Wednesday, December 22, 2010

No Heat, No Bed, No Sleep

Our furnace has been out since Saturday. We've been waiting for the part to come in (just came in today) and in the meantime, we have been reduced to using space heaters for warmth. We have two furnaces in our house mind you and the one upstairs is still working (for the time being). So, our bedrooms have been fine but my bedroom has not been upstairs this week. Chivalrous me decided to sleep on the couch downstairs to keep an ear out for any mischief that might be caused by several running space heaters.

I admit, I have trouble sleeping without my wife next to me. You get used to that sort of thing after a while. In order to get any sleep at all this week, I have been leaving the TV on as it gives just enough background noise to help me dose for a while. The problem with sleeping on the couch and sleeping with the TV on is that you really are never completely asleep. I wake up probably 5 times a night. And boy, is it interesting to see what's on. I fell asleep a couple of nights with ESPN on. You either wake up to Sportscenter (the same one you watched at 10:00 mind you) or to some obscure athletic event that you would never see during the day. I'm talking stuff like Extreme Outdoor sports - log rolling. chainsaw skills, and the like(which I do find mildly entertaining), or maybe the World's Strongest Man from 1976. World Karate Championships anyone? Badminton Invitational?

The other channel that I left on this week was VH1 Classic. It's a great channel and I hope they don't take it down the same road as VH1 or MTV. Anyway, after say 1:00 A.M., they play videos just like MTV used to. Problem is, a lot of times there is no rhyme or reason to what they play. You may see some obscure 80's band that you've never heard of, followed by Motorhead and then RUN DMC. It's hard to comprehend what you are watching when you just woke up and forgot why the hell you are sleeping on the couch. Why the hell is Lemmy screaming at me? Why is it so damn cold in here?

This morning I learned that there was actually a video made for Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs". I'm not Stewart fan but that was probably one of his better songs. Also, I had never seen a video for "You Really Got Me", the Van Halen version. Holy Christ, waking up to David Lee Roth in a zipped down jump suit is damn near terrifying. Then they played Dire Straits "Money For Nothing". I remember when that video was cutting edge, now it looks like something my three year old designed.

Anyway, it's been an interesting last few days. Luckily, the furnace is fixed and I can get back to a regular sleeping schedule.

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Best Weezer Song (And Video) Ever

Too bad they don't make 'em like they used to.

Ex-Classmates And You

So, I ran into a classmate from high school at work today. I normally wouldn't go out of my way to engage in conversation but seeing as it is the season of giving and all I decided to initiate contact. One thing I've noticed over the years is that when you see an old friend or classmate, the questions for each other are pretty much always the same. They are:

1. "How's work"? Yeah, work pretty much sucks for everyone but the standard answer is "oh, pretty good" or "well, I'm still working and that's a good thing".
2. "How are the kids"? This shows general interest in your family though they could probably care less. I try not to go overboard talking about the kids for this reason.
3. "Seen anyone from school lately"? Yeah, I've seen so and so recently which is normally followed by a second of awkward silence.
4. "Who did you marry"? My first wife didn't go to school in the area so I could get away with saying her name and stating that she's not from around here. But now I am married to someone who went to the same school I did, so now I have to state her name and then endure more awkward silence as the person is trying to figure out who the hell I am talking about.
5. "Did you hear about so and so"? Usually this question is followed up by a fake look of compassion. Normally, the answer is something horrible - either that person died, is sick, or was arrested with kiddie porn.

Any other questions that you are used to hearing from old classmates?