Baby Steps.

Look at what I did!?! I was hoping the first one would be something more dramatic and have far reaching, life altering consequences for people. And while this will do little more than pad my employers pockets, I'll take it.

Old People

I like them, for the most part, I am hoping to be one some day. The pigeon feeding, pipe smoking, grandparenting kind. Not like the sort that sat in front and behind me on my flight to China last night. I am willing to grant the elderly a certain amount of leeway on things. I know they have a hard time hearing and reading and getting around. I think that if they are pulled over for speeding they should always be let off with a warning. If they need to pick their nose, go for it. Whatever, right, they're old, they made it this far and there should be some sort of prize for that. They should be able to streamline their process for things a little. They need all the extra time they can get.

Please old people, do not fart constantly in confined spaces. I spent the better part of a 10 hour plane ride standing near the front of the plane, bleary eyed and wanting sleep (and to be comfortable while watching Iron Man....) but unable to go back to my seat as it was engulfed in the stench of the contents of the bowels of the elederly folks sitting all around me. And they weren't even quiet. They were bold, percussive, triumphant sounding bastards. They may not have heard them, but everyone in sections 28-32 FGH, themselves included, knew the score. Being old does not give you carte blanche to drop and air-deuce at 35,000 feet. I'm sorry, it doesn't.

...Plus I make good Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.

Which has nothing to do with this post other than it is a lyric in the song that is playing.

Yeah, so, 29 then. It was a pretty good birthday all around. I woke up early, traded in my cell phone for a much better, cooler one and it cost me exactly zero dollars. Nice. Headed to Ryan's house for a pre-game (think 10:30am) black russian made with vanilla vodka, which I would highly recommend. Then headed in the D for the opening game of the Tigers/Twins series at Comerica. Awesome day, weather wise. 85 and sunny with the occasional cloud to keep you from cooking thoroughly. There was at times a nice breeze that helped as well but nothing steady. Too bad. The game turned out to be 5 hours long and culminated in an 11 inning loss. Boooo. I also tried for weeks to win a competition at ABC Warehouse that would have allowed me to throw out the first pitch but my pleas fell on deaf ears I guess. Oddly, no one threw out the first pitch. Well, the starting pitcher did but no one else. Did no one win the contest?

So there was the game, some shots at the Detroit Pub, and then home quickly to grab a shower and head to dinner. Small Plates. Very good food. I went there with Nick Deyo last time he was in town and we both enjoyed it. Not sure why they felt the need to have a DJ upstairs though, and how lame is it to call the upstairs bar SPRO (Small Plates Royal Oak......). Anyway, good food.

The one thing I did not have yesterday that I am kind of bummed about is Birthday cake. No cake??? How did I miss that detail? I love cake. Not even a cup cake. I really blew it on that front.

Saturday is the second annual Aaron Alberts Beer Olympics and true to form the forecast is for rain all afternoon. It did that last year too, though in the morning. The afternoon was gorgeous. Keep your fingers crossed. It's hard to drink beer on a boat and play flip cup on the sand bar when it's raining and lightning. I'll post pictures as soon as I have them.

Sorry for the extended delay in posting. New job + summertime activities + a little bit of laziness on my part = a 3 month gap in posts apparently. I'll try harder.



music : "Dracula's Wedding" - Outkast

....or Not KY.

I guess I'm not going to Kentucky after all, which is fine, I wasn't incredibly fond of any part of that plan except for the paychecks. Quality of life, there is something to be said for that. I like drinking beer on the 'toon in the middle of the lake with Nic and whatever other stragglers happen by. Don't get me wrong, I really do love to travel, and I will still have to do some of that (U.K. and China maybe a stint in Chihuahua) but never on open ended terms. No more "Hey Aaron, I need tosend you to Oakville for a few weeks." only to return 9 months later....

This'll be good. I've accepted a position within the same company except instead of doing strictly electrical debug and software development, I will now be involved from start to finish. I get to work on the tooling design, follow it out to the shop floor while we prove it out and debug it, and then also follow it to the customer facility to do the installation and put any final touches on it that the situation might call for. The position is with the Advanced Engineering group within the Powertrain division here at Comau N.A. They are doing a lot of diesel engine work (not designing the engine but more building tools to test the engines once they have been built and diagnose problems as they arise in the field). Almost all of our work comes from Ford Europe and from Perkins in China. So I can look forward to some trips to both places in the future. The only downside is having to walk away from the money that being on the road as a Technical Supervisor would produce. Sick, twisted sums of money that could be used for all assortments of debt reduction/charitable contributions. Some fun too. Oh well, I shouldn't complain. I have a job that will more than cover my expenses and provides me with interesting work that also looks phenomenal on a resume.

After a hard fought battle with the insurance company, a battle that involved regional managers and a brief bit of ass chewing at the Saab Dealership in Troy, I am getting my car restored to it's original, defect free condition. I'll still have the scar on the bumper that marks where I hastily backed into a wooden wall(pffffffff....deep breath). Suspension on the up an up though, and that is the important part, really. I will also be looking around for a new insurance company. I'll give you a bit of advice; should you find yourself in the possession of a Progressive Insurance policy and you need work done to your vehicle and they suggest that it be done at their repair facility, tell them to piss off. Ass clowns, the whole lot of 'em.

I'm running in the 3rd annual M.O.M. race in Royal Oak on may 3rd. It was started by a friend of mine (we went to college together) in honor of her mother you passed away 3 years ago after a long battle with bi-polar disorder. It's getting to be a big deal, with over a thousand runners expected this year. All of the proceeds go to charity(U of M depression clinic, etc). It's a 5k race, so if anyone reads this and would like to participate you can sign up as late as the day of the race. Give me a call if you have questions. Nic, Joe and I are doing it. Nic will kill us time wise, but I'll win the "sexiest finish line crosser" award. I'm thinking porn 'stache and chops, non? Head and wrist bands are standard as are knee high socks and short shorts.

I am also going to see Eddie Izzard with Joe, Nic and Jon on May something or other. It's a Tuesday night. I love that transvestite. Really funny. We also procured tickets to the Radiohead concert on August 3rd in Indianapolis. August is looking awesome, as a matter of fact. Several potential sets of visitors (family, might as well be family, and the guys from the now infamous World Cup '06 excursion). Tack all that onto a Radiohead tour date and, well....yahtzee!

Off to the gym. Talk to you all soon.

Music: "Ground on Down" - Ben Harper

KY

Whoa....almost two whole months since I have written. It's not for lack of want but sometimes you just get the feeling that you have absolutely nothing to say. I get the feeling that I am writing a blog whose purpose is simply to make small talk with it's readers.

Anyway I've got something real to write about now. I'm leaving. I'm one month from emptying my apartment, delivering its contents to various friends and family (I'm keeping the sofa for when I return, can't part with that), parking my car at my parents and getting on a plane, destination Louisville, KY. I'm really hoping that Kentucky is not as bad as I have it in my head that it is(think 4 toothed, bearded woods dwellers furiously whittling in rocking chairs while their equally impressive wives are putting the finishing stitches in their latest confederate flag). I've heard that Lousiville is pretty cool, actually, as far as cities go. It doesn't much matter I suppose since I am going there to work and not so much for the night life but it is still sort of refreshing to know that should you find yourself with a day off there is something to go and do. Louisville is the home of the largest baseball bat manufacturer in the world and yet does not have a professional team. Summer without baseball games is like drinking a dirty martini without the bleu cheese(Roquefort, s'il tu plait) stuffed olives soaking in it. You'll manage without, but it's certainly not the same.

So that's it at the moment. I've spent the better part of my free time the last few weeks trying to get this situated. I'm heading to LA the weekend before I leave so I'll post pictures from that as well as pictures of my new digs once I arrive and get settled.


Music: "Derelict" - Beck

New Year's Eve.

December 31st, 2007 will be a day that lives in infamy as the day I tried not to die. That's not really an exaggeration. After spinning out on the highway for the 5th time I was ready to pull the parking brake, give the howling wind and driving snow an enthusiastic middle finger and just sleep in the car; the same all-wheel drive equipped car that had managed to face me into oncoming traffic and direct me toward a ditch once again that evening. It was absolute mayhem on I-696 and I suspect other highways as well. Plow trucks? Salt trucks? nope. Just a bunch of mildly (and not so mildly) intoxicated bar goers trying to make their way home in a storm that had it in for them. It's a strange and eerie sort of feeling that washes over you as you struggle to stay on the road, traveling 8 miles per hour in second gear to keep your tires from spinning, watching a car spin perfectly around an imaginary axis that is exactly centered on the vehicle, pass you while the driver looks on in horror and suspense. That was how I spent the wee hours of day one, 2008.

And it started off soo well. Nick Deyo and I went to the Red Wing's game and while they lost, it was a good game. We left there and went to Royal Oak for some drinks and to play pool, and managed to arrive just in time to get the last pool table. Getting drinks was a bit of a problem but I think that would have been the case anywhere. 9 devastating defeats later Nick invoked the mercy rule and we decided to call it a night. A great time; lots of laughs and celebratory knuckles at midnight. (had to do something and a kiss was out of the question). We stepped out of the bar into the blizzard and went our separate ways. He would have an uneventful ride home, I would have the ride detailed above.

Shot out the front window of my car a day later. 10 inches of new snow. That pile you see in the foreground is as tall as I am.

Anyway, it's a new year. I got to spend some time with a friend I don't see very often and that's always cool. Happy New Year everyone. May it treat you well, and bring you happiness.


Music: "The New Pollution" - Beck