Interesting that you mentioned the fact that we've all fractured into different groups as opposed to a larger whole.  I was just thinking about this the other day.  However I don't honestly believe that our group of friends is in it's current state of affairs due to the fact that "we were dicks to eachother".  Rather, I believe that's a symptom of a larger situation.  The plain and simple fact is that we are becoming grown ups.  We all have our different situations right now.  We are all in very different places mentally and emotionally right now. 

Even in high school we were an ecclectic mix.  Stoners, Geeks, Brains, Jocks and Outcasts... we were a large group of disparate types.  For some reason it worked.  But as we have grown up, we have also grown more different.  Pappy and Wilson are running a business of their own creation.  Calliander, you are starting up a life with a girl you love and running a happy household.  Stone is well on his way to being a successful business man.  Caniprokis is putting himself through school.  Bean and Blood are settling down from their crazed younger years and trying to put their lives together.  I'm trying to figure out who the fuck I am and what the fuck it is that I want to do with my life.  But look at those descriptions.   All of them are very different.

In closing I believe that we are not growing apart from each other because we're being dicks to each other, but we are being dicks to each other because we are growing apart.

I hate to break it to you but there is not one person on this planet that could ever replace me. my star shines brighter than anyones elses, i am the super supreme asshole, i am the number one gun, my shoes are so big you could fucking swim in them and dont any of you ass fuckers ever forget that. just because my body isent there doesent mean my mind isent, my heart still lives in los angeles and i feel like that will never change, if i had the opertunity to go back and make as much as i do now i would in a heart beat. money dictates the way we live sometimes. and the need to grow up changes your priorities.

stone: living in california, that appartment, those days i cherris but i too feel as if they were some far away time. almost now as if it was a story someone told me about there life not my own. if i could do it again i wouldent change a thing, except maybe not spending all my money before i left. i miss the sand, i miss the sun hell i even miss the weather and i especially miss the company which i kept, i wish you guys well i wish you the best you could ever hope for, congrats on your promotion, nothing you have accomplished has surprised me. good job man. oh and one more thing, your job is to take credit for other peoples works, thats why your managment.

Hey Lio. That was a really good post and your concerns are really valid. It's good to see that you're picking up on these things now and that you'll be voting. You know America's going through a change when Lio's gonna vote. ;)

This election year has some issues that lots of people can care about. For most people, employment is obviously going to be the big issue. If you look at where we were before the Bush Administration and where we are now, it's very easy to blame it all on Bush and be done with him even though the decline was starting at the end of Clinton's term. Obviously, the Bush Administration's policies and tax cuts have not had the effect that was hoped for, and we certainly have not picked up to where we were. However, there have been some bright spots - for one: technology spending is, slowly but surely, rising again. When I got out here back in June, I'd be willing to bet my boss was barely able to pay the bills due to the reluctance of people and businesses to spend. Now, due to some really good moves by the boss and a pickup in business spending, we're really chugging along. We actually have a little bit TOO much work for the small staff we've got. Hehe. I have a feeling that a lot of smaller business like mine, under Bush, actually ARE doing better. Unfortunately for him, though, it may be too little too late.

Every candidate is campaigning under the employment bandwagon. It's up to you, though, to look at what they plan to do to fix it and determine who suits your needs. You also need to look at the candidate's other policies. Because of Mayor Newsom over in San Francisco, gay marriage has now become an important part of the election year. How do you feel about that? What are your feelings on the environment? Corporate liability? Campaign finance? Censorship? Especially because of Janet Jackson (of all people) and the Super Bowl boobie, censorship is now becoming a very important issue. The FCC is cracking down heavily on everything. Who knows where they're heading, but what's their limit? I mean, there's a shitload of stuff to think about. Stone, Caniprokis, Pappy, myself, or anyone on here; we can only tell you about things, we can't give you the answers. Republicans are going to tell you about helping the working class, Democrats are going to tell you about the wealthy getting all the benefits under Republicans; you just need to check them out, and find the truth in their statements.

In the primaries, I'm voting for Edwards. I'm not an Anyone-But-Bush person, first of all, and Kerry doesn't appeal to me. I hope Edwards wins because his plans seem like they will help. I don't particularly want to vote for Kerry if he gets the nod just to get Bush out of the White House (although, obviously, I will). Edwards seems dead serious, dedicated and very in touch with lower-middle and working class persons like myself without distancing himself from the corporations. There are a crapload of third parties, but if you want to get something done, there's no point in voting for them. If you only care about the two-party system and its evils, then yeah, vote for a third party. The candidates all have web sites, which have statements and plans.

Here are the main candidates' sites and another page with a lot of 2004 campaign info where you can read about the third parties:

George W. Bush Re-Election
John Edwards in 2004
John Kerry in 2004
2004 Presidential Election

Good luck on making your choice, man. :)

Well, today at 9:15AM I went to the Prometric Testing Center and sat down at a computer to take my certification tests for Apple Desktop & Portable service. At noon I walked out with these:

The hardest exam is yet to come, however. Dunno when we're going to schedule that, but here's to full certification! Huzzah!

Knaa'mean?

Just wanted to let you all have a glimpse of the good-natured, well-mannered fellow Sapphire and I will be living with out in CA:

Hello everyone, just wondering how you're all doing and wanted to give you some important details concerning my life.

Recently, with the not-so-great economy, the security of my job has been called into question. The owner of the company I work for has laid off a few people to lighten the load since we have many techs and not so many calls anymore. The unfortunate end of this is that my job, along with another person there who I'm friends with, could be terminated next. The owner fired one of  the people who works up in the Dispatch department (scheduling and dealing with customers setting up calls and whatnot) and another was called off to serve our country a few weeks later so that left only one person up there. Now, it's not exactly busy, but you need two people up there. So, for some reason, instead of firing me, the owner offered to put me in the Dispatch department.

Many of you will remember that I was damn good at the gas station and at the video store but I absolutely loathed my job. Working to fix computers is something I love to do. I've become Apple Desktop Certified. As a service tech for my company I was getting my weekly pay, reimbursement for mileage and expenses (which, because of my car's phenomenal gas mileage, made me money) and a monthly bonus commission on all of my billable calls. I was getting about 400 bucks a month bonus, which equates to about 5 extra dollars an hour. Now, up in Dispatch, I'm only getting my pay plus a dollar an hour increase with no bonus and no reimbursement.

Some would say I was getting stiffed. I tolerate it only because I NEED THE JOB. Why did I stay at the gas station? I NEEDED THE JOB. Stone and all you others bitched at me about it like you do Lio Convoy for staying at the deli. Why did I stay at the video store? I NEEDED THE JOB. Stone and all you others bitched at me about it like you do Lio Convoy for staying at the deli. See a pattern? There's no reason for me to stay in a position I was not hired for, for functionally less pay, with more responsibility when I don't even like the position. None. Other than needing the job. I have bills to pay, I have things to do, I need to get out on my own instead of sitting at my parents' house!

So the friend I work with proposed a very interesting idea to me and I wanted to let you all know that around the end of June and the middle of July, I will be moving to California, fairly close to LA.

This is, of course, pending on being able to get a job out there, but from the several different businesses we've been checking into, my co-worker and I have come up with some interesting prospects and even some job offers. I guess Apple techs are in demand.

I'll keep you all informed on the details, but I'm thinking that I'll go out there regardless. I need this push out the door and I need it badly.

Knaa'mean?