Friday, October 23, 2009

ROCO Friday - The Rain

As in this video that YouTube doesn't allow to be embedded but I think Daily Motion does:

That's right. Today's wisdom is brought to you by Mr. Oran "Juice" Jones.

When I was growing up, my mother and I LOVED this song. It was just so cool and so funny and probably so true. (It was 1986, gimme a break, huh?) So let's see what Mr. Jones has to say for himself:

Tossing and turning another sleepless night
The rain crashes against my window pane
Jumped into my car didn't drive too far
That moment I knew I would never be the same.

Now here you are begging to me
To give our love another try
Girl I love you and I always will
But darling right now I've got to say goodbye
'Cause

I saw you (and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I'll never be the same.

POINT #1: As the song continues, you'll be able to appreciate Mr. Jones' actions and reactions regarding the alleged incident.

(I saw you)
Hey hey baby how ya doin' come on in here
(Walking in the rain)
Got some hot chocolate on the stove waiting for you
Listen first things first let me hang up the coat

What a gentleman!

(You were holding hands and I'll)
Yeah how was your day today
Did you miss me
(Never be the same)
You did? Yeah? I missed you too
I missed you so much I followed you today

Oops, turned stalker

(I saw you)
That's right now close your mouth
'Cause you cold busted
(Walking in the rain)
Now just sit down here, sit down here
I'm so upset with you I don't know what to do
(You were holding hands and I'll)
You know my first impulse was to run up on you
And do a Rambo
(Never be the same)
I was about to jam you and flat blast both of you
But I didn't wanna mess up this thirty-seven hundred dollar lynx coat
So instead I chilled -- That's right chilled

See, why can't we do this in current times? No shootingkilling/stabbing. Just chilling!

I called up the bank and took out every dime.
Than I cancelled all your credit cards...
I stuck you up for every piece of jewelery I ever bought you!
Don't go lookin' in that closet 'cause everything you came here with is
packed up and waiting for you in the guest room. What were you
thinking?
You don't mess with the Juice!
I gave you silk suits, blue diamonds and Gucci handbags.
I gave you things you couldn't even pronounce!
But now I can't give you nothing but advice.

Classic lines begin in 3....2....1....

Cause you're still young, yeah, you're young.
And you're gonna find somebody like me one of these days . . .
Until then, you know what you gotta do?
You gotta get on outta here with that alley-cat-coat-wearing,
punch-bucket-shoe-wearing crumbcake I saw you with. Cause you
dismissed!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I would use these lines.

That's right, Silly rabbit, tricks are made for kids, don't you know
that. You without me is like corn flakes without the milk! This is my
world. You're just a squirrel trying to get a nut! Now get on outta
here. Scat!
Don't touch that coat...

If this doesn't make you smile, then I really don't know what will. And it's Friday, so I'm all about some smiles.

By the way, do you know what else? I ran three whole miles without stopping this morning. I am well on my way to running my first 5K. My goal is to finish the 5K in 20 minutes. This morning, I did the 3 miles in 25. So I need .1 more mile in 5 less minutes. I can do this!

Last but not least, as the good Reverend Miamishyner is out and abouts and I'm just filling in for her today, let the congregation say:

ROCO!!

Have a great weekend folks!


Friday, October 16, 2009

ROCO Friday - Running Down A Dream

All hail the Friday ROCO congregation!

The good Reverend MiamiShyner is pleased and blessed to have made it through another week. Let the congregation say ROCO!

I am also blessed to have such a wonderful congregation. I may only see you once a week, but know that I appreciate you and keep you in my thoughts.

There are some days when I feel that this song is just appropriate. Many days on the way home from work, we open the song:
It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was driving

But long before I get to that point, somewhere before the halfway point of my run, I feel like this:
I felt so good like anything was possible
I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes

Music can speak to you, ladies and gentlemen, if you'll just open your ears. ROCO!

Maybe you've noticed your Reverend looking a little more trim these days, maybe not. Well, I am running down my dream in small steps. The first step is to run a 5K. I'm more than halfway finished with the training for this and my first 5K is on Thanksgiving morning. That's right, I'll run and then come home and stuff my face. There are several 5Ks that I want to run before working my way up to a half marathon, and then finally, a full marathon. I must be insane. :-)

So, congregation, I ask you, do you know what path you're on? Do you have a path? How can you run down your dream if you don't have a path to follow? Tom Petty's mama didn't raise no dummies.
There's something good waiting down this road
I'm picking up whatever is mine


I hope that you'll all realize that you each have something good waiting down your road. Take the time to pick up whatever is yours.

With that, my dear flock, I ask that you go forth and spread the good ROCO word. Have a wonderful weekend. Be safe and have fun. And last but not least, ROCO!

Monday, October 12, 2009

I'm in love with...

A) A stripper
B) A man nearly twice my age
C) A girl
D) You
E) My car
F) Mary Jane

Did you pick one of those? Let me know. :-) Me? I'm in love with my chiropractor. Not real, let's get married and spend the rest of our lives together love, but OMG you took away a pain that's been haunting me off and on for the last 15 years love.

My relationship with chiropractors has been on-again/off-again for the last, oh, 20 years or so. I really like the way I feel when I'm totally in line and functioning at 100% but I just haven't always had the money and/or insurance to keep myself at that state. I am fortunate now to be able to do both and oooh, how I love it.

Friday's initial visit went well. I found out for sure that I'm an underpronater so I have the right shoes for running. I'm all kinds of crooked with my right hip and my left shoulder sitting higher than their respective partners. I also have knotty muscle issues that make my back achy, my bra too tight..oh wait, no, just achy back + right foot that turns out kinda funny to the side.

All that is fixable and will get fixed in the upcoming visits but the best part hands down is that the pain that I've had for so long is gone. GONE! For some reason, I have a nice bruise where the pain was, but I care not because the actual pain has left. This was no run-of-the-mill pain either. This was OMG someone just stabbed me in the back with a scorching hot needle a few times pain. No more. I shan't even mention it again.

So, at least the Steelers managed to pull off another win. Did they play a strong 45 minutes? Yes. Once again, though, at right about the 8 minutes remaining in the game mark, it all went downhill. I would really like to get into the locker room to see some of those guys naked. I would really like to get into the locker room to see what the hell is going on in the fourth quarter!! Just seeing if you're paying attention.

On another football note, of course I follow the Steelers on Twitter and all players who have personal Tweets, but I also consort with the enemy and I follow Chad Ocho Cinco. He's pretty amusing sometimes. Today, as he's done in the past, he offered to buy lunch for whomever showed up at his chosen place. Since said place is a few blocks from work, I stopped over.

I will admit that I wasn't expecting it, but he's really a stand-up guy. He posed for photos and signed everything that people brought over for him. Without a lick of attitude. He's also sporting a nice semi-shiner from the hit that Ray Ray put on him yesterday. The photo below was snapped right as I was telling him that I was there reppin the STEELER NATION, BABY! He was still cool with it. (Dammit, I always look like hell in photos. Oh well.)

That's probably more than enough to fill my section of your brain today. I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and have a great week!

5 days till the Steelers beat up on the Browns
74 days till vacation
118 days till graduation

Giddyup!

Friday, October 9, 2009

ROCO Fridays - Welcome back, Kotter

After a long hiatus, the Reverend MiamiShyner has returned to her flock to once again spread the message of ROCO Fridays. *cue music*

Welcome Back Kotter

Let us reacquaint ourselves, shall we?

Please turn in your hymnals to page 305 for responsive reading.

Rev: And as your boss sayeth unto you, "Can you stay late today?" Let us respond with a phrase fitting the Sweathogs...

Congregation: Up your nose with a rubber hose!

Rev: ROCO! And whosoever wishes to leave early today shall make it known to all.

Congregation: *hands raised energetically* Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!

Rev: And should that one annoying co-worker request that you do his/her work before you leave, the congregation shall say..

Congregation: Off my case, toilet face.

Rev: Let the congregation say...

All: ROCO!

Today, on a day when our President has won the Nobel Peace Prize, when we have crashed a missile into the moon, when it's freezing in Corporate America, we still must give thanks for all we've been blessed to have. Your Reverend is learning to take one day at a time and to enjoy each and every one of those days. Rev MS is spending her last several months in Miami doing some things for herself and she suggests that you do the same be it in Miami or Moscow, Pittsburgh or Portland.

And now, because I know that we all have things to do, I will wrap up today's sermon. Take this good word and go forth and ROCO!

*congregation rises*
*Reverend walks to the back of the church*

Let the congregation say ROCO!

*Rev MS stands at the back of the church shaking hands and kissing the babies of the congregation.*

Chicken and biscuits with gravy and mashed are downstairs. Don't forget to try Sister Kiddo's sweet potato pie!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Flying high again!

Ladies and gentlemen, MiamiShyner is hitting the skies tonight and will be flying high again.

That's right, after a way too long hiatus, I'm heading back to the rig to fly tonight. I'm sure I'll be just a smidge rusty but that doesn't really matter since I'm not allowed (no one is unless you work there) to fly without the safety lines at this particular rig. Does it make a difference? OMG yes! I can only assume that it is equivalent to the difference in feeling with/without a condom for guys? Unless that's just one big load of bull, lol. What do I know? I've been with the Lovey for nearly five years; we don't need 'em.

This morning, I asked myself what would happen if I started just doing some stuff for me. Then I asked out loud on Facebook. The answers I received were: Happiness? Independence? Satisfaction? And you know what, those answers are right.

I've spent a lot of my time here in Miami worrying about doing for others or only doing the things that don't upset others in the least. I am not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it hasn't gotten me where I want to be. I'm no more stretchy, I've no more circus skills, and I'm no closer to being a fitness instructor or a massage therapist. However, I AM a mere four months away from finishing a degree in IT. So, boo for me and congrats to me.

Starting here, starting now for the rest of the time I'm in Miami, I'm going to be selfish. I'm going to *gasp* put myself first. I'm going to take the time to read my three bookshelves of books. I'm going to take the time to blog and write in general. I'm going to fly, spin, twirl and do everything that I want to do (that doesn't break the bank).

Join me as I chronicle my ascent into a new level of happiness. :-)

Monday, October 5, 2009

Metallica!

Sooooo, last Thursday, Lovey and I along with Lovey's BF and another friend went to see Metallica. Pretty fun and kinda funny that I was the veteran, this being my third show, and those three were the noobs.

Full set of photos is available on my Flickr. But I'll give you some of the good ones here.

James has a tender moment during Nothing Else Matters.
BOOM! Pyrotechnics from Enter Sandman.
The Metallica beach ball drop at the end of the show.


They played more new stuff than old which can be expected when they have a fairly new album out. I prefer the old stuff, but hey, I'm not writing the set list. All in all, good times had by all.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Best (stuff I almost didn't) Buy

Oh! Hello there. Remember me? Blog owner/neglector? Well, I'm back and I have an amusing story for you. Or at least it was amusing to me.

Let us begin.

In case you don't know or don't remember, I rock a 94 Honda Accord with on again-off again AC but pimped out 17s (I bought it used) and a nice factory sound system. Now, said sound system is comprised of AM/FM/CASSETTE! Ha, yes, you know those things that aren't even made any more. Well, for the most part, this is just fine. My drive to work is only 30 minutes on a good day. The problem lies in the fact that the radio in Miami sucks. My. Ass. This can make for a loooooong drive.

Do you know where all of my music is? Yes, it's on my phone. I would love nothing more than to hear some of my tunes or Pandora or hell, a podcast on how to speak Spanish, while I'm driving rather than the blah, blah, blah that falls out of the mouths of DJs. How does one go about getting this done?

I think one would start at the brand spanking new Best Buy that opened recently over on the beach. I had one of those old skool cassettes that you plug in and the other end is like a headphone jack for portable CD players. (Let me tell you that I feel like I'm 90 right now talking about this old technology.) Problem with said setup is that at some point, the wire got eaten and so it only plays out of the right speakers.

How am I to impress Miami Hood Rats with my sound system booming from only one side?!?!

As I walked into sparkly new Best Buy, I was greeted by a huge security dude. Hi there very large black man wearing yellow. I will NOT try to sneak anything out past you. I headed back to the section that I thought would hold my treasure. An associate watched me walking around. He actually followed me around for a couple minutes without saying anything. I was in my work clothes so I don't think he thought I was tryin to steal anything.

I got to the point where I couldn't find what I wanted and I was about to leave but the associate chose that moment to ask me if I needed help. Why yes, yes I do. Better late than never. I explained to him what I wanted and he told me that he was sure that they didn't carry the item. He did, however, walk me around to show me a bunch of other things that I could use until he realized that my car is OLD and doesn't have an auxillary jack. Dejected, I headed towards the door.

Enter security dude.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.
"Sure did not," I replied.
"Well what is it that you need?"
"Something old skool for my old skool car."
"Okay, what is it?"

At this point I told him what I needed then said that an associate helped me but the store didn't carry it.

I. Am. NOT. Making. This. Up.

Security dude moved his magic camera joystick and then zoomed in and pointed to the screen and asked, "Is this what you need?"

Motherfucker! Sure as shit it was!

He pointed me in the right direction and I was able to bump music the whole way home. Security dude said to me that this was the reason that he should be on the floor. I totally agree. I don't know anything about Best Buy's hiring practices and such but I think that later today, wait, not today, today is Metallica, but tomorrow, I'm going over to that store to speak with a manager to let him/her know what a great job that security dude did. I won't throw the associate under the bus since that's rude, but let the big man get some commissions! He knows more than the people you have on the floor!

Gotta run, there are tunes to be played in the car. :-)