want to be shopping and constantly having to get the hell out of the way of a forklift. Are you kidding? And the fact it's ALWAYS beeping is SOOOOOO ANNOYING!
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
If that wasn't enough noise to drive one crazy, there is the constant communication between associates on walkie-talkies. JESUS CHRIST!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*loud walkie-talkie communication*
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*more loud walkie-talkie communication*
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*shotgun blasts*
Me exclaiming: "Is it too much to ask to be able to shop in less NOISE?! AND GET THIS FUCKING FORKLIFT OUT OF MY WAY! I HAVE 36 ROLLS OF TOILET PAPER I'M TRYING TO REACH!"
I seem to remember there isn't some much of this excess noise in CostCo.
Why do I need a membership to Sam's Club anyway? I can put up with these same annoyances just about anywhere.
If I want a real annoying circus not only full of employees but customers, too, I can just shop at Wal*Mart.
Speaking of The Mothership, you all need to check out a great story on Wal*Mart that Frontline did for PBS. I watched it earlier tonight and it's fanfuckingtastic. I saw it when it originally aired back in 2004 and it's still as good.
Let me close this blog by sharing one more funny story.
As I mentioned earlier, I went to three Deseret Industries today. Deseret Industries is a thrift store that is run by the Mormon Church, for those of you that don't know.
I wasn't looking for anything specific. Just kind of browsing and enjoying a day out and about. I was also trying to get the "beep beep" noise from my mind.
At the first D.I. I went to, I found a grand treasure. And old school chair with the desk attached. Just like what I used in school. Actually, I'm sure these school desks are still used in schools.
I thought it was perfect for me since I've been looking for a desk and chair to use my computer at while at home. This way I have the chair and desk in one handy, lightweight unit! Plus, I'm reminded of my youth and childhood memories.... or something.
It was priced for a mere eight bucks! They had several to choose from so I grabbed the one I like most. It was clean and durable and sturdy. A good buy for eight bucks.
With purchase in hand, I barely got in to fit in my backseat.
Then I went to another D.I. to see if I could find other great buys.
What's this? Well, look what we have here. More of these cool school desks! I check the price and guess what?
TWO dollars.
WHAT?! What the fuck? I could have bought four of these desks for the price I paid for one at the other D.I. Huh... that sucks. Oh well.
There was nothing that struck my fancy at this D.I. so I decided to visit another D.I.
Low and behold, there were even more school desks at this location.
I laughed out loud when I saw the price of these same school desks at this location for only ONE DOLLAR! ONE DOLLAR!
SHIT! I could have bought EIGHT of these desks HERE and started my own classroom!
What the hell?
I should have brought my school desk into this last D.I. and showed what I paid compared to their price and demanded seven more desks.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
Today, I went out to make my car payment, get my oil changed and go over to the new Sam's Club to get my membership card. I also went to three separate Deseret Industries stores, too.
Let's start with Sam's Club.
I've decided that I don't like Sam's Club.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to wander about in there after getting my membership card. But I felt I should do a little bit of shopping since I am paying for the membership out of my paycheck every two weeks, right?
After today, maybe not.
Being an employee of the same company that runs Sam's Club, perhaps I'm out of line to make such a statement. Maybe it's a conflict of interest? Maybe the Wal*Mart Militia will give me a talking to and change my mind. If that doesn't work, I'm sure they'll torture me.
And you know how they'll torture me?
By trapping me in a Sam's Club with a forklift that makes that goddamn "beep beep" noise EVERY FUCKING TIME IT'S IN MOTION!
Is this necessary? Do any of you know my frustration? Today the forklift "beep beep" was just over the top and annoying and irritating. The past couple of times I've been in a Sam's Club, I can normally tune that out with the voices in my head.
Not today.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ALRIGHT ALREADY! FUCK!
Maybe some of you can't relate because you've never set foot in a Sam's Club. Here's the thing, they are constantly stocking the shelves with a forklift there. Or they are grabbing a large purchase for a customer from the floor with a forklift. Or you can hear the forklift in the back area.
These are the same types of forklifts we use in The Mothership to unload freight. Thank God they aren't fitted with that "beep beep" mechanism because I'm sure there would be some workplace violence taking place.
However, I do feel that our forklifts need some type of blinking light or strobe on them because some fucktard douche bag maintenance manager almost plowed right into me with his golf cart because he wasn't paying attention.
He was also hauling ass down the dock side of the warehouse for no apparent reason other then to show off how small his cock is. I should have rammed my forks right up his ass! You know what else, fine readers? This dipshit came so close to hitting me that he swerved hard enough to knock some paperwork out of his precious golf cart.
When I mean he was hauling ass down the dock side of the warehouse, I'm saying that he was cruising along the side of the warehouse where the garage doors are and there is always heavy forklift traffic and pedestrian traffic.
Fuck it, the motherfucker shouldn't have been driving like that at all in a busy warehouse. Not too mention he wasn't honking his horn to alert others around him that he's in the area. That's what we constantly do on our forklifts. It's not as annoying as the damn "beep beep" thing but it gets your attention.
Sometimes it doesn't, though. Like in the case of speeding cart douche. I was honking my horn A LOT before I came out into the straightaway where he was rolling along. Had I not caught my temper, I would have been fired for the multitude of swear words that would have come out of my mouth alone!
Man, what an asshole. I'm not kidding, he almost plowed right into the side of me. I almost shit my pants. I wish I would have because then I would have scooped it out of my pants and thrown it in his face.
Then I would have pissed on him for good measure. Then I would have slashed his golf cart tires. Then I would have gone to his house and nailed his wife! All while he was at work trying to figure out why he was covered in piss and shit and why his golf cart tires were slashed because he's clearly THAT stupid. Then he would have come home to his satisfied wife still oozing my man chowder and seen a note on the pillow that read:
"Boned your wife. Slow down. P.S.- Take a shower because you stink of piss and shit."
Anyway, my point is it might be worthwhile to install strobes on these lifts so retarded maintenance managers and other retarded people are more aware of forklifts operating in the area.
Geee, who would of thought? Wow... there are FORKLIFTS in a warehouse? And they're dangerous? NO! NO WAY! Really? I bet ol' maintenance manager thinks we unload trucks with Fisher Price toys or fluffy clouds or with our minds!
To believe this guy is a manager... way to set an example. It's like having a manager constantly telling you to "Do as I say, not as I do." Not that I've ever been told that by a manager in my working life. Especially not when I was working for a particular railroad company.
Sorry, I got off track there.
Where was I? Oh, right... strobe lights for safety. I think those would help. But then people would whine that the strobe lights were annoying and the flashing causes them to go into an epileptic fit or something.
The reason I'm whining about all this is because of Sam's Club. I don't want to be shopping and constantly having to get the hell out of the way of a forklift. Are you kidding? And the fact it's ALWAYS beeping is SOOOOOO ANNOYING!
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
If that wasn't enough noise to drive one crazy, there is the constant communication between associates on walkie-talkies. JESUS CHRIST!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*loud walkie-talkie communication*
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*more loud walkie-talkie communication*
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
*shotgun blasts*
Me exclaiming: "Is it too much to ask to be able to shop in less NOISE?! AND GET THIS FUCKING FORKLIFT OUT OF MY WAY! I HAVE 36 ROLLS OF TOILET PAPER I'M TRYING TO REACH!"
I seem to remember there isn't some much of this excess noise in CostCo.
Why do I need a membership to Sam's Club anyway? I can put up with these same annoyances just about anywhere.
If I want a real annoying circus not only full of employees but customers, too, I can just shop at Wal*Mart.
Speaking of The Mothership, you all need to check out a great story on Wal*Mart that Frontline did for PBS. I watched it earlier tonight and it's fanfuckingtastic. I saw it when it originally aired back in 2004 and it's still as good.
Let me close this blog by sharing one more funny story.
As I mentioned earlier, I went to three Deseret Industries today. Deseret Industries is a thrift store that is run by the Mormon Church, for those of you that don't know.
I wasn't looking for anything specific. Just kind of browsing and enjoying a day out and about. I was also trying to get the "beep beep" noise from my mind.
At the first D.I. I went to, I found a grand treasure. And old school chair with the desk attached. Just like what I used in school. Actually, I'm sure these school desks are still used in schools.
I thought it was perfect for me since I've been looking for a desk and chair to use my computer at while at home. This way I have the chair and desk in one handy, lightweight unit! Plus, I'm reminded of my youth and childhood memories.... or something.
It was priced for a mere eight bucks! They had several to choose from so I grabbed the one I like most. It was clean and durable and sturdy. A good buy for eight bucks.
With purchase in hand, I barely got in to fit in my backseat.
Then I went to another D.I. to see if I could find other great buys.
What's this? Well, look what we have here. More of these cool school desks! I check the price and guess what?
TWO dollars.
WHAT?! What the fuck? I could have bought four of these desks for the price I paid for one at the other D.I. Huh... that sucks. Oh well.
There was nothing that struck my fancy at this D.I. so I decided to visit another D.I.
Low and behold, there were even more school desks at this location.
I laughed out loud when I saw the price of these same school desks at this location for only ONE DOLLAR! ONE DOLLAR!
SHIT! I could have bought EIGHT of these desks HERE and started my own classroom!
What the hell?
I should have brought my school desk into this last D.I. and showed what I paid compared to their price and demanded seven more desks.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.12.2006
The Care Bears binder
Last night as I sat here in Starbucks finishing up some blog writing, a young girl came into Starbucks and sat down.
She sat right across from me and sort of bundled up in her chair with the huge, zip up type of binder that was pink and had the Care Bears on it.
Cute.
The problem with this was the fact she came in after 9:30 at night and was not accompanied by any parent or guardian or any type of adult. This girl couldn't have been more than 12 or 13.
After sitting cuddling her Care Bears binder, the assistant manager of the Starbucks came over to ask her if she was OK. The little girl nodded yes. The assistant manager than asked her name. The little girl responded but was so shy and soft spoken, it was hard to even hear what she said.
The assistant manager then asked her if she was waiting for her parents of if anyone was going to pick her up? The little girl nodded no. The assistant manager asked if she lived around the area of the Starbucks. The little girl nodded yes.
At this point, the assistant manager offered to give her a ride home when Starbucks closed at 11 PM. Personally, I disagreed with this decision and offer. It was clear this girl was not really from around here and someone might be looking for her.
I did not speak up, though. I didn't feel quite right at the time nor did I feel it was my place. So I just sat there watching this little girl drift off to sleep in her chair.
As I looked at her and watched her sleep in the chair, I grew quite sad for this little girl. I knew in my gut something was wrong and I should do something about it.
It also made me recall a story my mom had relayed to me a week earlier. Some of you have probably even heard or seen this news story.
Last week, a little girl left her home (this was here in Utah, I'm not sure where) while her dad was asleep. She walked three miles to a local Wal*Mart to do some Christmas shopping with NO MONEY.
For three hours, she walked around the Wal*Mart filling up her shopping cart. Not one single person stopped her to ask her what she was doing or where her parents were or even ask how she was going to pay for all the items she was putting in her cart.
After being in this Wal*Mart for this amount of time, she just waltzed right out the front doors without paying for her cart full of stuff. No one noticed.
She pushed her cart through the parking lot to a Chili's where she parked the shopping cart outside and went into the Chili's.
She was seated in the Chili's and ordered some food. Around this time, one of the Chili's customers noticed she was out of place and then saw an Amber Alert message on his phone.
The Amber Alert was, in fact, a notice about this same girl. The customer called police and they responded instantly. The story became a news segment and that's how my mom came to learn about it.
This story is what prompted me to act sooner than later in regards to this little girl sleeping in the Starbucks.
I looked for Amber Alerts active in the Utah area and found none. I then looked for the non-emergency dispatch number for the West Valley Police Department and called that.
By the time I got around to calling, the girl had been in the Starbucks for over an hour. It was about 10:35 PM when I got a hold of dispatch.
Here's where it gets frustrating.
I didn't want a couple of gung-ho cops barging into the Starbucks and scaring this little girl. And West Valley Police aren't the best with their social skills when dealing with the public. Actually, most of the time, they can be outright pricks.
As I told the situation to the rude dispatcher, I asked her to tell the officers to just casually come into the Starbucks and get some coffee THEN walk over to her and ask her questions.
Instead, within minutes (the quickest response I've ever seen from West Valley officers), the two officers came into the Starbucks and did exactly what I didn't want to happen.
One officer stormed up to the Starbucks counter asking for "Mike the manager" while the second officer stood right behind my chair.
What sucks is I didn't get the chance to warn the assistant manager of my call because after I made it, she was assisting a couple of customers. I figured the police wouldn't get there for at least 20 minutes.
So as the one officer was asking for "Mike the manager", the other officer realized that I was the guy that called because of the description I gave of the situation. He then asked if I was Mike. I replied: "Yeah, I am. Nice way to barge in here."
The officer then called over to the other officer, who was at this point, asking questions to the assistant manager. He exclaimed that I was Mike, the guy who called.
The second officer than asked me standard questions like my full name, birth date, address and phone number.
The first officer, once done surprising the assistant manager, came over and woke up the little girl which, of course, startled her. What a dick.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that this cop had a mouthful of chew. You could see his bottom lip was just pumped full of the shit. And he was a buff cop. One of those hard ass types that would fit quite well with Michael Chicklis on the television show "The Shield".
If I was a little girl asleep in a Starbucks and having family problems or whatever would cause me to disappear into a Starbucks, this is the last cop I would want to wake me up.
Anyway, since the little girl was shy and soft spoken, the officer had a really hard time hearing her. He got some basic information and then just gave up and told her to sit there and not move.
He made his calls both on the radio and the phone while discussing the situation with the other officer.
It turns out that the girl was 13. She was a foster child and had disappeared earlier in the day. Apparently she took the bus from where she lived in South Salt Lake or Sugarhouse (I couldn't make some of the conversation out) and wound up in West Valley with no real point of destination.
With that, the officers took her off to Youth Services where the girl had been before. For whatever reason, they couldn't reach her foster parents and made the decision to take her to the Youth Services center.
Then she was gone and I sat there feeling really bad for her. I wondered if I had even made the right decision. The assistant manager made it clear that they were not pleased with my decision. They weren't rude about it but it was obvious that they had other plans and/or ideas of how to handle the situation.
I sit here now and think of this kid and wonder if she is OK. I'm really curious to know what caused her to runaway. I want very much to help her but I know that's almost impossible.
I also want to issue a letter of complaint to the goddamn dispatch officer who took my call and to the to the two officers with their Keystone Cops way of dealing with a fragile situation.
But I'm glad to see that the West Valley Police Department is living up to their image I have of them. Shameful... just shameful.
Tomorrow I'm going to make some calls and see if I can find out more about the girl and make sure she is OK.
It really puts my mindless bullshit in perspective. I'm losing my mind and my life and my home and blah blah blah and it's my own fucking fault.
But here is this little girl that is a foster child and would rather be wandering the streets than to have to go back to whatever poor situation she was running from. And all during Christmas time.
After she was gone, it made me think of my own wanting to run away. In some ways, she and I are very similar. But I'm an adult and she's just a kid. When you're a kid, you don't have many options, if any. You need someone to take care of you and love you and want you.
When you're an adult, all of that changes and you have responsibilities....
... where the hell am I going with this?
Happy Holidays, little girl.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
She sat right across from me and sort of bundled up in her chair with the huge, zip up type of binder that was pink and had the Care Bears on it.
Cute.
The problem with this was the fact she came in after 9:30 at night and was not accompanied by any parent or guardian or any type of adult. This girl couldn't have been more than 12 or 13.
After sitting cuddling her Care Bears binder, the assistant manager of the Starbucks came over to ask her if she was OK. The little girl nodded yes. The assistant manager than asked her name. The little girl responded but was so shy and soft spoken, it was hard to even hear what she said.
The assistant manager then asked her if she was waiting for her parents of if anyone was going to pick her up? The little girl nodded no. The assistant manager asked if she lived around the area of the Starbucks. The little girl nodded yes.
At this point, the assistant manager offered to give her a ride home when Starbucks closed at 11 PM. Personally, I disagreed with this decision and offer. It was clear this girl was not really from around here and someone might be looking for her.
I did not speak up, though. I didn't feel quite right at the time nor did I feel it was my place. So I just sat there watching this little girl drift off to sleep in her chair.
As I looked at her and watched her sleep in the chair, I grew quite sad for this little girl. I knew in my gut something was wrong and I should do something about it.
It also made me recall a story my mom had relayed to me a week earlier. Some of you have probably even heard or seen this news story.
Last week, a little girl left her home (this was here in Utah, I'm not sure where) while her dad was asleep. She walked three miles to a local Wal*Mart to do some Christmas shopping with NO MONEY.
For three hours, she walked around the Wal*Mart filling up her shopping cart. Not one single person stopped her to ask her what she was doing or where her parents were or even ask how she was going to pay for all the items she was putting in her cart.
After being in this Wal*Mart for this amount of time, she just waltzed right out the front doors without paying for her cart full of stuff. No one noticed.
She pushed her cart through the parking lot to a Chili's where she parked the shopping cart outside and went into the Chili's.
She was seated in the Chili's and ordered some food. Around this time, one of the Chili's customers noticed she was out of place and then saw an Amber Alert message on his phone.
The Amber Alert was, in fact, a notice about this same girl. The customer called police and they responded instantly. The story became a news segment and that's how my mom came to learn about it.
This story is what prompted me to act sooner than later in regards to this little girl sleeping in the Starbucks.
I looked for Amber Alerts active in the Utah area and found none. I then looked for the non-emergency dispatch number for the West Valley Police Department and called that.
By the time I got around to calling, the girl had been in the Starbucks for over an hour. It was about 10:35 PM when I got a hold of dispatch.
Here's where it gets frustrating.
I didn't want a couple of gung-ho cops barging into the Starbucks and scaring this little girl. And West Valley Police aren't the best with their social skills when dealing with the public. Actually, most of the time, they can be outright pricks.
As I told the situation to the rude dispatcher, I asked her to tell the officers to just casually come into the Starbucks and get some coffee THEN walk over to her and ask her questions.
Instead, within minutes (the quickest response I've ever seen from West Valley officers), the two officers came into the Starbucks and did exactly what I didn't want to happen.
One officer stormed up to the Starbucks counter asking for "Mike the manager" while the second officer stood right behind my chair.
What sucks is I didn't get the chance to warn the assistant manager of my call because after I made it, she was assisting a couple of customers. I figured the police wouldn't get there for at least 20 minutes.
So as the one officer was asking for "Mike the manager", the other officer realized that I was the guy that called because of the description I gave of the situation. He then asked if I was Mike. I replied: "Yeah, I am. Nice way to barge in here."
The officer then called over to the other officer, who was at this point, asking questions to the assistant manager. He exclaimed that I was Mike, the guy who called.
The second officer than asked me standard questions like my full name, birth date, address and phone number.
The first officer, once done surprising the assistant manager, came over and woke up the little girl which, of course, startled her. What a dick.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that this cop had a mouthful of chew. You could see his bottom lip was just pumped full of the shit. And he was a buff cop. One of those hard ass types that would fit quite well with Michael Chicklis on the television show "The Shield".
If I was a little girl asleep in a Starbucks and having family problems or whatever would cause me to disappear into a Starbucks, this is the last cop I would want to wake me up.
Anyway, since the little girl was shy and soft spoken, the officer had a really hard time hearing her. He got some basic information and then just gave up and told her to sit there and not move.
He made his calls both on the radio and the phone while discussing the situation with the other officer.
It turns out that the girl was 13. She was a foster child and had disappeared earlier in the day. Apparently she took the bus from where she lived in South Salt Lake or Sugarhouse (I couldn't make some of the conversation out) and wound up in West Valley with no real point of destination.
With that, the officers took her off to Youth Services where the girl had been before. For whatever reason, they couldn't reach her foster parents and made the decision to take her to the Youth Services center.
Then she was gone and I sat there feeling really bad for her. I wondered if I had even made the right decision. The assistant manager made it clear that they were not pleased with my decision. They weren't rude about it but it was obvious that they had other plans and/or ideas of how to handle the situation.
I sit here now and think of this kid and wonder if she is OK. I'm really curious to know what caused her to runaway. I want very much to help her but I know that's almost impossible.
I also want to issue a letter of complaint to the goddamn dispatch officer who took my call and to the to the two officers with their Keystone Cops way of dealing with a fragile situation.
But I'm glad to see that the West Valley Police Department is living up to their image I have of them. Shameful... just shameful.
Tomorrow I'm going to make some calls and see if I can find out more about the girl and make sure she is OK.
It really puts my mindless bullshit in perspective. I'm losing my mind and my life and my home and blah blah blah and it's my own fucking fault.
But here is this little girl that is a foster child and would rather be wandering the streets than to have to go back to whatever poor situation she was running from. And all during Christmas time.
After she was gone, it made me think of my own wanting to run away. In some ways, she and I are very similar. But I'm an adult and she's just a kid. When you're a kid, you don't have many options, if any. You need someone to take care of you and love you and want you.
When you're an adult, all of that changes and you have responsibilities....
... where the hell am I going with this?
Happy Holidays, little girl.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.11.2006
Mike's Top 20, Top 10 & Top 5
Nothing better than getting into my car at four in the morning and cruising to work to the sounds of something light... like Enigma or the "Blade Runner" soundtrack or Miles Davis or Rage Against The Machine.
Of course, nothing is better than getting in my car after a hard day of bullshit to be able to crank out the jams. My anger management comes from the noise pouring out of my car provided by The Cult, Seether, the "Matrix" soundtrack, The Beastie Boys or some classic Hall & Oates.
I'm almost done completing my large task of uploading my entire CD collection onto this external hard drive of mine. I love this project because it lets me enjoy CD's I haven't listened in a while. Like the afore mentioned Enigma.
Here is my weekly "Top" list. Enjoy it, bitches.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Seether "Driven Under"
19: Blue October "Independently Happy"
18: XTC "Stupidly Happy"
17: Rage Against The Machine "Freedom"
16: Enigma "Sadness (Part 1)"
15: Beastie Boys "Girls"
14: The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary"
13: Public Enemy "Welcome To The Terrordome"
12: The Blues Brothers "Guilty"
11: Talking Heads "Puzzlin' Evidence"
10: U2 "Hawkmoon 269"
09: Prince "The Ladder"
08: Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
07: Bob Rivers "12 Pains Of Christmas"
06: Fat Bot Slim "Going Out Of My Head"
05: AC/DC "You Shook Me All Night Long"
04: Hoobastank "Out Of Control"
03: L.A. Style "James Brown Is Dead"
02: James Brown "Get Up Offa That Thing"
01: Ben Folds Five "Sports & Wine"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Enigma "MCMXC A.D."
09: Rage Against The Machine "Rage Against The Machine"
08: Beastie Boys "Licensed To Ill"
07: Hoobastank "The Reason"
06: Talking Heads "True Stories"
05: Prince "Around The World In A Day"
04: U2 "Rattle & Hum"
03: Marvin Gaye "Can I Get A Witness"
02: Bob Rivers "Twisted Christmas"
01: Ben Folds Five "Ben Folds Five"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: The Ref
04: Home For The Holidays
03: Die Hard
02: Bad Santa
01: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
Of course, nothing is better than getting in my car after a hard day of bullshit to be able to crank out the jams. My anger management comes from the noise pouring out of my car provided by The Cult, Seether, the "Matrix" soundtrack, The Beastie Boys or some classic Hall & Oates.
I'm almost done completing my large task of uploading my entire CD collection onto this external hard drive of mine. I love this project because it lets me enjoy CD's I haven't listened in a while. Like the afore mentioned Enigma.
Here is my weekly "Top" list. Enjoy it, bitches.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Seether "Driven Under"
19: Blue October "Independently Happy"
18: XTC "Stupidly Happy"
17: Rage Against The Machine "Freedom"
16: Enigma "Sadness (Part 1)"
15: Beastie Boys "Girls"
14: The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary"
13: Public Enemy "Welcome To The Terrordome"
12: The Blues Brothers "Guilty"
11: Talking Heads "Puzzlin' Evidence"
10: U2 "Hawkmoon 269"
09: Prince "The Ladder"
08: Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
07: Bob Rivers "12 Pains Of Christmas"
06: Fat Bot Slim "Going Out Of My Head"
05: AC/DC "You Shook Me All Night Long"
04: Hoobastank "Out Of Control"
03: L.A. Style "James Brown Is Dead"
02: James Brown "Get Up Offa That Thing"
01: Ben Folds Five "Sports & Wine"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Enigma "MCMXC A.D."
09: Rage Against The Machine "Rage Against The Machine"
08: Beastie Boys "Licensed To Ill"
07: Hoobastank "The Reason"
06: Talking Heads "True Stories"
05: Prince "Around The World In A Day"
04: U2 "Rattle & Hum"
03: Marvin Gaye "Can I Get A Witness"
02: Bob Rivers "Twisted Christmas"
01: Ben Folds Five "Ben Folds Five"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: The Ref
04: Home For The Holidays
03: Die Hard
02: Bad Santa
01: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.06.2006
I'm sick of Salt Lake
I'm not sure what caused it.
It came out of nowhere.
Maybe it's early signs of a complete nervous breakdown.
But last week, I was overwhelmed with this feeling to just fucking disappear. I just wanted to to pack up my shit and go.
And then I thought I didn't even want to pack up my shit. I just wanted to sell off what I could and give away the rest to the Salvation Army or something.
Then I thought, while I was at it, I'd turn my car over to my finance company and be rid of that, too. Sue me for the rest. Fuck you. I don't care. I hate my shitty finance company anyway.
Then I would take what little money I had, and vanish. I wouldn't tell anyone where I was going or why. I'd just fucking pick up and go.
Runaway.
Start over.
New place. New town. New life. New beginnings.
Don't look back.
I don't even think I would tell my mom what happened. I mean, I would eventually. But for the time being, I just want to be selfish and fucking run. Run far away.
And as I was thinking about all of that, I realized where I wanted to go...
... Erie, Pennsylvania.
I then started to SERIOUSLY plan this out. This vanishing trick of mine. I was going to contact the people I know, like Joe or Jay or Carrie or whomever, and ask for a place to crash when I got there.
Then I would find some job and just work. I'd rebuild my life, my credit, my want to live and be happy.
Yeah, I'd do all that in Erie, Pennsylvania?
I'd make it my home for a while and come to terms with everything that has gone wrong and everything that went right and everything I need to do to start over.
Since having this odd feeling, I can't stop thinking about it.
Why do I feel compelled to run off to Erie, Pennsylvania and start over? Why do I think that is going to help me? Why do I want to do something so negligent, stupid, careless, selfish and downright ludicrous and crazy?
Because, for some reason, it puts a smile on my face and feels right.
How fucked up is that?
Why is it I need to leave here and go there? What exactly is that going to fix and make better, anyway? Why do I feel this connection with Erie, Pennsylvania that drives my mind back there?
I know why. Because, for the only time in my radio career, I felt like someone. I was the shit. I was king. I clearly had gotten an ego. But it was hard not to because I felt like I had finally accomplished something in my radio career.
But I'm not the same person as I was then. I'm barely even Mike The Janitor much anymore. I'm just this guy that is completely fucked up emotionally and mentally that works unloading trucks at a Wal*Mart Distribution Center.
But I can't help but think that this feeling of wanting to return there and make a comeback is what needs to happen. My destiny, if you will.
Fuck, even I just went back there and worked at Starbucks or Eat-N-Park or where ever and planned a way to get back into radio there, it would mark a fresh start for me and I could leave all this other bullshit here in Salt Lake.
Fuck Utah.
Would it be possible for me to detach myself from this place and make that trek 2800 miles back East? What would the few friends I have left think? Would they understand? And what of my mom?
I must admit that even prior to this overwhelming emotion I got last week, I've had this recurring dream where I drive to Erie to hang out with everyone and feel that sense of popularity and pseudo celebrity I had.
In the grand scheme of things, I feel that this is ultimately what I desire. Respect and attention. Popularity and want and need.
I think I'm secretly having a hard time not being in radio, really. I can't seem to adjust without it. It's been my life since I was a child and trying to do anything else is almost impossible.
I will admit that when I walked away from my railroad job, one of the key thoughts I had was "You know what? Fuck you! Do you know who I am and what I've done and who I've met and who I know? I'm goddamn Mike The Janitor!"
Man, that is just sad and pathetic.
Why does radio drive me so? I know that, eventually, radio will be a lost cause and that anyone who listens to it doesn't really give a good goddamn about the douche bag on the air UNLESS you're someone already established like Don & Mike, Bob & Tom, Howard Stern, Mancow and a few select others.
But you know what? I want to be in that fucking list.
And I think that running off to Erie, Pennsylvania and getting my foot back in the door there is a good way to go about doing it. I don't have anything to lose because I've already lost everything.
Lost the great job at the rail yard by walking off the job and quitting. Lost the money that came along with the job. Lost the girlfriend that was perfect for me. Lost the respect of many friends who had stuck with me up until that point. And I lost the respect of my own mom who has written me off in many respects.
Yes, she loves me but I know I'm a huge disappointment. And, in many ways, I harbor the same feelings towards her.
There is nothing left for me here in Salt Lake. Not a fucking thing. Whatever I can do here, I can do anywhere. So why not just take a risk and run off and try somewhere else?
Does this make me even more of a sad shell of a man because I feel this way? Because I feel like an outcast from myself? Who really fucking cares, you know?
Fuck it.
I just may follow through on this crazy, fucked up plan and see where it takes me. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, I'm pretty much a nomad... a vagabond.
Maybe this desire to take such a trip is my calling for bigger and better things?
Or it could be just another way to fuck my life up that much more.
At this point, I just want to vanish.
Vanish and not look back.
If not in Erie, somewhere. I don't care where or how. I'm just done with all of this.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
It came out of nowhere.
Maybe it's early signs of a complete nervous breakdown.
But last week, I was overwhelmed with this feeling to just fucking disappear. I just wanted to to pack up my shit and go.
And then I thought I didn't even want to pack up my shit. I just wanted to sell off what I could and give away the rest to the Salvation Army or something.
Then I thought, while I was at it, I'd turn my car over to my finance company and be rid of that, too. Sue me for the rest. Fuck you. I don't care. I hate my shitty finance company anyway.
Then I would take what little money I had, and vanish. I wouldn't tell anyone where I was going or why. I'd just fucking pick up and go.
Runaway.
Start over.
New place. New town. New life. New beginnings.
Don't look back.
I don't even think I would tell my mom what happened. I mean, I would eventually. But for the time being, I just want to be selfish and fucking run. Run far away.
And as I was thinking about all of that, I realized where I wanted to go...
... Erie, Pennsylvania.
I then started to SERIOUSLY plan this out. This vanishing trick of mine. I was going to contact the people I know, like Joe or Jay or Carrie or whomever, and ask for a place to crash when I got there.
Then I would find some job and just work. I'd rebuild my life, my credit, my want to live and be happy.
Yeah, I'd do all that in Erie, Pennsylvania?
I'd make it my home for a while and come to terms with everything that has gone wrong and everything that went right and everything I need to do to start over.
Since having this odd feeling, I can't stop thinking about it.
Why do I feel compelled to run off to Erie, Pennsylvania and start over? Why do I think that is going to help me? Why do I want to do something so negligent, stupid, careless, selfish and downright ludicrous and crazy?
Because, for some reason, it puts a smile on my face and feels right.
How fucked up is that?
Why is it I need to leave here and go there? What exactly is that going to fix and make better, anyway? Why do I feel this connection with Erie, Pennsylvania that drives my mind back there?
I know why. Because, for the only time in my radio career, I felt like someone. I was the shit. I was king. I clearly had gotten an ego. But it was hard not to because I felt like I had finally accomplished something in my radio career.
But I'm not the same person as I was then. I'm barely even Mike The Janitor much anymore. I'm just this guy that is completely fucked up emotionally and mentally that works unloading trucks at a Wal*Mart Distribution Center.
But I can't help but think that this feeling of wanting to return there and make a comeback is what needs to happen. My destiny, if you will.
Fuck, even I just went back there and worked at Starbucks or Eat-N-Park or where ever and planned a way to get back into radio there, it would mark a fresh start for me and I could leave all this other bullshit here in Salt Lake.
Fuck Utah.
Would it be possible for me to detach myself from this place and make that trek 2800 miles back East? What would the few friends I have left think? Would they understand? And what of my mom?
I must admit that even prior to this overwhelming emotion I got last week, I've had this recurring dream where I drive to Erie to hang out with everyone and feel that sense of popularity and pseudo celebrity I had.
In the grand scheme of things, I feel that this is ultimately what I desire. Respect and attention. Popularity and want and need.
I think I'm secretly having a hard time not being in radio, really. I can't seem to adjust without it. It's been my life since I was a child and trying to do anything else is almost impossible.
I will admit that when I walked away from my railroad job, one of the key thoughts I had was "You know what? Fuck you! Do you know who I am and what I've done and who I've met and who I know? I'm goddamn Mike The Janitor!"
Man, that is just sad and pathetic.
Why does radio drive me so? I know that, eventually, radio will be a lost cause and that anyone who listens to it doesn't really give a good goddamn about the douche bag on the air UNLESS you're someone already established like Don & Mike, Bob & Tom, Howard Stern, Mancow and a few select others.
But you know what? I want to be in that fucking list.
And I think that running off to Erie, Pennsylvania and getting my foot back in the door there is a good way to go about doing it. I don't have anything to lose because I've already lost everything.
Lost the great job at the rail yard by walking off the job and quitting. Lost the money that came along with the job. Lost the girlfriend that was perfect for me. Lost the respect of many friends who had stuck with me up until that point. And I lost the respect of my own mom who has written me off in many respects.
Yes, she loves me but I know I'm a huge disappointment. And, in many ways, I harbor the same feelings towards her.
There is nothing left for me here in Salt Lake. Not a fucking thing. Whatever I can do here, I can do anywhere. So why not just take a risk and run off and try somewhere else?
Does this make me even more of a sad shell of a man because I feel this way? Because I feel like an outcast from myself? Who really fucking cares, you know?
Fuck it.
I just may follow through on this crazy, fucked up plan and see where it takes me. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, I'm pretty much a nomad... a vagabond.
Maybe this desire to take such a trip is my calling for bigger and better things?
Or it could be just another way to fuck my life up that much more.
At this point, I just want to vanish.
Vanish and not look back.
If not in Erie, somewhere. I don't care where or how. I'm just done with all of this.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
Air piano
On Sunday, I got off work from The Mothership pretty early. About 1:45 in the afternoon. They took volunteers for "VTO" (Voluntary Time Off) and I raised my hand. Looking back at it, I don't know why I fucking did that when I CLEARLY can't afford NOT to work.
Then, Monday morning I awoke to find that it was noon and I had completely missed my last day for the week at work on The Mothership.
My ex-girlfriend was right. Or I'm just playing into her image of me because I'm a lame ass.
Self-destruct sequence activated.
Time to death from depression and poverty in T-minus less than 10 years on my mark.. begin sequence in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. launch.. all systems are go. We have lift off of complete fuck up, Mission Control.
The funny thing is I had set my alarm. I remember waking up to BOTH my alarms. I have my AM/FM/CD clock radio on the right of my bed and my cell phone with an alarm feature on the left.
They both went off. My clock radio goes off first. I have it set to the CD player feature and it wakes me up to the sounds of "The Cooler" motion picture soundtrack by Mark Isham.
My phone, on the other hand, wakes me up by ringing like an annoying cell phone. I started using my cell phone for a back-up alarm back when I woke up late for my railroad job when the power had gone out at my house.
Monday morning, however, I just shut them both off while telling myself "five more minutes". Normally I just hit the snooze button on both of these units. Not on Monday. I guess I had sub-consciously given up on giving a shit.
So, here I sit wondering what the hell I am doing? I just lost out on a days work by not getting my ass up at 3:30 AM like I always do. Not too mention the four hours or so I lost by volunteering to leave work early yesterday.
Why do I need to be home, anyway? There is nothing for me here. Outside of work, I have nothing to do with myself but take up space at Starbucks.
Actually, I'm not even at Starbucks as I write this. I'm sitting at home writing it in Word so that I can, later, cut and paste it into a blog on MySpace at Starbucks.
*sigh*
After I got home from work early on Sunday, I went to the fridge and proceeded to drink the remaining beer I had.
Self-destruct sequence including full on raging alcoholic activated.. begin countdown in T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. launch beer bottle.. initiate swallow feature. Begin drunk sequence..
I think I started hitting the sauce around four in the afternoon. By seven at night, I was good and tipsy. Now, I haven't actually been drinking all that much lately. I've kind of lost my taste for it. However, yesterday was a good getting plowed day. I'm not even sure why.
What's funny is I only had four beers. Four beers in three hours and, WOW, I was feeling pretty good. So good in fact, I started jamming out to some of my favorite songs in my iTunes collection.
One of those songs was George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" in which I play an awesome air piano! Four beers and I'm playing air piano. Where the hell did my tolerance level go to? Sheesh.
Normally when I listen to music, I lip-sync and dance around as if I'm in front of an audience like I'm actually the front man of the band I'm listening to. Complete with microphone and stand.
And I mean I actually have a microphone and stand that I use while doing my lip-syncs. I even have an electric guitar that I used to bring out and play air guitar. But that's in storage in Reno, Nevada.
I also play air trumpet and air drums. Not professionally, mind you. Just for fun in the privacy of my own home. Although I'm sure it would make for some great entertainment to anyone that were to catch me in one of my classic lip-syncing moments.
Actually, you can see one of my lip-syncing moments on wildvoice. There you can see footage of me lip-syncing to a live version of the song "Next To You" by the Police and "Got My Own Thing Now" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
You know, 2006 started out to be the beginning of a great new year and life for me. I had started anew with a career working in the railroad industry. I had plans to do that for about a year and then get a job with Union Pacific and, more than likely, retire with that company and career.
But by August, things went awry. I lost my cool. I gave up. I ran away. I dissolved back into the person I had been not too long ago. I'm worse than where I started and I'm back at square one. Actually, in my case, it's probably more like negative square three.
I'm tired and fed up, honestly. With what? With me.
If I could just make a living off of feeling sorry for myself, I'd be set. Better yet, if I could make a living off of sitting in Starbucks, that would be better! Shit, maybe I could be the official Starbucks greeter like the greeters they have in Wal*Mart.
I would so do that.
I think if I had the expendable income, like ONE MILLION DOLLARS... MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I'd spend the rest of my days sitting in Starbucks.
NO! I would travel to Starbucks all over the globe for the rest of my life and spend a week or two in each. And just rotate them as I went from Starbucks to Starbucks over the course of the rest of my life or until the ONE MILLION DOLLARS... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA ran out.
Wow, what a life goal to have, eh? I'm such a lame ass sometimes but I think that would be fun. I'd buy me a big ol' RV and fucking go state to state, Starbucks to Starbucks, writing blogs and drinking coffee and meeting new people.
I'd take a break from Starbucks stateside and fly overseas and spend a few years doing the same thing.
I could be the official Starbucks mascot.
I could be the new Starbucks Siren. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...
Well, I gotta head to... where do you think? That's right, Starbucks, to post this out-of-his-mind blog.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
Then, Monday morning I awoke to find that it was noon and I had completely missed my last day for the week at work on The Mothership.
My ex-girlfriend was right. Or I'm just playing into her image of me because I'm a lame ass.
Self-destruct sequence activated.
Time to death from depression and poverty in T-minus less than 10 years on my mark.. begin sequence in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. launch.. all systems are go. We have lift off of complete fuck up, Mission Control.
The funny thing is I had set my alarm. I remember waking up to BOTH my alarms. I have my AM/FM/CD clock radio on the right of my bed and my cell phone with an alarm feature on the left.
They both went off. My clock radio goes off first. I have it set to the CD player feature and it wakes me up to the sounds of "The Cooler" motion picture soundtrack by Mark Isham.
My phone, on the other hand, wakes me up by ringing like an annoying cell phone. I started using my cell phone for a back-up alarm back when I woke up late for my railroad job when the power had gone out at my house.
Monday morning, however, I just shut them both off while telling myself "five more minutes". Normally I just hit the snooze button on both of these units. Not on Monday. I guess I had sub-consciously given up on giving a shit.
So, here I sit wondering what the hell I am doing? I just lost out on a days work by not getting my ass up at 3:30 AM like I always do. Not too mention the four hours or so I lost by volunteering to leave work early yesterday.
Why do I need to be home, anyway? There is nothing for me here. Outside of work, I have nothing to do with myself but take up space at Starbucks.
Actually, I'm not even at Starbucks as I write this. I'm sitting at home writing it in Word so that I can, later, cut and paste it into a blog on MySpace at Starbucks.
*sigh*
After I got home from work early on Sunday, I went to the fridge and proceeded to drink the remaining beer I had.
Self-destruct sequence including full on raging alcoholic activated.. begin countdown in T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. launch beer bottle.. initiate swallow feature. Begin drunk sequence..
I think I started hitting the sauce around four in the afternoon. By seven at night, I was good and tipsy. Now, I haven't actually been drinking all that much lately. I've kind of lost my taste for it. However, yesterday was a good getting plowed day. I'm not even sure why.
What's funny is I only had four beers. Four beers in three hours and, WOW, I was feeling pretty good. So good in fact, I started jamming out to some of my favorite songs in my iTunes collection.
One of those songs was George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" in which I play an awesome air piano! Four beers and I'm playing air piano. Where the hell did my tolerance level go to? Sheesh.
Normally when I listen to music, I lip-sync and dance around as if I'm in front of an audience like I'm actually the front man of the band I'm listening to. Complete with microphone and stand.
And I mean I actually have a microphone and stand that I use while doing my lip-syncs. I even have an electric guitar that I used to bring out and play air guitar. But that's in storage in Reno, Nevada.
I also play air trumpet and air drums. Not professionally, mind you. Just for fun in the privacy of my own home. Although I'm sure it would make for some great entertainment to anyone that were to catch me in one of my classic lip-syncing moments.
Actually, you can see one of my lip-syncing moments on wildvoice. There you can see footage of me lip-syncing to a live version of the song "Next To You" by the Police and "Got My Own Thing Now" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
You know, 2006 started out to be the beginning of a great new year and life for me. I had started anew with a career working in the railroad industry. I had plans to do that for about a year and then get a job with Union Pacific and, more than likely, retire with that company and career.
But by August, things went awry. I lost my cool. I gave up. I ran away. I dissolved back into the person I had been not too long ago. I'm worse than where I started and I'm back at square one. Actually, in my case, it's probably more like negative square three.
I'm tired and fed up, honestly. With what? With me.
If I could just make a living off of feeling sorry for myself, I'd be set. Better yet, if I could make a living off of sitting in Starbucks, that would be better! Shit, maybe I could be the official Starbucks greeter like the greeters they have in Wal*Mart.
I would so do that.
I think if I had the expendable income, like ONE MILLION DOLLARS... MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I'd spend the rest of my days sitting in Starbucks.
NO! I would travel to Starbucks all over the globe for the rest of my life and spend a week or two in each. And just rotate them as I went from Starbucks to Starbucks over the course of the rest of my life or until the ONE MILLION DOLLARS... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA ran out.
Wow, what a life goal to have, eh? I'm such a lame ass sometimes but I think that would be fun. I'd buy me a big ol' RV and fucking go state to state, Starbucks to Starbucks, writing blogs and drinking coffee and meeting new people.
I'd take a break from Starbucks stateside and fly overseas and spend a few years doing the same thing.
I could be the official Starbucks mascot.
I could be the new Starbucks Siren. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...
Well, I gotta head to... where do you think? That's right, Starbucks, to post this out-of-his-mind blog.
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
12.04.2006
Mike's Top 20, Top 10 & Top 5
I've been listening to all kinds of stuff since I've been uploading my CD collection into my iTunes. I rediscovered some great world music under Peter Gabriel's "Real World" record label that I haven't listened to for quite sometime.
So, if some of the artists and song titles seem really obscure, it's more than likely some type of world music that I became aware of because of Peter Gabriel.
So, here for your viewing pleasure, is another great list of music that I'm listening to and DVD's I've enjoyed watching from last week.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "Shamas-Ud-Doha, Badar-Ud-Doja"
19: Miles Davis "So What"
18: The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
17: Public Image Ltd. "Public Image" Ltd.
16: Dave Matthews Band "Lie In Our Graves"
15: Free "Little Bit Of Love"
14: Oingo Boingo "No One Lives Forever"
13: The Crystal Method "Keep Hope Alive"
12: Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
11: DaRude "Sandstorm"
10: Stardust "Music Sounds Better With You"
09: Vast "I Don't Have Anything"
08: The The "The Beat(en) Generation"
07: Screamin' Cheetah Willies "I Found Love"
06: George Gershwin "Rhapsody In Blue"
05: Meryn Cadell "The Sweater"
04: Jamiroquai "Where Do We Go From Here"
03: Bachman-Turner Overdrive "Let It Ride"
02: TelePopMusik "Breathe"
01: Guns 'N' Roses "Live And Let Die"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue"
09: Various Artists "Passion Sources"
08: Various Artists "Plus From Us"
07: Meryn Cadell "Angel Food For Thought"
06: The The "Mind Bomb"
05: XTC "Mummer"
04: Music From The Motion Picture "Anchorman"
03: Coldplay "A Rush Of Blood To The Head"
02: Apollo Four Forty "Gettin' High On Your Own Supply"
01: Cherry Poppin' Daddies "Zoot Suit Riot"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: Nacho Libre
04: Second Best
03: Drop Dead Gorgeous
02: Bring It On
01: Monster's Ball
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
So, if some of the artists and song titles seem really obscure, it's more than likely some type of world music that I became aware of because of Peter Gabriel.
So, here for your viewing pleasure, is another great list of music that I'm listening to and DVD's I've enjoyed watching from last week.
Mike's Top 20 Songs:
20: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "Shamas-Ud-Doha, Badar-Ud-Doja"
19: Miles Davis "So What"
18: The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
17: Public Image Ltd. "Public Image" Ltd.
16: Dave Matthews Band "Lie In Our Graves"
15: Free "Little Bit Of Love"
14: Oingo Boingo "No One Lives Forever"
13: The Crystal Method "Keep Hope Alive"
12: Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
11: DaRude "Sandstorm"
10: Stardust "Music Sounds Better With You"
09: Vast "I Don't Have Anything"
08: The The "The Beat(en) Generation"
07: Screamin' Cheetah Willies "I Found Love"
06: George Gershwin "Rhapsody In Blue"
05: Meryn Cadell "The Sweater"
04: Jamiroquai "Where Do We Go From Here"
03: Bachman-Turner Overdrive "Let It Ride"
02: TelePopMusik "Breathe"
01: Guns 'N' Roses "Live And Let Die"
Mike's Top 10 CD's:
10: Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue"
09: Various Artists "Passion Sources"
08: Various Artists "Plus From Us"
07: Meryn Cadell "Angel Food For Thought"
06: The The "Mind Bomb"
05: XTC "Mummer"
04: Music From The Motion Picture "Anchorman"
03: Coldplay "A Rush Of Blood To The Head"
02: Apollo Four Forty "Gettin' High On Your Own Supply"
01: Cherry Poppin' Daddies "Zoot Suit Riot"
Mike's Top 5 DVD's:
05: Nacho Libre
04: Second Best
03: Drop Dead Gorgeous
02: Bring It On
01: Monster's Ball
-Mike The Janitor
©2006
Millenoma Publishing
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