Out of work/Phillies are the 2008 World Series Champs!

This past Wed was one of the craziest, weirdest, most surreal days I have had in my entire life.
I was laid off yesterday. It was out of the blue. The company I worked for laid off 20 other people as well. That's equal to a 20% reduction in staff. I never expected to be a casualty of this recession. We had run the sales dept extremely lean to avoid situations like this. I know it wasn't job related for a couple of reasons, my #'s were up and have been for sometime now and I was told in my exit meeting that it had absolutely nothing to do with performance. Not much consolation as I have been working for them for the past 6 years but at least it was something. Packing my office was very strange. I did it in about 10 minutes and just left without saying goodbye to anyone. I was in shock. The drive home was surreal, I barely remember it now.
Some crazy things go through your mind when you are being told that you no longer have a job. The weirdest one for me yesterday was that at least I was going to miss the lame Halloween party they try to throw each year. Funny how the mind works.

Now what you ask...I don't really know where this is leading but I am looking at it as an opportunity to start a new chapter in my life. It is very scary but they say things happen for a reason. Right now I am trying to enjoy my new found free time.


But the day was not over yet. The Phillies were less than 3 innings away from a World Series win and I was not going to let what happened earlier in the day effect how I watched and celebrated. I am thrilled to say they won and I celebrated like I should by drinking too much and being a bit too loud!

Game 5

Game 5
To be continued...

Saturday Night in Laguna

Well as I had written about previously, Sandra and I went to wedding last night. It was for her friend Mark and his partner Richard. It was a nice affair with a short service (bonus!), then right to appetizers and drinks (my favorite part of any affair). But during this whole time the Phillies are playing a WS game and I am at a wedding. My mind was just not there. We enjoyed ourselves but as soon as it was time to go I was out the door.
We made it home in time to watch the last 2 innings. The 9th was crazy with Carlos Ruiz knocking in the game winner in walk off style. What a way to win the 1st WS game in Philly since 93. Tonight is game 4 and I am not going anywhere. This is a great ride and I want to be on for the whole time!

Go Phils!

Sundays!

I love Sundays in the fall. Why you ask? The NFL is in full swing! I can sit and watch games, dick around on the web and play with Radley all day. Yes, I have a touch of the ADD, but I have it under control...

Even though my knee is still hurting, I want to skate this week. We'll see. In the meantime I have been watching skate videos like it was 95. I've been into the European and smaller local style independent ones that show a scene or local board company. They have a certain feel that the big budget "fly to the hot spots", and double your coverage, get a magazine article, and film for the video's don't have.
The spots are generally more rugged, making them easier to relate to as most of us don't have a marble ledge paradise at our disposal. Plus the vibe is more skating for fun not just progression. I have no issue with progression as a matter of fact some of my all time favorite videos are considered to be extremely progressive not just for the tricks, but spots, filming, editing, etc. But mostly what I enjoy are seeing new spots, not just another stair added on for Billy Sunglasses ad to jump down.

So to finally cut to the chase below are a couple of you tuber's I have been watching.


Danny Sommerfeld - German ripper


Jordan Sanchez - Seattle smooth operator

Tough Luck

Phillies head back home for game 3. Earning the 1-1 split was huge. Not hitting with men on base...not so huge. Overall they can play better. I however will not be watching. Where will i be? In Laguna at a wedding, a same sex wedding between Sandra's friend Mark and his partner Richard. Amazing timing, I know. Maybe there will be a TV there...a boy can have a dream. Right?!?

Still haven't picked the hotel for our Vegas trip, but we are going to stay someplace nice for cheap so we can have more $$$ for other things, such as gambling! or maybe a massage with Sandra.

Still can't skate since my knee is hurt. Not sure what happened but it feels weak on every step . Sucks as I have been feelin the new park at the office. Still haven't got my legs back completely but it gets closer all the time. My confidence is not back yet at all. Have to get through this and keep it going.
I've started to skate the box a bit. Ollie timing is way off. It feels like one of those weak skate photo's from TJ Maxx where the "skater" is doing a trick and their feet are both off in mid air. Not good.

Game 1

Hamels was a monster tonight and the Phils are up 1-0 in the WS!

Are you kidding me....!

I'm sitting in the office going crazy right now thinking about the Phillies game tonight. It is game 1 of the World Series and I'm pumped. The last time they were in the World Series I was still living in Philly and somehow managed to finagle tickets to game 4. I went with my good friend Mike Meyer. Ultimately the Phil's lost the game and the series but it was still an awesome experience.
Now I am 3000 miles away and watch every game I can and will be flying the colors tonight when I get home. We are bringing in cheesesteaks to keep it real Philly style. Of course I will be on my usual 14 and wizard smoke combo! What better way to watch!

That's all for now and I will be back after work.

Go Phils!

Looking ahead...way ahead.

I'm just another working stiff.
Glad to have a job in this crazy economy. Who, like many out there have very few vacation days to look forward to. Now, I understand lot's of people are in similar working situations or worse or no job but fuck it, I am already looking forward to my winter vacation and it's only October. I'm burned out and need more than two rushed days off to clear my head. It's been a long year already.

Sandra and I have this holiday tradition of heading to Vegas around Christmas for a couple of days of R&R. More like video poker and 14's in the am. I'm thinking we should carry on the tradition this year. I love Vegas (understatement of the year)! It has everything I look for in a vacation; anonymity, gambling, and restaurants galore.

So the question is where do we stay? I'm not one to jump into things without a little research so I have been on the hunt for room deals. The question has morphed into; Do we stay someplace extravagant for a great price or stay someplace real nice for cheap? I am leaning towards staying someplace real nice for cheap. This would free up some loot for a massage or a show. Or more roulette downtown, whatever I'm on vacation! ....in my brain.

Well here goes

Hello there -

This is my 1st attempt at anything like this. I never had a diary, secret notebook or anything of that sort. This blog will hopefully be used as an outlet for my thoughts, random observations, rants, questions, theories and anything else I please.

A few of things I am feeling these days;
Radley chasing Stevie around the house
Afterwork Podium Park sessions - photo coming!
Jamie T
Phillies
Vegas
Street Murals




That's all for today.