deathmetalthunder dot com

So me and neolefty are doing something a little bit out of the norm this month; we are both writing books. November is National Novel Writing Month and I'm joining up with several thousand other people to write a 50,000 work book by month's end. This obviously won't be edited for prime-time, but that's not the real goal. The goal is to write the 50,000 word by November 30. I'm sure I can wedge enough spare time into my day to get that done. Though updates to the site might be a little less frequent. Now if I was real adventurous I'd publish this thing when I was done on dmt, but that's not going to happen.

So why write a book? Well, why not? Am I really doing anything that I can't find a couple hours a day on this? I could probably find 16. Besides, Hemmingway said "The first draft of anything is shit." That is setting the bar right to my level.

And that's what I'm doing in November. I sort of wish I had planned it a bit better, but I'm good at pulling things out of my ass. And I work well with deadlines. Besides, it's only 1,666 words a day. Maybe I have gotten myself a bit in over my head.

Labels: neolefty, writing

My place is totally falling apart. My light blew in the hallway, but, more importantly, my dryer doesn't have any heat. I'm pretty much fucked.

But I will get to see the Lions kick the ass of all the Cowboys tomorrow from noon to about 3:30 PM.

Labels: football, sports

OK, hopefully you can here this thing, this is Yo!'s two calls to me last night. You might need to download it and open it with Quicktime. And be sure that you're not offended offended by obscenities.

Chuck Yeager!

Labels: yo

Holy Shit, Yo! called me up and left a message referring himself to be the drinking Chuck Yeager. That in addition to discussing his four past days of drinking and the next three already in the works. Chuck Yeager indeed.

So, anyone know how to get an AT&T voicemail off and onto another form of media?

Labels: yo

One of the managers here has a unique idea on how to motivate his folks. A little background: his team has a deadline in mid December 17 for a project and the wheels of inactivity have been spinning for nearly a month. It is a large initiative and it would have been difficult to implement without the three week delay (and there will be at least another week lost because of the default inert state of this company). This manager has little respect within his group and is seen as a cause of why things have not been moving.

Anyway, his motivational technique? The one to inspire all of those under him? If they meet this date, he'll come in wearing a dress for the day. Doesn't he realize we see him in a dress with Photoshop now?

I got loaded Tuesday, but I had enough sense to not get loaded last night. Yo! did not have that much sense. The thread:

Yo! (10:29:36 AM): hung over again
Yo! (10:29:57 AM): walkthrough in a couple of hours
thepurveyor (10:30:14 AM): you got drunk again? dude...
Yo! (10:40:35 AM): yes....going away party
thepurveyor (10:40:53 AM): dude, you might want to cut
back on the getting loaded during the week
Yo! (10:41:45 AM): can't stop now
Yo! (10:41:56 AM): only thing that makes me feel better/
thepurveyor (10:42:07 AM): that's indeed sad
Yo! (10:42:20 AM): I am looking forward to it tonight
Yo! (10:42:25 AM): I can't sleep
thepurveyor (10:42:33 AM): sleep, more sleep, and lots of liquids got me over my hangover
Yo! (10:43:12 AM): I agree...but I can't sleep.
Yo! (10:43:12 AM): have to go to the party
Yo! (10:43:17 AM): need more liquor
Yo! (10:43:23 AM): to feel better
thepurveyor (10:43:29 AM): another going away part tonight?
Yo! (10:43:34 AM): I feel like shit again
Yo! (10:43:40 AM): and I have to meet with people
Yo! (10:43:40 AM): yes
thepurveyor (10:43:50 AM): well, if you have to
Yo! (10:43:56 AM): I am trying to make it through the day
Yo! (10:44:07 AM): I don't care what happens today
Yo! (10:44:18 AM): I am a train wreck
thepurveyor (10:45:18 AM): sounds like somebody needs an intervention
thepurveyor (10:45:32 AM): fortunately that's not my job
Yo! (10:46:15 AM): going out friday night to for a party
Yo! (10:46:20 AM): no stopping it
Yo! (10:46:25 AM): out of control
thepurveyor (10:46:32 AM): practice makes perfect
Yo! (10:47:35 AM): I just want to walk out the front door
thepurveyor (10:48:47 AM): go back to the hotel and then show up for the party
Yo! (10:50:01 AM): yes....but long day ahead.
Yo! (10:50:01 AM): walkthrough today
thepurveyor (10:50:32 AM): oh yeah?
thepurveyor (10:50:33 AM): that's no good
thepurveyor (10:50:34 AM): i believe the techincal term is "you're screwed"
thepurveyor (10:50:46 AM): when's the walkthrough? go out and get a whiskey and coke
Yo! (10:50:51 AM): I feel like I"m jumping out of a plane
Yo! (10:51:02 AM): I need that...anything
Yo! (10:51:18 AM): I'm jittery
Yo! (10:51:23 AM): strung out
Yo! (10:51:34 AM): I want to lay on the floor
thepurveyor (10:51:41 AM): you're my idol
Yo! (10:52:34 AM): eyes are blood shot
Yo! (10:52:50 AM): best thing
Yo! (10:53:06 AM): fire alarm when off at hotel at 7:30am
Yo! (10:53:22 AM): I feel like Bill the cat.
Yo! (10:53:27 AM): wrecked
thepurveyor (10:54:35 AM): after this weekend, i'm taking some time off drinking. until PC gets to town.
Yo! (10:58:03 AM): going to orlando
Yo! (10:58:15 AM): to go drinking around the world
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): i have to get some sleep or
it is going to look like, "leaving las vegas".
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): did I mention I don't know
the conent of the walkthrough that I am doing.
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): ?
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): so fucked
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): so, so, fucked
Yo! (11:11:25 AM): so fucked I am giddy
Yo! (11:13:29 AM): I am on my knees in my head
thepurveyor (11:25:03 AM): nice work
thepurveyor (11:25:17 AM): no clue about what you're
presenting? and hungover? i love that.
Yo! (11:28:59 AM): I am lost with the material
Yo! (11:28:59 AM): my hope is that nobody will be paying attention
Yo! (11:29:20 AM): and my bullshit wil go un notices
Yo! (11:29:20 AM): noticed
Yo! (11:29:46 AM): after the walkthrough....I'm that much closer to my next drink'
Yo! (11:30:02 AM): the drink is the only way I will get to sleep tonight
Yo! (11:47:09 AM): I feel like crying
Yo! (11:47:09 AM): I
Yo! (11:47:15 AM): I'm going to crack
thepurveyor (1:27:07 PM): good work!
thepurveyor (1:36:03 PM): how you doing?
Yo! (2:06:11 PM): walktthroug finished
thepurveyor (2:06:20 PM): how'd it go, slugger?
Yo! (2:06:36 PM): stellar
thepurveyor (2:06:55 PM): everyone else hungover?
Yo! (2:07:04 PM): went great
Yo! (2:07:09 PM): I would have bet money it would be a train wrec
thepurveyor (2:07:28 PM): well, your half-assed work is still better than most people's best efforts
Yo! (2:08:23 PM): accidentally great
Yo! (2:19:14 PM): feeling a bit better
Yo! (2:19:33 PM): still strung out....but less stressed
Yo! (2:19:33 PM): still suprised I did not bomb
Yo! (2:19:44 PM): the meeting
Yo! (2:19:51 PM): must have been on autopilot
thepurveyor (2:20:34 PM): you're a good presenter, i'm sure you just hit autopilot
thepurveyor (2:20:45 PM): you ooze bullshit, so that helps
Yo! (2:21:03 PM): yes...autopilot was on
thepurveyor (2:21:12 PM): and, as stated before, you half-assed is better than most's best efforts
Yo! (2:21:26 PM): before I knew it, it was over and everyone was happy
Yo! (2:24:13 PM): and I have time for a nap
Yo! (2:24:13 PM): then back out.
thepurveyor (2:24:28 PM): go to it
Yo! (2:24:45 PM): I have got to shut down for a little while....feel like I'm unravelling
thepurveyor (2:25:27 PM): yeah, get to sleep before you totally unravel
thepurveyor (2:25:41 PM): drink a lot of water or gatorade and pass out
Yo! (2:26:58 PM): agreed

Labels: drinking, stupidity, yo

OK, no more getting blasted on Tuesdays. I need to go home and sleep. Chevelle tonight. Good thing I drank so much last night in that I won't be paying a bunch of cash for booze tonight.

Yo! went out and got wasted by himself last night. He ran up a $80 bar tab by himself. That's awesome. And it makes me feel less shitty about getting loaded at home. At least I wasn't drinking alone!

The only thing I can take from this is to always have friends that can top you in stupidity. Always.

Labels: yo

Holy shit, The JMVC came by last night and next thing you know we've made plans to start an real estate holding company and destroyed a good portion of a half-gallon of whiskey. I'm a wreck. Just got into the office and don't think I'll be here too long. If I can get away without vomitting, I'll be lucky.

Labels: jmvc

So I came in late today and stopped for a Code Red on the way in. Well, there's this guy in front of me buying like $30 worth of nightly drawing lottery and lotto tickets. The machine's taking a bit of time before the guy busts out with: "And I'll take three of the 20th anniversary scratch offs." Turns out those were twenty bucks ($20!) a piece. Besides my astonishment at some dumb ass spending nearly $100 on lottery tickets on a Tuesday morning, how the hell are there lottery tickets that cost $20 each? And scratch offs at that. People continually stupefy me.

Poor Ron Zook. I know he's a Gaytor, but he deserves to be treated better for singlehandedly destroying a force in college football. Anyone who can make them more of a joke is a hero in my eyes. I was hoping for a couple more years, but I guess I'll have to take it. Let's just hope that Spurrier sits on the sidelines and doesn't go back to the Shitville.

It's Sunday afternoon and I was able to send neolefty a Visio cd. How's this? Well, the US Postal Service has joined the 20th Century. At my location at least, you can now send packages without attendants 24/7.

Labels: neolefty

Another Detroit Lions victory! And even better was I was actually able to see the game. Detroit's in Dallas next Sunday and Seerwah and I are heading up for the game. A little Halloween bludgeoning of the Cowboys by a hungry Lions team looking for four in a row on the road (and can match their win total for all of last year). If only I had my throwback Roy Williams jersey. But I guess they'd actually have to be producing them. It'll be a choice now between my Joey Harrington and Charles Rogers; not really much of choice.

Pretty eventful week coming up: Chevelle on Wednesday and up to Big D on Saturday. And rumor has it that I have to get some work done this week, too.

Labels: football, music, seerwah, sports

Florida State barely won against Wake Forest. But I guess a win is a win. And Wyatt Sexton's still playing and Rix is not. So that's another win.

Is it actually possible that I was in Brazil this time last year? Dear God, I think it is.

About friggin time: Friendster has finally taken off the "Beta" tag on their site. That's the longest beta of all time. And on that note, I'm off to bed.

Well, the absentee ballot is in the mail (well, waiting for the mailman to pick it up). If there's a close call in Florida, you can blame it on me.

And if there's any sort of coastal disturbance in Louisiana this weekend, it's because Bubba's down there causing a nuisance. He says fishing and visiting family. I say nuisance.

It's been like a Food Network tryout over my place. Sunday I cooked up some chill and cornbread; Monday I made up a roast; Tuesday the Lord Purveyor rested; but last night I made some goulash. Oh, yeah, busting out the Hungarian shite. Fat Boy came over and had a couple helpings while watching Lost and then game seven of the ALCS.

And speaking of baseball, for somebody who supposedly doesn't like baseball, I sure have watched a lot of games over the course of the past week. Hypocrisy suits me.

Oh, one of my friends from high school called me out of the blue. I haven't talked to him in almost three years. Kind of funny to talk to somebody and catalogue your exploits over that time. For me, five jobs, off and on unemployment totally nearly a year, three states, and buying a house.

True multi-tasking: ear piece on one ear for a conference call, earphone listening to LAUNCHcast on the other. And doing a bit of work, too.

And have I mentioned LAUNCHcast is awesome? I don't know how I can stream here at work, but I'm not complaining. At least not about this.

I'm surprised at how long a head of lettuce stays good.

Good and bad news. Bad news is that I'm not going to this conference in Orlando, but the good news is incognegro is coming to town November 12. Conveniently that's the same weekend as the conference I was planning on going to so there's some sort of celestial harmony in that. Plus I don't have to fork over two large out of my own pocket. That's more the type of harmony I can understand.

I'm taking some time off. And it has nothing to do with my fantasy football teams sucking. Nor the Lions.

Labels: fantasysports, football, sports

Last night went over pretty well. About 25 people came on over. 420's wine was voted the best and The Saw's the worst. In looking over the ballots, I don't know if The Saw really lost, but he did get a bottle of Ecco Domani Merlot out of the bargain. And I don't know about anyone else, but my wine tasting was complemented by shots of tequila and whiskey.

I think Bubba and Mrs. Bubba stopped by for a minute. Wait, Bubba's the one who got me doing shots. And didn't Vlad make a surprise guest appearance? Man, I need a camera to collect these Folger's moments of mine.

Well, after the booze ran dry at my place, a lot of us headed to some bar with Christmas lights. La Las Golden Nugget or something. And then to Austin Karaoke. Conveniently I disappeared and grabbed a cab home before embarrassing myself anymore. I figured when I couldn't make out the words in the song book that I was done for. Especially when it was in English.

And much to my surprise, my place isn't that trashed. Good thing open bottles of wine tend to lend themselves to being finished bottles of wine. Except the white. Sorry Fat Boy, but that shit stank. Maybe I can use the white to get rid of that red wine stain. It seemed like such a good idea at the time...

Labels: bubba

Wine tasting over my place tonight. About twenty people swilling vino. I can only hope that cleaning lady actually did show up or I'll have a lot more work on my plate (versus the intended wine in my glass).

I need to get the hell out of the office...

Now I have some blowhard leaving hang-ups at home. Three there. No wonder people don't use the phone anymore. Those fuckers.

So I keep getting these "please hold for an important message" calls on my cell phone. Well, keep is a strong word; more like every few days. Anyway, two come in pretty short proximity: the first time from a real number then "no number". Like anyone waits on the phone for those things. Regardless, it is getting annoying and the last thing I want is to change my phone number. I've had this number for way to long for some automated fat cat's in a call center to ruin the sanctity of my good number. How dare they? How dare anyone? These people scare and confuse me to no end and need to be stopped by any mean necessary. Unless it's peaceful. Then it's summarily dismissed.

The JMVC hooked me up with some important information: buy one, get one free Chevelle tickets. For those of you who don't know, Chevelle blows through doors and is coming to town October 27 to Austin Music Hall. I had intended to buy tickets, but I'm glad I didn't. I had to break out of the office for a bit to track down a Star ticket outlet, which turned out to be more of a pain than it should have been. So I ended up buying tickets by my house. Whatever, I got the tickets. And for JMVC's good deed, he gets to go along for the show as my date. What more could a man want?

Labels: jmvc

You know Asteroids is a lot more fun than Asteroid.

So it's late in the year 2004 and I'm signing a professional person's time card that he filled out by hand. That's the system. And we're in an IT group.

Oh, Incognegro says that I shouldn't have had butter on the chicken biscuit. The chicken is apparently greasy enough without the buttered biscuit.

Labels: food, incognegro

Chick-fil-a for breakfast, too. From not going to fast food places in months to twice in a two days. I need to cut that out. Anyway, Incognegro swears by the breakfast chicken biscuits, but he can have them. I'll stick to breakfast tacos.

360 continues to be shit with all this construction. I don't want to see all the dings on my car from the pebbles flying up from the road crews half-ass attempts at fixing that thoroughfare. I love roads being worse than when the work started.

Labels: food

So between me creating an Evite and re-checking it a couple hours later, Evite has totally changed their look-and-feel. That's just odd timing.

People sometimes ask me why I don't wear my badge outside the office. Well, here's a clear cut example:

Incogegro's always been a fan of Chick-fil-a, so I figured I'd head there for some lunchy lunch. Well, I'm not sure if you've been to one but CFA's are friggin busy. The line for the drive through was around the building, the parking lot was chock full, and just about every seat inside was filled. Through some miracle of science, the line at the cashier went quickly and I found myself a seat.

On my way in, I forgot to take off my Nextel lanyard on the way in, but shoved the badge into my shirt. So I sit down and some dude from the other table starts chatting. The conversation went something like this:

Dude: "Do you work at Nextel? I used to work there."
Me: "No, I got it from last year's NHL All-Star Game."
"That's awesome. Where do you work now?"
"Oh, I work at XXX."
"Really, that's awesome. What do you do there?"
"Oh, I'm a widget fastener. I just started a couple months ago."
"Widgets? That's awesome. I used to that when I was at EDS up in Plano."
"I used to work there, too. Small world."
"That's awesome. You sound like someone with a very similar background to my own. I'm coordinating some IT development and we could use somebody with skills like yours. You at all interested?"
"Thanks, but I'm really happy at XXX. But I might have some friends who might be interested."
"Really? That's awesome. Here's my card. I'll let you get back to your lunch. Thanks."

So I took his card and ate my lunch. Then Andrew Awesome gets up and leaves. And without saying anything to me. I wasn't interested at all, but you don't cold-call somebody at lunch and then just walk off. Jack ass.

And that's the reason I don't wear my badge out.

Labels: work

Sweet, my boy Charlie Sexton, I mean Wyatt Sexton, gets the start against Virginia on Saturday. It sounds like Chris Rix is still too hurt to play and that's a damn good thing. He's a worthless piece of shit. And always will be.

And how is it possible to wake up at 6:30 and still get into the office only before 9 am?

My fantasy football team is finally off the schnyde. One and four here I come. I went into MNF up only 15 points and my opponent had Ahman Green. So I was sweating the possibility of a loss. Well, for the first ten minutes of the game. Definitely before the Packers fell apart at Lambeau and got blown out 48-27. They looked just awful.

And guess who's up next for the Pack? The Lions in Detroit. Time for the Lions to prove they can win a game they're supposed to win. If they win this won, there might not be anything to dislodge me from the bandwagon.

Labels: fantasysports, football, sports

If not for S. Money's brother being online, I'd have had to be real creative in killing the last 50 minutes at work. Thanks, Junior. On to my ass on the couch for the rest of the evening.

JMVC called me back earlier and Los Lonely Boys are doing a charity event down at Austin Music Hall tomorrow night at 8:30 PM. Apparently, its a benefit for the Austin Public Library Foundation. That withstanding, I'm going to check it out.

Labels: jmvc

I just got done with a video conference. Apparently we have one per month. Anyway, its obvious that people are way too comfortable doing these as demonstrated by the following: this guy with this long, scraggly white beard (like a demented Santa) was picking his ear with a napkin. That was not the way I wanted to start a two hour meeting. Nobody else seemed to notice, but I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

Guess who's still tied for first in the NFC Central? Detroit went on the road and embarassed the hapless Falcons. So the mighty cats from D-Town have strung together two road victories (though they did go three years without one, but I can't complain now). If only Houston could have pulled out a miracle and taken out the Vikings, I'd be spinning on my head.

Just half-heard a voicemail. I couldn't listen to the whole thing because I heard "brewery opening" and "free" hung up. Independence Brewing Company in the dirty, dirty south. I need to make some calls and get people down there. Must...act...fast.

If you're a betting man, take the Lions and the 6 1/2 points on the road versus Atlanta. I know I'm prejudiced on this one so feel free to ignore me.

And as crazy as it sounds, light night for me tonight. Or so that's the plan. And I'm the heck out of the office.

Labels: football, sports

After seeing my consecutive First Thursday string broken at eight, I'm back at it tonight. Though I don't think anyone but Mac is going. That should be more than enough, though there is a rumor that JMVC is heading to see Grupo Fantasma down at Ruta Maya. And that kind of rumor JMVC tends to make true.u

Labels: jmvc, mac, music

So here's a suggestion for you: when you're at the office and heading out for lunch, forward your phone calls to your cell phone. Then put your cell phone in your desk drawer before you leave.

In the office before 8:15 am? What's becoming of me? At least I got more than five hours of sleep.

At work until past 8 pm! That's no good.

Last night I couldn't fall asleep until nearly 2 am again. I think I might need to get back on the booze. Or exercise.

OK, I talked ill of Blogger. I think it was my browser. Please forgive me.

I'm realy quite pissed. I wrote a post that was took like twenty minutes to recount and blogger's fucking lost it again. This is getting a bit controversial.

Not only did I not get to sleep until past two, but now I'm up before 8. I'm starving, but I still feel like shit from all the drinking from my old boss being in town.

And there was this really whacked out dream. I'm seeing John Travolta and Jason Alexander in some HBO-type show. Travolta is a former heroin user who's getting randomly tested for drugs by his employer. Or so I get from flashbacks. And then there's this scene of those two on the laying on the top of the car where the both seem really tiny. Alexander is using a cane to crawl along the windshield. He breaks the winshield and apologizes. Then there's a shot through Travolota's eyes where he sees a man and a woman vomiting then a fade into a shot of those same two people being hung from their arms facing each other. And that's pretty much it on that fucked up dream.

I need to dry out. And I have a long week ahead of me where I think I'll be needing to work quite a bit.

And to make matters worse, I have that old Nick Lowe song, "Cruel to be Kind" in my head.

Labels: dreams

Oh, so hungover...

But the unkindest cut? Damn Bubba left his tupperware over here again! Pick that shit up, Bubba. I've taken it out the last three times he's been here and you continually disappoint. Why me?! I would just keep it, but that damn thing has no top. What's tupperware without tops? Without a top, it's as worthless as a football bat.

Labels: bubba

The former boss and I got a cab ride back last night. The cab guy was jamming old-school Soundgarden, so I asked the guy back to my place to rip the cd. Did I mention I was totally wasted? Anyway, he came in and we talked about Chevelle and other decent new rock. Now I realize that I already own the Soundgarden cd. I need to escape the haze of booze for a minute at least and watch some football. Or the inside of my eyelids.

From Maudie's to Trudy's to barhopping downtown to playing basketball with a deflated ball in the rain. The Saw was introduced to the joys of the Jager Bomb. God help us all. No cab, but convenient timing got us driven back. I missed my cooking class today because. Well, because I don't think I could have lived through that. Former boss still in town so another night of the same. I certainly hope there is some time for a nap.

But somebody changed one of the presets in my car.

Labels: drinking

This day's getting worse and worse, so the only way to end it is to go to happy hour with the folks from my former company. Well, one of my former companies. Anyway, drinking this weekend should be excessive. Former boss in town and actual plans to take cabs home means painful mornings ahead.

And this call is a nightmare. There are about 15 people all on the phone and no progress at all.

I definitely need a chiropractor. And a drink. Conference calls from 8:30 - noon and my neck is all craned out. Then another from 2 through the end of the day. I need a headset or a conference room. I'm heading out for a long lunch to justify this crap.

And I'm getting slammed left and right. People are actually expecting me to get some shit done. With accelerated time frames that could cause me to work the weekend. I don't see that happening. I don't need legitimate excuses to ignore all work I have at home.

Hold your horses! I decided to not wear jeans. I'm out of control

Today should be interesting. I have my old boss coming to town and the only thing we have in common is going out and getting fucked up. And I have two happy hours to go to just this evening. This will be one of those weekends that I'm lucky I have a lawyer on retainer.

And I need to be in the office for a meeting at 8:30. Or I think I do. Regardless, I don't like it.

But I think I'm going to wear jeans to the office. To end my sixth week with jeans has to be symbolic somehow.