The Piercing Post

Happy New Year's Eve!!! Already 2010 in some parts of the country, I guess. Here's a post that's been kicking around for a while now that I'm finally getting to posting, after a bit of polishing and embellishing!!!



The story behind my piercing goes something like this. My brother in law and I were at a swap meet one time, and one of the booths had ear rings and were offering free piercing with purchase. I had sometimes considered getting a nipple pierced, and so at this particular booth, I asked the young lady if I bought a hoop if she'd put it through my nipple. She was somewhat taken aback, but finally replied that yes, I suppose I could... I was a bit short on cash, and furthermore not yet fully commited to the hole. My B-I-L was greatly amused by the whole prospect and said he'd pay for it if I were going to do it. I declined at that point, but the idea continued to take hold, sweetened by the fact that I had someone to finance the cause. Years passed, and my brother in law died, but the idea did not. It actually got to a point where I could sense the absence of a ring through my left nipple (at the conception of the idea, I had neither side chosen, but knew that I only wanted one side). I think it was around seven years or so later, while working at the hell hole that had bought my previous employer, near Christmas. We used to get bonuses in the thousands of dollars. That year I got a whopping $50. I decided to buy myself something I'd been wanting for a while with it, and went to a tattoo and piercing studio not terribly far from my home after work and got it, unbeknownst to my wife and family. They were largely shocked and apalled. A word to the wise, do not get a nipple piercing while driving yourself in a larger car with no power steering!!!

A funny postscript to this tale (besides the trauma that it caused one of my work friends): On our last full day in Hawaii, the older boy and I went over to the tower in the ocean that people would jump off into the water. I think for the most part of the time we were there, we were the only mainlanders there, and the rest were locals. One of the girls there was a classic South Pacific islander, quite big with a great extroverted personality to go with it. While waiting our turn to climb up once, she asks me, "Did it hurt???" I reply, "It stung when they did it, and that whole side of my chest was sore for a day or two after... especially cranking the wheel on a car with no power steering!!!" She replies, "No, I mean when somebody yanks on it, did it hurt???" I had to think for a moment before I replied that that's never really been an issue!!!

The Man

As alluded to in the previous post, The Man, he do take his chunk!!! Here's the artwork I did to that effect, and I think I got the proportions just about right!!! I was less than pleased with the way the picture came out, making me once again think about a digital SLR camera.



It's really evident when you get a larger amount than usual, and it's a higher bracket. Seemed like it was nearing an even half that he was taking. I recently did the math. On my typical check, it ends up being just about a 1:5 ratio, or about 17%. A livable amount, even better if we weren't in a fiscally mismanaged state and country. The profit sharing check came out having around a 1:1.27 ratio, or around 44%!!! I'd be really disturbed by this, if I didn't end up getting most of it back!!!

The Yule Blog

Merry Yule to all!!! It's been a while since I've posted. This may get a tad random.



Here's some cup artwork I did some weeks ago. I was trying to get in the spirit.

I do believe that this month has been busier than the October I had!!!



Don't you love the word, "Yule"???

A couple of weekends ago was the Moon Eyes Christmas Party car show. My dad had entered, as it's cheaper to enter a car than to buy admission passes and parking!!! It rained quite a bit that weekend, but the show was "rain or shine", so we headed up anyway. It didn't rain much at all while we were actually there. The cars that showed up were cool.

That same evening was the company Christmas party. Same place as the last two years. They had been going to cancel, but since everyone else was doing the same, they made us a deal. The amazing desert bar wasn't there this year, and the decorations were a bit scaled back, too, but it was still good. We stayed at the same place we'd stayed two years ago, which I contend is as good a place, at half the price!!!



Goodie day at work was last Wednesday. I made my mom's easy to make and delicious corn bread concoction. There was none left, so it was well received. I ate too much!!! Had to start before work, because some of the choice items are usually gone by the time the first shift goes to their morning break. One of the more interesting things were bacon wrapped peaches. I saw the bacon, and knew it would be good. Ate too much that day, wasn't hungry until the next evening!!!

We did a T-shirt exchange that day, too. Whomever had my name hooked me up!!! Two shirts, and both of them are agreed to be some of the funniest seen. The new supervisor, a big ole guy, got a shirt that says, "USC mom".

Happy belated Festivus to all!!!

The cool TV set I'd set up for the boys' room, a vintage wooden case with a modern Toshiba inside,
went on the fritz. Lost it's vertical deflection (probably just the control circuit for it, and probably just a cold solder joint at that) and shoots it's electron beam in a straight line across the middle. Fail. Double fail, because much of the costly Christmas presents are Xbox games, and with no TV to play them on... I ended up buying them a nice 32" LCD HDTV for them. The prices are fairly reasonable anymore. Happy early Christmas!!!



Oh yea, they did the profit sharing checks on Monday. I say "only" in the most perceptible way when I say that this year was only 100%. A lot of the people weren't very pleased with it, but I'll certainly take it quite gladly!!! How many are without jobs, and how many more have taken pay cuts or are working more hours for the same pay??? I actually got a bit of a raise this year, and a 100% profit sharing!!! Sure helps out with having to buy a TV!!!

Oh yeah, the man, once again, do take his chunk. I did a cup to that effect that I'll post at some later date.

Sitting around, drinking the Yule Nog... Life is good!!!

I had asked my wife if she wanted a new flat panel TV for in the front room. She's perfectly happy with the one we've got out here already. I agree. One of my biggest issues with the new TV's is that the aspect ratio is off, and much of what gets transmitted ends up looking distorted wide. Why can't they make them with the 4:3 ratio the way God intended???



I had one personal day left. I took it Tuesday, and took the family to Magic Mountain for what will probably be the last time this year. I was right about it being a good day to go, it was fairly empty. A surprise was the line for Colossus was the longest I've seen it. The Superman ride was about as short a line as I've ever seen, too!!! They have an illuminated "2009" hanging from the sky tower. I assume they'll have a "2010" coming on in a week or so. I told everyone to layer up when we were getting ready. Got there and wished I'd put on one more layer!!! It was chilly. Right before we left, we bought some Cold Stone ice cream. I have no idea why that seemed like it would be a good idea.

The last picture I took at my youngest nephew's birthday celebration. He's now 2. I found a Sesame Street remote control for him that makes all kinda noises and voices. I knew he'd like it. I did when I saw it. If it can captivate me for a while, it'll do for a 2-year old. From their apartment I saw these two kids climbing onto the roof of a business to play and took this shot. Totally ghetto!!!