Deep in the throws of our vacation. This morning Anna, Alek, and I set out on the Little Salmon River for the purpose of catching some fish. As a result we just finished eating a late lunch of trout dredged in seasoned flour and fried in butter, along with a summer salad and a glass of Pinot Grigio. All was followed up with a not too small slice of cheesecake for Anna and me, and a moderate dole of ice cream for Alek. I must say that I’m deep in a culinary bliss.
Soon we are meeting up with some friends and going on a back-country excursion. Perhaps we’ll be back by dark.
Perhaps.
Quick note: On the way through Boise we stopped and met up with Casey for a quick visit. It’s always a pleasure to meet up with fellow bloggers and chew the fat. Both Casey and I are Idaho yokels from our inception which meant that in the few short minutes that we talked we quickly hit some common ground.
Remember that invite, Casey, if you and your family are ever through Salt Lake City.
Because the Utah Department of Transportation decided to close every fucking on-ramp to I-15 South bound it took me an extra almost an hour to get home from work tonight. Keep in mind that it normally takes about a half hour. I couldn’t believe it. Of course, me being me, I had to go to their web site and let them know how I feel.
Tell me, what over-paid, under-worked, pencil-pushing, government paid, blithering idiot thought it was a good idea to close EVERY FREAKING ONRAMP TO I-15 SOUTH BOUND from I-215 to 90th south tonight? I couldn’t get home because of this idiotic mess. The only reason something like this would be warranted would be if you’re BUILDING A NEW FREAKING FREEWAY FROM SCRATCH!!!
The lack of intelligence required to do such a stupid thing makes me wonder how whoever decided to do it can even perform basic motor functions like breathing, or scratching your ass.
This is precisely why the average taxpayer rolls their eyes at government functionaries like you.
Do EVERYONE a favor. DO NOT CLOSE access to the freeway. If you feel that you must, then your plan is not good. Put that expensive education to use and think of a better plan.
And I did leave my contact information. I dare these assholes to follow up.
Keep in mind that I know the roads here so I can work my way through it. But I pity the poor asshole who was just trying to pass through on I-215 trying to connect to I-15. They would’ve come up on an on ramp that was just simply closed. No detour signs, no warning, no FUCKING NOTHING.
Who would’ve thought that finding a cake would be so damn difficult?
Friday we’re leaving for Idaho to visit family. Our son’s fifth birthday is Sunday, and my stepbrother’s birthday is, I think, Monday, so my wife wanted to pick up a couple of cakes. Sounds simple enough, right?
You’d be wrong. See, my wife, being the Euro she is, doesn’t think highly of American style bakery cakes. You know; the kind you’d by in a grocery store? She calls them, “tasteless bread covered with sugary frosting.” Her line of thinking is that if you’re going to sin, you do it with a cake that tastes heavenly.
Here in Salt Lake we’ve picked up cakes at a nifty little French bakery that are pretty damn good. I mean these things are the real deal. But the prospect of them making an 8 hour trip is sketchy, so we’re thinking, Hey, we’ll stop by a bakery in Boise on the way through and pick one up. The two and half hour drive from there shouldn’t be a problem. I put out a feeler to a vague contact in Boise and they were kind enough to suggest a French bakery in the city. Now, how damn cool is that?
Well, a phone call to said French bakery in Boise revealed they don’t make cakes.
What???
They were kind enough to suggest a place that did make cakes and I called them up. Although they are a grocery store, they supposedly have a gourmet bakery that makes cheesecakes using locally grown fruits. It looks like this place could be the ticket.
With the first draft of previously mentioned screenplay that is.
The plan was to have it finished before I go on vacation and then work on it while on vacation. My vacation doesn’t start for another 10 days and I’m vowing to NOT pick the damn thing up until then. I’ve already made a bunch of notes concerning things that I feel need to be addressed, so I won’t even make more notes. I want to just forget about the thing until I’m relaxed, kicking back, and feel compelled to reach over and pick it up and get to work.
I’ve really been burning the midnight oil with this thing and, frankly, I think this 10 day break is going to be just what my feeble, little brain needs.
I’ve got accounts at both Triggerstreet and Zoetrope. At Zoetrope I participate in the short story, novella, and screenplay parts of the website. At Triggerstreet, just the screenplay. I’ve reviewed three screenplays at Zoetrope and the only thing I can say is, ouch. Man, I haven’t read one screenplay there that doesn’t suck. I’m not talking, “sucks, but there are good aspects to it.” I’m talking sucks in every way imaginable. I’ve read a couple of novellas too and they are every bit as bad. Over on Triggerstreet I have managed to read a couple of screenplays that are pretty decent. But even so, the majority are just horrible.
Now, I’m not trying to come across as some Know it all who is a great story teller, or who has written a bunch of screenplays, but I can tell you that I do have a pretty damn good understanding of story plus I have at least a modicum of understanding concerning the screenplay form.
All this said, I must say that I absolutely love these sites because I love to read other people’s work. Even if it is like pulling teeth. The reason for this is that you can learn a lot from deconstructing a story or a screenplay. It’s gotten to the point where I can tell early on why something isn’t working. I can see it as plain as day. In fact it’s easier to see why something doesn’t work than it is to recognize why something does work. Even so, knowing why something doesn’t work is very helpful.
We own a townhome in a good area of the city. Unfortunately we have renters here as well. I know, I know, I’m offending a whole lot of renters out there, but too bad.
Anyway, over the last several months my wife and I have noticed that some people choose to set their garbage outside of the dumpster instead of putting it inside of the dumpster. Sorry, but if you too lazy and disgusting to put your damn garbage inside of the dumpster there isn’t much hope for you. Finally, fed up with this shit, I went through the garbage (you’d be surprised how many private investigators do this. I know, I used to be a private investigator) and found discarded mail of these bastards. There were culprits from three different addresses. I went home and contacted the HOA with the information and then typed up a message that said:
To those of you who live at ___, ___, and ___,
Please don’t be lazy and disgusting. Put your garbage INSIDE the dumpster.
I taped it on the side of the dumpster and predictably it was taken down after a couple of days. I put another one back up. A couple of days later it too was taken down and replaced by a lengthy note talking about ”this is a community, be nice, bla, bla, bla. There was also reference to my cowardice because I knew who the culprits were, but they didn’t know me. It was singed with a name AND address.
Well, me being me, I walked over to the address, knocked on the door, and introduced myself to the twenty-something woman that answered the door. “I’m the one who left the note on the dumpster,” I said.
Boy, this piece of trash got all defensive and tried to somehow defend her leaving her shit all over the place for her neighbors to deal with. “Five people live here and I don’t have anyplace to put the trash when the dumpster is full,” the piece of trash said.
When I informed her that normal people will hang on to their trash for a couple of days if the dumpster is full, or--God fucking forbid--they will actually walk or drive to one of the other dumpsters that are around she got really defensive. I pushed her near the edge when I added that the dumpster had been emptied a couple of days ago yet her shit still sat there. I then asked her if she rented or owned. “I rent,” she said.
“That’s what I thought,” I said and turned to walk away.
She stood there sputtering. After a few steps she managed to blurt out, “You better think before you break the law again!”
“Huh”? I asked.
She crossed her arms and stuck out her chin like she really had me in a corner. “Defamation of character.”
I let out a laugh and pointed out that since she DID leave her garbage scattered all over the ground next to the dumpster, she was indeed LAZY and DISGUSTING. I laughed all the way to my truck.
Now, back to the renting thing. Sure, there are some renters who are not disgusting people, but for the most part they suck. This one, who’s address and phone number I will post (if it’s public information) if she continues to be LAZY and DISGUSTING, seems to be especially stupid.
