John's Dumb Blog

Hmmm...

2005-12-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted in over a month on here. I know. But no one ever reads this blog anymore, and now, the one good person that I met on here seems to have forgotten completely about me even though I've seen her on AOL many times between the last time I posted and now. I noticed she posted on her blog today and I posted a comment on her MySpace page after I found out that she had finally put me on her Top 8 on there (I never really noticed that before).

But anyways, Jeanie, if you're reading this (which you probably won't do since you're too busy and all with other things), I just wanted to let you know I'm still around here and I miss talking to you. Why don't you ever talk to me on AOL anymore? :(

2005-11-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Jeanie made me post this because she posted it on her blog and thought it was cool, so here it is:

Directions: Go to Google Images and search for the place you were born with out quotations and pick your favorite picture. Here is mine...

Now search for where you live now. Here's mine...

Now search your name, with no quotes! Here is mine...

Now do your grandmother's name...

Now search for your favorite food... here is mine...

Now you need something to drink...

Search for your favorite smell... here is mine...

Now the hard one... Your favorite song...

Can you guess what mine are?

1. I was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
2. I live in Trumann, Arkansas...it sucks...
3. My name is John. So here's a pic of JOHN Lennon...
4. My grandma's name has something to do with Rebecca de Mornay. My grandma's name is Mornay... =P
5. PIZZA PIZZA!!
6. Dr. Pepper! You make the world taste better!
7. AXE body spray and body wash is the shiznit, yo.
8. "Blue Monday" by New Order...that song is DOPE!

There ya go, Jeanie...I'm DONE!!!!

=P

Later.

P.S. -- My birthday is next Saturday, as if anyone CARES...

I've been humbled...

2005-11-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this a couple of days ago...but, as always, I PROCRASTINATED, so I might as well post it now, seeing as though, I have some BIG TIME crow to eat served by a co-worker tomorrow...

My friend Anthony and I made a $5 wager on the Virginia Tech/Miami football game that took place earlier tonight. We also decided on some extra incentives on the bet to make things more interesting:

If Virginia Tech wins and QB Marcus Vick has a TD run of 20 yards or more, I get an extra $5 bonus to make it $10 for me.

But, if Miami wins and the Hurricanes defense can hold Marcus Vick to under 150 yards passing, Anthony gets an extra $5 bonus to make it $10 for him.

And as you can see by the title of the post, well, I lost... Not just by the result of the game, but on the incentive as well...

Final score:

Miami 27, Virginia Tech 7

Well, that was minus $5 for me... But, oh no, it gets WORSE...

Marcus Vick's stats:

8-of-22 passing, 91 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs
15 carries, 17 yards, 1 TD (2 yard run), 4 fumbles LOST

And that my friends, makes me $10 lighter... I'll be a man about it and pay him, but I DO take solace in the fact that Anthony's beloved Florida State Seminoles LOST TO NORTH CAROLINA STATE! That will take away the sting of being humbled and forced to eat a big plate of crow.

Well...that's that... Anyways, I'm off to bed.

Later.

Lookie at muh early b-day gift!

2005-10-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

^^^ my 1998 chevrolet cavalier

^^^ another shot of it

Now, I KNOW it's not "brand spanking new" in that sense...my mom and I basically went out on a whim to get it...$300 down, $130 every two weeks (which I pay in full), and $394 every 6 months for insurance (which my mom will help me take care of). The car is in MY NAME and my name ONLY. Yay! :D I'm so responsible! lol!

The only downside today for me is that I had to almost clean out my funds by getting $200 out of my checking account and letting my mom spot me the other $100. I'm planning on getting a CD player for my car with my next check in addition to making my first payment on it.

The good thing about it is, is that I can trade it in at anytime if I see a better car as long as the first one is in good shape...which is a GOOD thing, seeing as that there were only FOUR cars out at this small dealership counting the Cavalier. The car payments aren't that bad for me, I can handle those... The insurance isn't half bad either. All in all, my early b-day gift is GREAT! (no X-Box for me, but I can PROBABLY talk my mom into getting me a Gamecube, too, since it's only $99 ;D)

Anyways, later.

I'm so happy! :D Yay!

Man it's been a while...

2005-10-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

...a REALLY long while... I finally decided to switch back to updating on here rather than through FTP. But then again nobody decided to take a look at THAT, so I just decided "the hell with it" and went back to this... Besides, the server where I put this blog on screwed up yesterday, so I HAD to switch back...

Enough of that bullshit.

You'll know that I've neglected to post any Grid Picks picks of mine in the last two weeks. This is because nobody seems to care (especially one person I know - the only other person besides me who reads this), so I just decided "FUCK IT" and stopped posting them.

I've been hanging out on MySpace lately. My page is right here. I'll continue to go between here and there because MySpace seems pretty cool.

I opened a checking account at my bank a couple of weeks ago, so now my paycheck are directly deposited in there. :) Yay me. I'm actually responsible, but if only I could stop PROCRASTINATING, I'd be set...

So I guess I ought to go for now. I'll find a better template for this blog and get this thing going again like I used to have it.

Later.

P.S. -- HAPPY JEANIE!?

Jonesboro Sun Grid Picks Week 3 (September 12 - September 18)

2005-09-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

My picks for Week 3:

1. Poplar Bluff, MO over Jonesboro by 6 points
2. Nettleton over Westside by 7 points
3. Paragould over Trumann by 17 points
4. Hoxie over Harrisburg by 14 points
5. Wynne over Pine Bluff Dollarway by 14 points
6. Oklahoma State over Arkansas State by 21 points
7. Southern Cal over Arkansas by 21 points
8. Florida State over Boston College by 14 points
9. Vanderbilt over Ole Miss by 9 points
10. Georgia over La. Monroe by 24 points
11. Auburn over Ball State by 17 points
12. Miami over Clemson by 10 points
13. South Carolina over Alabama by 7 points
14. Middle Tennessee over Akron by 10 points
15. Florida over Tennessee by 10 points
16. La.-Lafayette over Northwestern State by 6 points
17. Tulane over Mississippi State by 8 points
18. Missouri over Troy by 21 points
19. Notre Dame over Michigan State by 14 points
20. Kentucky over Indiana by 7 points
21. Minnesota over Florida Atlantic by 45 points
22. North Texas over Tulsa by 6 points
23. Texas over Rice by 42 points
24. Oklahoma over UCLA by 13 points

My tiebreaker is Minnesota over Florida Atlantic by 45 points.

Later.

Grid Picks Week 2 Results

2005-09-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Week 2 record: 18-6 (.750)
Year to date record: 35-12 (.744)

Missed picks:

Rivercrest/Paragould
Arkansas/Vanderbilt
Michigan/Notre Dame
Iowa/Iowa State
La.-Lafayette/E. Michigan
Boise State/Oregon State

Point spreads covered:

None

Jonesboro Sun Grid Picks Week 2 (September 5 - September 11)

2005-09-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

My picks for Week 2:

1. Wynne over Jonesboro (-9)
2. Pocahontas over Nettleton (-17)
3. Highland over Westside (-10)
4. Rivercrest over Paragould (-12)
5. Hoxie over Trumann (-7)
6. Arkansas State over Tennessee-Martin (-8)
7. Arkansas over Vanderbilt (-10)
8. Auburn over Mississippi State (-10)
9. Georgia Tech over North Carolina (-12)
10. Georgia over South Carolina (-9)
11. Florida over Louisiana Tech (-20)
12. North Texas over Middle Tennessee (-17)
13. Alabama over Southern Mississippi (-10)
14. UAB over Troy (-6) - one pick that could cause problems...
15. LSU over Arizona State (-10)
16. Michigan over Notre Dame (-10)
17. Iowa over Iowa State (-14)
18. La.-Lafayette over E. Michigan (-7) - another problematic pick
19. Texas over Ohio State (-12)
20. Oklahoma over Tulsa (-24)
21. Texas Tech over Florida International (-35) - my tiebreaker
22. Wyoming over La. Monroe (-13)
23. California over Washington (-21)
24. Boise State over Oregon State (-10) - my last problematic pick

Grid Picks Week 1 Results

2005-09-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Week 1 record: 17-6 (.739)
Year to date record: 17-6 (.739)
Missed picks:

Trumann/Nettleton
Paragould/Greene County Tech
Pittsburgh/Notre Dame
Texas A&M/Clemson
Auburn/Georgia Tech
Oklahoma/TCU

Point spreads covered:

Missouri over Arkansas State by 27 points (44-17)
Wisconsin over Bowling Green by 14 points (56-42)

Jonesboro Sun Grid Picks Week 1 (August 29 - September 4)

2005-08-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Guess what time it is, folks? You guessed it, it's Grid Picks time around here once again. Unlike last year, I actually have a job, and I don't have to mail my picks in like last time. I got off work just while ago and turned my picks in to the Jonesboro Sun office itself. Heh. I think I may have been the first one to do so today...probably this season! If I don't win, "pissed off" will be a HUGE understatement to how I'll feel... I know, I know, it's the first of 12 Grid Picks contests this year, but still... I'm taking the initiative in all this, and I deserve to be rewarded for it next Tuesday when I read the sports section of the newspaper and find out that I won the $50 prize for winning Week 1 of Grid Picks...

Anyways, I recorded my picks on two small pieces of note paper at work this morning which I'm transferring onto here. Like last year, I'm predicting point spreads for all the games, not just for the tiebreaker. It's just to make things more interesting, even though it's not actually required in the contest except on the tiebreaker.

Enough of this stalling...here are my picks for Week 1 with the point spreads:

(Games 1-5 are high school games...games 6-24 are college games)

1. Jonesboro over Camden Fairview by 9 points
2. Trumann over Nettleton by 10 points (Trumann BETTER beat Nettleton this year...)
3. Pocahontas over Westside by 27 points
4. Paragould over Greene County Tech by 17 points
5. Hoxie over Walnut Ridge by 27 points
6. Missouri over Arkansas State by 27 points
7. Arkansas over Missouri State by 27 points
8. Pittsburgh over Notre Dame by 10 points
9. Tennessee over UAB by 21 points
10. Georgia over Boise State by 13 points
11. Florida over Wyoming by 24 points
12. Alabama over Middle Tennessee by 10 points
13. Mississippi State over Murray State by 7 points
14. Texas A&M over Clemson by 10 points
~~15. LSU over North Texas by 35 points~~ ----------- game postponed due to Hurricane Katrina
16. Auburn over Georgia Tech by 10 points
17. Ohio State over Miami (Ohio) by 14 points
18. Wisconsin over Bowling Green by 14 points
19. Kansas State over Florida International by 13 points
20. Kansas over Florida Atlantic by 7 points
21. Oklahoma over TCU by 24 points
22. Texas over La.-Lafayette by 54 points
23. Colorado over Colorado State by 10 points
24. Southern Cal over Hawaii by 27 points

My tiebreaker pick this week is pretty much the biggest no-brainer on the list to choose a tiebreaker pick from...Texas over La.-Lafayette by a mind-boggling 54 points, which is the biggest point spread I've ever predicted on this contest. If Texas could manhandle North Texas 63-0 last year, imagine what they'd do to poor La.-Lafayette. I think maybe 54 points is being too lenient on them. North Texas would KILL La.-Lafayette by at least 4 or 5 touchdowns in the Sun Belt conference. Maybe I should have said 63 points, but I guess I was thinking that La.-Lafayette would bring their "A" game to the table and give an effort against the Longhorns and score some points. It probably wouldn't matter much against Texas even if the Longhorns only brought their "D-" minus game on the field. Oh well. I hope I do good...wait, I know I'll do good...I got confidence in my picks, but the ones that could surprise me are #8, #14, and #23. Gotta keep a watch out for them.

Anyways, later.

Okay, getting ready for Grid Picks 2005...

2005-08-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I believe Monday that they will have the games for the first Grid Picks contest of 2005...I'm psyched. I wanna win this contest at least ONCE this year so I can die a happy man! lol!

Not much else to talk about...

Later...

FIRST ANNIVERSARY POST!!!

2005-08-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

You know what day this is...

Yep, it's finally here...

One year ago today, my blog was born...

Can you believe I've actually had this blog that long? I can't either... My first post was actually about a video game and some wrestling. Sad, isn't it? I've gone from that to just talking about nothing, which when you think about it, isn't so bad after all.

I hope the Jonesboro Sun newspaper holds their Grid Picks contest again this year... It's getting close to that time again... I NEED to win that contest at least ONCE before I can die a happy man! lol!

I found out my schedule for September 2nd (first Trumann Wildcats game of the season), and even though I work that day, I get off at 1:30pm and I WILL be able to attend that game against our most hated rivals, the Nettleton Raiders (the game's at Nettleton High School). :D

Well, that's one year down...and here's to another year of blogging (and ~~procrastinating~~) and whatnot.

Later.

It's getting close to that time...

2005-08-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

Man, can you believe I've actually maintained this blog for almost a year now? I sure can't. Actually, the 1-year anniversary is August 14, which is this coming Sunday, and I'll be sure to make an anniversary post to commemorate the occasion.

By the way, if you want to check out the very first post I ever made, click here. Boy, did that post ever suck. It was about a video game not many people remember from the old SNES. And I also mention wrestling as well (like you people wanted to hear about THAT)...

Anyways, later.

Everything went well

2005-08-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, anyways, to make a long story short, my mom's surgery yesterday went well and she pulled through with flying colors. I got to pick her up at the hospital today and she's now home again! :D

She just seemed much more active than yesterday when she was pretty much out of it being under that medication. But anyways, she's home, and that's all that matters.

Later.

My mom goes in the hospital tomorrow...

2005-07-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

My mom goes into the hospital tomorrow to get herself prepared for her August 4th neck surgery. Be thinking about both of us on the 4th. Hopefully, she'll pull through. I KNOW she'll pull through. :)

Later.

Got some Napoleon Dynamite apparel...

2005-07-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got some Napoleon Dynamite t-shirts at Wal-Mart. It kinda shocked me that they even had them made.

This one above is my Kip t-shirt that reads "I'm training to be a cage fighter." And down below is my Rex Kwon Do shirt. BOW TO YOUR SENSEI!!!

There's a lot more out there, but they cost between $9-$10 bucks and I need to conserve my money.

Anyways, later.

Here I go procrastinating again...

2005-07-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have a habit for doing so. I think anyone (Jeanie) who's ever read my blog knows that. So what have I been up to lately? Well, not much, other than work. I was helping to train this new cashier at work today named Drake, he seems like a pretty cool guy. And we were shorthanded again today as well. I got in at 8am, which is rare for me nowadays, since I usually come in between 6am-7am. I got some days coming up where I come in during the late morning. I hate those days. Grrr!

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get 5 hours of sleep. Heh.

Oh yeah, click here to view my Myspace page. Just set it up. Check it out if you want, unless you got to this blog from there already... lol!

Later.

I'll make a better post soon...

2005-07-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty wore out from working 6am to 3pm today. Good thing I only have to work 6:30am to 1:30pm tomorrow. Anyways, I have to take my mom to the doctor on Monday to see what date she will have surgery on. She'll more than likely have surgery on her back, and hopefully nothing bad will happen to her. She has blood clots in her leg and having surgery could cause one to break loose and go to her lung, heart, or brain and kill her. That's the only thing I'm even remotely worried about regarding her surgery (if she even has it). Hopefully things will go smoothly with the surgery when, or if, it happens.

I'm tired and I'm going to go to sleep. Remember, the message board is up, so post on there with something, ANYTHING!

Later.

Check this out...

2005-07-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

I know I dabble in these a lot, but I got a new message board, courtesy of my 275MB.com account. It can be found here, by clicking on the message board link next to the link that shows how many comments I have on each post, or by clicking on the "john's message board" link to the left.

Speaking of which, any posts that have a lot of substance in them, mainly, any football predictions from the upcoming Jonesboro Sun Grid Picks contest, or anything that I deem interesting, will be posted on the message board and not here. This blog is now strictly that: a weblog, and the message board is where all the other interesting stuff will go.

You can sign up for a free account on there, so what are you waiting for? Sign up on there and post!

Later.

Hooten's Football 2005 preview for Trumann...

2005-07-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

EDIT - 7.8.2005: I moved this to my message board. It can now be found here.

Got to make this quick post here...

2005-07-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

I've got quite a day ahead of me at work tomorrow. I don't know why, but I just got the feeling that it'll be busy like today was. We were so shorthanded, I was 30 minutes late on my first break and 45 minutes late on my half-hour lunch break. But, I took my last break about 5 minutes EARLY and clocked out only 7 or so minutes late, so it's all good.

Gotta get some sleep, unlike last night, when I only got about 5 hours. Tonight, I'm looking at 6 1/2 hours, which should be better, enough for me to function tomorrow.

Good night, sleep tight, and don't let those nasty bed bugs bite. If they do, shock 'em with a tazer, or something...

Later.

Okay, so I skipped TWO days...

2005-06-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Just some quick thoughts before I actually go to bed:

++ I'm glad the last two days of work are over...9 hour days suck ass...

++ I got my paycheck and I'm thinking of saving my money more...

++ I'm back to my regular, go-to-work-in-the-morning hours on Saturday (I go into work every day this week at 6:30 am)...

++ I work Independence Day, and I will get that particular holiday pay on my next check (July 14)...

++ I need to clean my room BADLY...

++ I can't get over how good my blog looks...the actual POSTS, however, leave much to be desired...

++ I'm staying INDOORS tomorrow as much as possible...WAAAAAAAAAAAY too hot outside these days...

I'll try to come up with a post later that's more interesting.

Until then, later.

So I skipped a day...

2005-06-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I know I skipped a day on posting. Don't worry about that. I'm here now, and that's what counts.

I updated my video clips list and put up some new links having mostly to do with speed runs on different video games. If you like video games even the slightest bit, you can click here, here, here, here, and especially here, to download loads of speed run clips from tons of video games. I have a directory in my video clips archive devoted solely to video games clips and the majority of them are either speed runs or no death runs through games. Check out any of those links I just posted, I also have them linked over on the left of the page.

Anyways, I got a LONG day ahead of me tomorrow...I'm at work from 11am to 8pm... It's been forever since I stayed that late at work, at least a couple of months, probably. But at least I do get paid Thursday (work 10am to 7pm), then I'm off Friday, then it's back to my regular early hours that I love so much. :)

Later.

Dumbass questions deserve smartass answers...

2005-06-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do this rant for a long time, folks. It has to do about stuff at work I'm used to hearing. When I'm doing my cashiering (note: "cashiering" is NOT a real word) at work and when I'm redlining, waiting for customers, I'm always wondering what potential customers are going to say to me.

The one thing I hate more anything on earth at work is me redlining and waiting for customers to checkout and a customer comes up and asks me things like, "Are you open?" or "Are you checking out?"

Shit like that pisses me off to no end. I mean, I have no interest in stating the obvious. It's not that I'm lazy or anything, it's just that it's obvious...I'm standing there waiting for customers to check out and they have the audacity to ask me if I'm checking out or not. What? They're too damn lazy to see my light to my register on? Shit... I come across those aforementioned idiots every day at work, and yes, I came across some today as well.

I've been working there over 7 months now and I've seen my fair share of idiots. Way too many to mention. VERY rarely have I come across a customer that I'm nice to, but does not return the same courtesy. About 0.1% or 0.2% of the time do I come across such tomfoolery. But I keep a straight face about things anyways. I'm not a guy that vents his frustrations like that in a public place. I just mumble under my breath about it when no one's looking. Because if I DID vent my frustrations like that, I wouldn't have a job, would I? But that brings me to my point of this whole post...to give you a saying I've come up with that is so true these days:

"If you ask a dumbass question, you're bound to get a smartass answer in return."

...and I don't mean an answer of the intelligent variety, either...

I'll post some tomorrow. God, I'm glad I'm getting back into a habit of posting frequently.

Later.

A thing or two to mention...

2005-06-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

I set up an account with 275mb.com and I uploaded my video clips list over there on that server rather than using Geocities. This is the first REAL webspace I've ever had and any HTML files or small audio files or whatever that I decide to post here from now on will be uploaded to johnskillet.275mb.com.

Oh, by the way, when you click on that above link, you'll get an 404 error screen. Don't worry about that. I've made subdirectories on there that can be accessed, like my new link for my list of video clips.

It's been BLAZING hot outside lately (no shit), but thankfully, I get to stay inside while I'm doing my job. And speaking of my job, I got to do it tomorrow, too, from 6:30am to 1:30pm, just like earlier today.

Later.

Updated my video clips list...

2005-06-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

I updated my video clips list with clips I ripped from my DVDs and clips I downloaded off various sites.

I heard it was supposed to hit 100 degrees today. Wouldn't surprise me...yesterday, it hit 98. Good thing I'm off work and it's cool inside this house. :)

Like I posted yesterday, hope you like the new template and I hope to stay with this look for a long time.

I might post again later today if I'm any more bored than what I am today.

I'm off to watch Kill Bill Vol. 1.

Later.

Lots of new changes...

2005-06-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've changed the template YET AGAIN, this time to something I think everyone will enjoy. I seriously think this is the best template I've used yet.

Anyways, let me mention a couple of things: firstly, I've replaced the tagboard with a chatterbox that you can also access by clicking on the "john's chatterbox" link to the left of the page.

Secondly, I got a new guestbook and there are links over to the left of the page where you can either read the guestbook or sign it.

I also updated my DVD list by purchasing both Kill Bill movies (Vol. 1 and 2). That brings the count up to 87, I think...

Everybody got that? Good. I'm going to go to bed, folks. I'm off work tomorrow. :)

Later.

A frog prepared to play for Trumann football team in 2005...

2005-06-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know how desperate they seem to be, but earlier today, the Trumann Wildcats football team announced at a press conference held at the local sports bar Sidelines that they have signed a frog to play for their football team.

"We hope that 'Frog' here will help our team climb back to mediocrity." said head coach Ricky Timbs. "We've been lacking a little bit on defense lately the last two seasons and we need someone to step up, or leapfrog up I should say, and 'Frog' is our guy."

When asked why Coach Timbs would allow a frog to play on the field while running the risk of getting squashed, Timbs responded, "It's nothing that hasn't happened to us before. We've been squashed by most of our opponents the last two years.

"And besides, what else have we got left to lose? We already lost what was left of our dignity after last season, so what's wrong with having a frog on our team?"

The Trumann Democrat newspaper published an article on the frog, whose real name is Eric Mullins. Here it is in its entirety:

Eric "Frog" Mullins

Mullins brings leadership to field for THS
By GROVER WELCH, Democrat Sports Staff

When opposing quarterbacks look downfield this year, Eric "Frog" Mullins wants his face to be the last thing they see.

"Way I see it the sack is my job," Mullins said. "When I break the line and come off the tackle to hit a QB, I like that."

Mullins, a senior linebacker for the Trumann Wildcats, is a 5 foot, 7 inch, 200-pound wrecking ball who, like most off season football players, is working in the gym to better "break" the line this coming fall.

"I work at the school, and when I get off I'm in the gym," he said. "I bench 325, power clean 245, and dead lift 525."

While he has the strength to handle the position, Mullins realizes he's somewhat small and has to compensate in other ways.

"A linebacker has to be flexible," Mullins continued. "Someone who can run from one sideline to the other quickly to get to the ball. He has to have the power to come off the clutch and get the quarterback."

Mullins is using chutes and other tools this summer as he works on his sprints and his takeoffs.

"It's simple really," he said. "We're going to go a long way this year and I want to be a part of that. Improving my game helps me lead out there."

An A student at THS, the linebacker hopes to pursue an education in computer science after this year.

"I would like a scholarship," he said. "If that does not happen I'll probably walk on somewhere and play. It's definitely a part of what I want for myself."

Mullins attributes his confidence and determination to skills he's learned on the football field.

"I've gone from a shy kid to someone younger players look up to," he said. "I get to lead and learn good leadership skills in football."

Mullins has carried those leadership skills into the huddle, where he now calls the defensive plays.

"When we go to line and the team across lines up three strong I have to see that and call the defensive change on the field." He concluded. "It is really an important job."

Mullins will get to do this "important job" for the last season as a Wildcat in just a couple of months. And whether his football career continues beyond Trumann or not, the lessons will remain.

Who the hell is Eric Mullins? Must not be a good player, otherwise I'd know about him. And Coach Timbs was right, what's left to lose? They lost their dignity after another horrendous season last year, so they've obviously got nowhere to go but up, but the questions are "How far up will they go?" or "Will they even go up at all?"

We'll see on September 2nd.

I haven't done a post like that in forever. I feel great.

Ribbit!

What is UP!?

2005-06-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

...besides the sky? I don't know, but it sure isn't me, because I'm ready to go to BED!!

I gotta work 9am-5pm tomorrow, then a day off on Wednesday to take my mom to the doctor... That's how it goes, I guess...

Later.

Got a couple of things to mention...

2005-06-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I got a new webcam and microphone for my computer. I might post an audio blog on here because I think Blogger can allow audio posts (maybe), but I hate the sound of my voice somewhat.

Other than that, today was my 7-month anniversary at Wal-Mart. Woohoo!

Short post, but oh well, at least I'm alive, so that's a good thing.

Later.

This doesn't seem like Friday to me...

2005-06-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but it doesn't seem like Friday to me... The day at work went by FAST today. Whew...

Got a new digital camera today for under $60. Here's a front and back shot of the camera. It has 16 MB of memory built in and a slot for a memory card. When I get my next check, I'll get one. I also need a microphone or something of the sort for my computer so I can make my own homemade video clips WITH SOUND because neither of my cameras can record sound on video clips without a microphone.

Didn't I just sound like a dork or what?

Anyways, I don't go to work tomorrow until 10am (woohoo)! So, later.

And now for a post with a little more substance...

2005-06-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

I picked up my check today with all that holiday pay on it. Ooooh, ooooh! I got more than I thought I would. Just under $390. Whew! I haven't had a check that big in a LONG time...

I also get holiday pay for Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. More money for me! Holla at ya boy!

For some reason, it wasn't as hot outside today as I thought it would be. Don't ask why I thought that way, it just didn't seem hot today to me.

I gotta wash some clothes for work tomorrow...

...and my room is still a mess...

Later.

If you thought my last post sucked...

2005-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

...buh-buh-buh-baby, you just ain't seen nothin' yet! lol!

My DVD collection...because I'm bored...

2005-06-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd post this since I'm bored. I've been collecting DVDs for over 4 years. Here it is, all 95 of them:

1. Ace Ventura When Nature Calls
2. American Pie
3. American Pie 2
4. Austin Powers in Goldmember
5. Backyard Wrestling - A Passion For Pain
6. Backyard Dogs
7. Bandits
8. BASEketball
9. Beverly Hills Ninja
10. Black Mask 2: City of Masks
11. Blade
12. Bloodsport
13. Bloodsport 4
14. Bring It On
15. Chappelle's Show Season 1 Uncensored
16. Chappelle's Show Season 2 Uncensored
17. Cradle 2 The Grave
18. Cruel Intentions
19. Cruel Intentions 2
20. Cyborg
21. Demolition Man
22. Deuces Wild
23. Die Hard
24. Double Dragon
25. Dragonball GT - Salvation
26. Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
27. ECW Barely Legal
28. ECW Deep Impact
29. Enter The Dragon
30. Exposed: Truth or Dare Party
31. Fists of Fury
32. Foxfire
33. Freddy Got Fingered
34. Friday After Next
35. High School High
36. Hot Shots! Part Deux
37. House Party 3
38. Jackass The Movie
39. Kill Bill Vol. 1
40. Kill Bill Vol. 2
41. Kung Fu Hustle
42. Little Nicky
43. Malibu's Most Wanted
44. Mortal Kombat
45. Mortal Kombat Annihilation
46. Napoleon Dynamite
47. Next Friday
48. Not Another Teen Movie
49. Old School
50. Orange County
51. Predator
52. Ready To Rumble
53. Robocop
54. Saving Silverman
55. School Daze
56. Scream
57. She's All That
58. Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th
59. Slackers
60. South Park: The Complete First Season
61. Spaceballs
62. Starship Troopers
63. Stealing Harvard
64. Swimfan
65. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
66. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
67. The Addams Family
68. The Bad News Bears
69. The Best of Backyard Wrestling 2
70. The Chinese Connection
71. The Faculty
72. The Naked Gun
73. The Naked Gun 2 1/2
74. The Naked Gun 33 1/3
75. The One
76. The Perfect Score
77. The Rage: Carrie 2
78. The Rise and Fall of ECW
79. The Rules of Attraction
80. The Terminator
81. The Waterboy
82. Thirteen
83. Tomcats
84. UPW Future Shock Vol. 2: UPW vs. The World
85. UPW Shock Wave
86. Undercover Brother
87. Varsity Blues
88. Wild Things
89. WWE Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Hulk Still Rules
90. WWE King of the Ring 2002
91. WWF Royal Rumble 2002
92. XPW Baptized in Blood 2
93. XPW Freefall
94. XPW Genocide
95. Zoolander

EDIT: Updated August 11, 2005 with Kung Fu Hustle, She's All That, The Bad News Bears, The Naked Gun 2 1/2, and The Naked Gun 33 1/3.

I'll keep updating this list whenever I buy more movies.

Man, does this post SUCK or what?

EDIT: Oh yeah, to get rid of confusion, when Jeanie made her comment on this list, #59 was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Just so you know. ;)

Later.

Remember this old post?

2005-06-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

You know, the one that I made here? Well, that was when my ol' Corsica surpassed 150,000 miles. The reason behind me waxing poetic about this is simple...

Earlier tonight, my car surpassed 160,000 miles, almost 8 months to the DAY since my car crossed the 150,000 mile threshold. Currently, it sits at exactly 160,001.2 miles. Here's to the next 10,000 miles...or to get technical, the next 9,998.8 miles until 170,000. At the rate I'm going, I'll probably reach it by early February of 2006, but that's just a guess.

Well, I'm off the next two days and my room looks like total shit. Fortunately, I get to sleep in the next two days and not have to take my mom to the doctor for anything. :) I'll clean up on my room after I get my energy for the day.

As for right now, I'm retiring for the night. I'll more than likely be bored tomorrow, so I'll DEFINITELY post tomorrow. You hear that, Jeanie? I'm gonna post for the next two days! Woohoo! ***dances in place*** lol!

Anyways, later.

I have my video clips archive put up...

2005-06-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

I put up an archive of my assorted video clips on here. Keep in mind that these clips are NOT available for download because I can't find a host right now that can host 30-40 MB size files like the ones I have archived. Maybe if I find a host, I'll upload them. If you can catch me on WinMX, you can probably get them, because I'm sharing them on there.

I'm using the trial version of ImTOO DVD Ripper, where I can rip up to 5 minute clips straight off DVDs. And I have about 80+ DVDs to rip clips from, so that will pass some time.

Anyways, I'm going to bed. Later.

Tagboard and guestbook work finished...

2005-06-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

I'm now finished with putting the tagboard up and fixing the guestbook. Go ahead and sign either one, whatever you want to do.

Later.

What's this? Another new look!

2005-06-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, dear readers, my blog has now obtained another new look. I was bored and grew tired of the dark look, so I changed the template around. I will post the tagboard on here after I configure it to reflect the change here as well as change the guestbook around.

Man, it's HOT over here in Arkansas! Ugh!

I was off today and will be off tomorrow (thank God), then after that, 6 straight days of easy work followed by 2 more days off (payday included - with HOLIDAY pay to boot!). This is going to be an easy week of work.

Anyways, I'm going to work on putting my tagboard back up as well as change my guestbook around.

Later.

Quickie post here...

2005-06-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie post here before I go to sleep:

Ha, ha, ha! Arkansas beat Texas! I honestly didn't think they'd win today. If they win tomorrow, they'll move on to the Super Regionals. YEAH!

Down with Texas!

Okay, that sounded corny there, but I was rooting for the Hogs there, and they won, so it's all good.

Anyways, I go into work tomorrow at 6am (***GASP***), so I better go to bed NOW!

Later.

I'm not happy...

2005-05-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

Kimberly and I have not been feeling well lately. We didn't come down with any sickness or anything, we just felt that we were rushing into things too quickly with our relationship. Talking about how we were thinking about getting an apartment after she finished college and that stuff. Today was supposed to be our one-month anniversary, BTW. Nope. None of that.

In other words, Kimberly and I are taking a break from our relationship for a period of time so we can get to know each other a LOT better. Before we started going out, I had only known her for a month's time. I found out she had a thing for me and we started dating. We just realized that things were going WAY too fast, so we decided to take a break from being boyfriend/girlfriend and are, for right now, just best friends.

I just got off the phone with Kimberly no more than 10 minutes ago and we had a brief discussion about things. We talked about this and that and about needing to get to know each other better. We're going to see The Longest Yard on Friday and we'll get a chance to have a long talk about things.

I must feel like a rambling moron on here talking about my problems, but that's just how I feel.

I haven't posted in 12 days, a record drought for me on this blog, and the rambling above plus work and spending time with Kimberly was the reason why. There's your answer for procrastination.

I have to take my mom to the doctor. Tomorrow. At 8:00 am. Then to the doctor AGAIN Friday at 9:30 am for my mom to have a mammogram.

Who the hell reads this blog these days, anyway? Seems like only myself and Jeanie. I've lost most of my fans, not that I had many fans to begin with, BTW.

Anyways, later.

What's with the procrastination here?

2005-05-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

First post in 10 days, people...I believe that's the longest I've gone since posting in this blog's 9 month history. Let me tell you a bit about what's been going on since I last posted:

Kimberly and I are doing great, as usual. I got another date tomorrow with her after I get off work at 2pm. We both get our checks tomorrow, as well, so that rocks. I still have $130 or so dollars on me now, so that makes the second week in a row that I've managed my money well. Looks like I'm following up on my New Year's resolution of saving money. I'm gonna try to keep doing it. :)

Well, anyways, later.

So what's been going on lately?

2005-05-08T20:22:00.000-07:00

Not much here, as far as posting goes. I know I've been procrastinating lately, but I'm posting here, so that the (few) people that read my blog will know that I'm still alive.

My girlfriend Kimberly and I are doing GREAT! Friday night was wonderful. Before Kimberly and I had the evening to ourselves, we climbed into her Dodge Stratus and took a trip to the Highland Wal-Mart in Jonesboro (not the one Kimberly and I work at) to get a couple of cables for the DVD player she just bought. It had been several years since I had been in that particular Wal-Mart store, and I never realized how much bigger it was than the one on Parker Road where Kimberly and I work at. It just had a weird vibe to it, and it looked so ghetto. Guess all the stories I heard about it were true; everybody in J-Town likes the Parker Road Wal-Mart better.

My mom is griping her ass off at me to get in bed, so later...

I had a date yesterday...

2005-05-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful time on a date last night with my friend Kimberly from work. I had found out from one of my other friends at work who's also a cashier that Kimberly has had a crush on me for a while. I got her number and asked her out. We hung out at her house for a bit before we went to see Kung Fu Hustle. We ended up cuddling in the very top row of the room where we were watching the movie. :D Anyways, the movie was awesome and I recommend it for anyone to watch. We left and then went back to her house again to hang out some more. We ended up cuddling some more and kissed a little bit. You see, she has a two-story house out in the country and her parents have the top floor and she has the bottom floor to herself, so we could do all this in secret! lol! She told me that she wished this night wouldn't end and I told her the same thing. The movie was around 4:30 and I ended up not leaving her house until close to 10:00 last night. It was a great night.

So anyways, we decided to give the boyfriend/girlfriend thing a shot and Kimberly and I are a couple now. I'm her first real boyfriend she's had and I've been hurt before by other girls so we agreed to take it one day at a time. I hope we stay together for a LONG time.

I'm off work today and tomorrow and she's going to call me tonight at 6:00 when she gets off work. :)

This is the first time in a LONG time I've been this happy. I hope it stays this way for me...

Later.

Matt Jones drafted by Jacksonville

2005-04-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

In a move that actually surprised me, the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Arkansas' Matt Jones with the 21st overall pick in the NFL draft today.

He went a little sooner than most experts thought. Nevertheless, I'm proud for Matt and hope he does well as a wide receiver/tight end in Jacksonville. He'll be catching passes from a pretty good QB, Byron Leftwich.

And will someone hurry up and draft California's Aaron Rodgers? He's getting a little left out over in New York. At this rate, he might not get drafted in the 1st round at all! At one point he was touted as the #1 overall pick. Someone draft him already!

EDIT: Rodgers got drafted 24th overall by the Green Bay Packers, so he'll have a chance to learn from arguably THE BEST in the game, Brett Favre. Good for him.

Later.

MIT students pull prank on conference

2005-04-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Click here to read about it.

Heh, I tried their computer program out and this is what I came up with:

"Towards the Construction of Cache Coherence" - Link no longer works...

Whew!

I got paid today...paycheck wasn't as big as usual because of those days that I went home early, but oh well. The next check will be better.

Anyways, I'm taking my mom to the doctor for more MRI's tomorrow morning, then I'll have all of Saturday to rest.

Later.

Holy procrastination!

2005-04-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since my last post, folks. Three times I've wanted to post on here lately, but procrastination got the better of me on each of those occasions.

I took my mom to the doctor to have some MRI's done, I got some new clothes today, and I got my traffic ticket taken care of. :)

I'll post some more tomorrow, unless I end up procrastinating again. I need to stop doing that...

Later.

Payday is coming...

2005-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

...and I got SO much stuff to do with it, that I'll have less than half of it left after all of it is over with. I have to give my mom 25% of it, then put back money for gas, my internet connection, and my traffic ticket I got recently. Bahhhh...

I get paid Thursday, for those that don't know.

Other than that, I'm bored, unless I'm talking to Jeanie. :)

Later.

April Fool's Day!! HA HA!

2005-04-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

April is finally here, which means that spring should be in full swing (that rhymes!) and that April Fool's Day is here. You know, the day where people try to fool everybody and whatnot. If ever there is a day where you shouldn't believe a SINGLE WORD someone tells you, it's April 1.

My parents actually had the audacity to try and tell me it was SNOWING outside this morning! Yeah, right. Needless to say, I wasn't fooled. My bedroom window was open all night last night. If there was snow, I would be a popsicle from all the cold air coming through my open window. Duh...

Anyways, I might post again later out of boredom. Maybe, maybe not. Later.

Spam monkeys BEWARE!

2005-03-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have grown tired of the spam monkeys that have signed my guestbook recently. I will tolerate their insolent behavior no longer. If they continue to sign my guestbook, I will inflict pain on their gums with a wire toothbrush. I am a very bored and pissed off blogger.

Other than that, everything's kickass.

Happy early April Fool's Day to all of the 2 people that read this blog, and since I count as one person, the other would have to be Jeanie. :) <3!!

Later.

Such a nice day outside today...

2005-03-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm glad spring is here at last. Today was just a nice day overall outside: beautiful sunshine, a nice breeze, and warm weather. Even Jeanie had great weather over in Cincinnati today. Now all of this is ruined because it looks like it's thundering outside. Great.

Yours truly will be working the next 5 days straight, followed by 2 days off, then 4 days work, 1 day off, 3 days work, and then 1 day off again. That schedule lasts until the 15th of April, which coincidentally enough, is Tax Day. You don't want the IRS beating down at your door, do you? Didn't think so.

Anyways, later.

How many new templates am I gonna have!?

2005-03-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

Looks like version 6.0 of this blog is here. Whew! This was done as a spur of the moment thing for me. Of all my previous templates, this may be the most easiest on your eyes.

Anyways, in the time since I last posted, I have...

...gotten a ticket on my way to work Sunday morning for "inattentive driving" by a local cop going 58 in a 45 MPH zone. Didn't realize a cop was behind me until a quarter of a mile from where he was parked. He wasn't a dick or anything and I have until May 2 to pay a $150 fine.

...bought a new video game for my PS2 (Sonic Heroes) and another memory card for my PS2. My PS2 game count is now up to 23. (Woo-hoo!) [/sarcasm]

...seen the weather become very, very beautiful outside around these parts. Spring time has FINALLY hit for good.

...and seen, quite possibly, my busiest day at work at Wal-Mart the day before Easter. Whew!! Easter day itself was surprisingly not busy (for obvious reasons).

There you have it. I have to take my mom to her pain management doctor tomorrow morning, but other than that, I got a full day of rest before heading back to work for a 5-day run. Later.

New cell phone...AGAIN!? AGAIN!

2005-03-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

I got yet another new cell phone today, an "Audiovox" Vox 8610 with Virgin Mobile, just like my Kyocera K9. I gave my old Kyocera phone to my mom today as a gift and I'm now using my Vox 8610, with FULL color screens!

Here's a couple of pics of it:

picture 1 - closed phone
picture 2 - opened up with full color screen

I LOVE it! It cost me a pretty penny ($86), but it was worth it.

Oh yeah, my $.40 raise took effect today when I got my check. Yeah!

Anyways, I'm gonna enjoy a nice day off tomorrow. Later.

What's been going on lately?

2005-03-20T16:51:00.000-08:00

A few interesting things to mention here:

- If anyone mentions the names Bucknell or West Virginia, I'll smack the living bejesus out of you. Bucknell and West Virginia effectively all but screwed up my NCAA Tournament bracket. Thanks to West Virginia, 25% of my Final Four is ruined, because they knocked off Wake Forest in double OT. Bucknell...you know the story with them...

- Heh, heh, Wisconsin knocked out Bucknell 71-62 in the second round... Bye, bye, Bucknell, nice knowing ya...

- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT call me at 2:30 in the morning on my cell phone. Some jerkoff did, but I didn't catch who it was. I was too tired to find out or even care. The familiar sounds of my ringtone ("Smooth Criminal" by Alien Ant Farm) blared in my room and my phone started blinking. Apparently, I had left my phone on all night and nearly drained all the battery out. I recharged it earlier today, so it won't happen again. Damn fucker...

- Don't come to Wal-Mart on Saturdays or Sundays. I hate working the weekends there, even though I get paid a dollar more per hour on Sundays ($7.20/hour since the raise). It's so damn busy... Grrr!

- I recently bought ESPN College Hoops 2K5 for my Playstation 2. Matter of fact, I'm gonna play it now and see how far I can take my Arkansas Razorbacks.

Later.

Here's what went down Friday...

2005-03-18T21:26:00.000-08:00

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is in the books, and guess what? NO Syracuse and NO Kansas left. Yep, they were victims of the upset bug by Vermont and Bucknell, respectively.

Bucknell!? I had Kansas losing to Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen, who would in turn lose to North Carolina (my pick for national champion on all 5 of my ESPN brackets) in the Elite Eight! Damn!

Chicago Regional:

#2 Oklahoma State beats #15 SE Louisiana 63-50 CORRECT PICK
#7 Southern Illinois beats #10 St. Mary's 65-56 INCORRECT PICK

5-of-8 overall in the Chicago Regional...mostly because of Alabama getting upset...

Albuquerque Regional:

#4 Louisville beats #13 LA Lafayette 68-62 CORRECT PICK
#5 Georgia Tech beats #12 George Washington 80-68 CORRECT PICK

7-of-8 overall in the Albuquerque Regional...

Syracuse Regional:

#1 North Carolina beats #16 Oakland 96-68 CORRECT PICK
#10 N.C. State beats #7 Charlotte 75-63 CORRECT PICK
#4 Florida beats #13 Ohio 67-62 CORRECT PICK
#9 Iowa State beats #8 Minnesota 64-53 CORRECT PICK
#2 Connecticut beats #15 UCF 77-71 CORRECT PICK
#5 Villanova beats #12 New Mexico 55-47 CORRECT PICK
#6 Wisconsin beats #11 Northern Iowa 57-52 CORRECT PICK
#14 Bucknell beats #3 Kansas 64-63 INCORRECT PICK

7-of-8 overall in the Syracuse Regional... Man, I should keep my big, fat mouth shut...

Austin Regional:

#13 Vermont beats #4 Syracuse 60-57 in OT INCORRECT PICK
#1 Duke beats #16 Delaware St. 57-46 CORRECT PICK
#9 Mississippi St. beats #8 Stanford 93-70 INCORRECT PICK
#5 Michigan St. beats #12 Old Dominion 89-81 CORRECT PICK

6-of-8 overall in the Austin Regional. Ouch, I'm STILL seething over Bucknell beating Kansas...

So for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, I went 25-of-32. The women's NCAA tournament starts tomorrow and I have 5 brackets made on ESPN.com as well.

Later.

Here's what went down Thursday...

2005-03-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

Thursday's NCAA Tournament games are in the books. Man, I did NOT expect Alabama getting knocked out by Wisconsin-Green Bay. Other than that, I did pretty well on my picks. Here's the results from Thursday's games:

Chicago Regional

#12 Wisconsin-Green Bay beats #5 Alabama 83-73 INCORRECT PICK
#4 Boston College beats #13 Pennsylvania 85-65 CORRECT PICK
#9 Nevada beats #8 Texas 61-57 INCORRECT PICK
#3 Arizona beats #14 Utah St. 66-53 CORRECT PICK
#11 UAB beats #6 LSU 82-68 CORRECT PICK == MY UPSET PICK!!!
#1 Illinois beats #16 Fairleigh Dickinson 67-55 CORRECT PICK

Albuquerque Regional

#8 Pacific beats #9 Pittsburgh 79-71 INCORRECT PICK
#1 Washington beats #16 Montana 88-77 CORRECT PICK
#2 Wake Forest beats #15 Chattanooga 70-54 CORRECT PICK
#3 Gonzaga beats #14 Winthrop 74-64 CORRECT PICK
#7 West Virginia beats #10 Creighton 63-61 CORRECT PICK
#6 Texas Tech beats #11 UCLA 78-66 CORRECT PICK

Damn! Almost nailed my point spread in the Washington/Montana game! I picked Washington by 10...

Austin Regional

#2 Kentucky beats #15 Eastern Kentucky 72-64 CORRECT PICK
#3 Oklahoma beats #14 Niagara 84-67 CORRECT PICK
#7 Cincinnati beats #10 Iowa 76-64 CORRECT PICK
#6 Utah beats #11 UTEP 60-54 CORRECT PICK == NAILED THE POINT SPREAD

Had Oklahoma scored two more points and Niagara scored three fewer points, I would have nailed my point spread AND my final score prediction for that game... I DID nail the point spread for the Utah/UTEP game however (Utah by 6). :D

I went 13-for-16 in Thursday's first round games. Pretty good, I'd say. I'm perfect so far in the Austin Regional. I'll update in a little bit with some of Friday's scores.

John's NCAA Tournament Picks on ESPN.com

2005-03-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

I entered a contest on ESPN.com filling out 5 brackets for my predictions on the NCAA Tournament. If I do good, I can win $10,000. Heh.

Like I said, I filled out 5 different brackets for the contest. Here's my Final Four picks and national title game picks:

Bracket #1 Final Four picks: Illinois, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Duke
National title game pick: North Carolina beats Illinois 74-70

Bracket #2 Final Four picks: Illinois, Louisville, North Carolina, Kentucky
National title game pick: North Carolina beats Illinois 78-76

Bracket #3 Final Four picks: Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina, Kentucky
National title game pick: North Carolina beats Louisville 82-77

Bracket #4 Final Four picks: Oklahoma St., Gonzaga, North Carolina, Kentucky
National title game pick: North Carolina beats Oklahoma St. 71-63

Bracket #5 Final Four picks: Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse
National title game pick: North Carolina beats Louisville 83-80

There you go.

I'm going to enjoy a nice day off tomorrow. Later.

Scott Peterson gets death sentence...

2005-03-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Click here to read about it...

Robert Blake acquitted of wife's murder...

2005-03-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Click here to read about it...

John's NCAA Tournament Picks

2005-03-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

This is where I made my NCAA Tournament picks. I have screen captures of my picks for the entire tournament up to and including the Final Four. Here they are:

John's Chicago Regional Picks
John's Albuquerque Regional Picks
John's Syracuse Regional Picks
John's Austin Regional Picks
John's Final Four Picks

Oh yeah, the play-in game is in the books already: Oakland 79, Alabama A&M 69. Looks like North Carolina gets to slaughter Oakland in the first round. Heh. The Syracuse Regional Predictions post has been updated to reflect the result of the play-in game.

Later.

Austin Regional Predictions

2005-03-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

Austin Regional:

(1) Duke vs. (16) Delaware St.
(8) Stanford vs. (9) Mississippi St.
(5) Michigan St. vs. (12) Old Dominion
(4) Syracuse vs. (13) Vermont
(6) Utah vs. (11) UTEP
(3) Oklahoma vs. (14) Niagara
(7) Cincinnati vs. (10) Iowa
(2) Kentucky vs. (15) Eastern Kentucky

Austin Regional First Round Predictions:

Duke over Delaware St. (-35)
Duke 87, Delaware St. 52

Stanford over Mississippi St. (-8)
Stanford 72, Mississippi St. 64

Michigan St. over Old Dominion (-11)
Michigan St. 68, Old Dominion 57

Syracuse over Vermont (-9)
Syracuse 77, Vermont 68

Utah over UTEP (-6)
Utah 74, UTEP 68

Oklahoma over Niagara (-22)
Oklahoma 86, Niagara 64

Cincinnati over Iowa (-3)
Cincinnati 66, Iowa 63

Kentucky over Eastern Kentucky (-26)
Kentucky 85, Eastern Kentucky 59

There you go. My next post will feature screen captures of ALL my bracket picks for the tournament, up to and including the Final Four.

Syracuse Regional Predictions

2005-03-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Syracuse Regional:

(1) North Carolina vs. (16) Oakland
(8) Minnesota vs. (9) Iowa St.
(5) Villanova vs. (12) New Mexico
(4) Florida vs. (13) Ohio
(6) Wisconsin vs. (11) Northern Iowa
(3) Kansas vs. (14) Bucknell
(7) Charlotte vs. (10) N.C. State
(2) Connecticut vs. (15) UCF

Syracuse Regional First Round Predictions:

North Carolina over Oakland (-38)
North Carolina 93, Oakland 55

Iowa St. over Minnesota (-3)
Iowa St. 67, Minnesota 64

Villanova over New Mexico (-13)
Villanova 68, New Mexico 55

Florida over Ohio (-10)
Florida 71, Ohio 61

Wisconsin over Northern Iowa (-12)
Wisconsin 74, Northern Iowa 62

Kansas over Bucknell (-31)
Kansas 83, Bucknell 52

N.C. State over Charlotte (-7)
N.C. State 68, Charlotte 61

Connecticut over UCF (-16)
Connecticut 79, UCF 63

Last, but not least, my predictions for the Austin Regional...coming up in a bit.

Albuquerque Regional Predictions

2005-03-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

Albuquerque Regional:

(1) Washington vs. (16) Montana
(8) Pacific vs. (9) Pittsburgh
(5) Georgia Tech vs. (12) Geo. Washington
(4) Louisville vs. (13) LA Lafayette
(6) Texas Tech vs. (11) UCLA
(3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Winthrop
(7) West Virginia vs. (10) Creighton
(2) Wake Forest vs. (15) Chattanooga

Albuquerque Regional First Round Predictions:

Washington over Montana (-10)
Washington 73, Montana 63

Pittsburgh over Pacific (-4)
Pittsburgh 65, Pacific 61

Georgia Tech over Geo. Washington (-7)
Georgia Tech 77, Geo. Washington 70

Louisville over LA Lafayette (-24)
Louisville 83, LA Lafayette 59

Texas Tech over UCLA (-2)
Texas Tech 66, UCLA 64

Gonzaga over Winthrop (-15)
Gonzaga 72, Winthrop 57

West Virginia over Creighton (-4)
West Virginia 62, Creighton 58

Wake Forest over Chattanooga (-28)
Wake Forest 91, Chattanooga 63

Next up are my predictions for the Syracuse Regional. Be back in a bit.

The Ides of March Madness - Chicago Regional Predictions

2005-03-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

Today is an important day in history. On this day, 2049 years ago, in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated by the people he thought were his friends, among them, Brutus ("The Barber" Beefcake) and Cassius (Clay). Of course, this is where we get Caesar's infamous quote, "Et tu, Brute?", which means, "And you also, Brutus?" Don't worry if you don't catch the references on Brutus and Cassius, only a diehard wrestling fan and a casual boxing fan would know about it.

But anyways, it's March Madness, and that means the NCAA Tournament is upon us. To start things off, there's the play-in game between Oakland and Alabama A&M tonight. The winner becomes the #16 seed in the Syracuse Regional and will play #1 seed North Carolina in the first round. Defending national champion Connecticut is the #2 seed out of that same region.

Here's the entire tournament and my predictions for the first round (with predicted point spreads and scores):

Chicago Regional:

(1) Illinois vs. (16) Fairleigh Dickinson
(8) Texas vs. (9) Nevada
(5) Alabama vs. (12) Wisc. Milwaukee
(4) Boston College vs. (13) Pennsylvania
(6) LSU vs. (11) UAB
(3) Arizona vs. (14) Utah St.
(7) Southern Ill. vs. (10) St. Mary's
(2) Oklahoma St. vs. (15) SE Louisiana

Chicago Regional First-Round Predictions:

Illinois over Farleigh Dickinson (-29)
Illinois 87, Fairleigh Dickinson 58

Texas over Nevada (-4)
Texas 64, Nevada 60

Alabama over Wisc. Milwaukee (-13)
Alabama 74, Wisc. Milwaukee 61

Boston College over Pennsylvania (-6)
Boston College 61, Pennsylvania 55

UAB over LSU (-2)
UAB 59, LSU 57 (OT)

Arizona over Utah St. (-15)
Arizona 71, Utah St. 56

St. Mary's over Southern Ill. (-3)
St. Mary's 65, Southern Ill. 62

Oklahoma St. over SE Louisiana (-24)
Oklahoma St. 78, SE Louisiana 54

I'll have my Albuquerque Regional predictions up on my next post in a little bit.

I got a RAISE!

2005-03-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

I got a $.40 raise after I had my evaluation yesterday. I think it takes effect after my next two paychecks. That's cool. Getting paid $6.20/hour is not half bad. I'm a 4-Star Cashier there, even though I haven't got the vest yet. When I get all that stuff, I'll take a picture of it and post it on here.

Gas is up to $1.99 a gallon here, which I know for SURE is a record high in Trumann. That's bullshit, plain and simple, but unfortunately, I can't do anything about it. I heard rumors that gas prices are only going to get worse later in spring and summer...

Anyways, later.

March means SPRING is NEAR!!

2005-03-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

March, of course, is upon us, and that means spring is close at hand. It's been a pretty wild winter as far as the weather has gone...we saw a white Christmas, which kicked ass, and we also saw temperatures get up into the mid 70's a couple of weeks ago, which also kicked ass, because it obviously wasn't cold.

Right now, the weather is relatively nice, but not like two weeks ago. At least I'm not freezing my ass off or anything like that.

I tried applying for a CSM job at Wal-Mart, and given my quick rise to 4-Star Cashier status, I figured I was a lock for it. The only problem was, I haven't had my 90-day evaluation yet, otherwise, I would have had a good shot at getting it. I have my evaluation on March 25, which is 90 days from when I was made part-time (I was hired as temporary). After I've had my evaluation, if the opportunity presents itself, I'll apply for it again.

Anyways, that's all I got to rant about, so, later...

Gotta post again here...

2005-02-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've gotta admit, I've neglected from posting on here lately because of my new cable modem hookup. Downloads are MUCH faster than with a ***scoffs*** 56K modem. Phooey! I'm not going back to dial-up, no sir... The thing is, is that I have to pay $39 a month out of my own pocket to keep the cable modem going. I had somebody hook it up while I was at work Friday and I've been downloading like CRAZY...

Basically this also means that I can freely update my blog from the instant I turn on my computer and run Mozilla Firefox. It's kickass and I wouldn't dream of having anything else...

I've got EARLY days at work for the next two weeks starting earlier today. I got sick with a stopped up head and nose on Wednesday, the same day I found out that I was named 4-Star Cashier of the Month at Wal-Mart for January 2005. Eh, oh well...

Anyways, I'm going to get in the bed and REST! I need it!

Later.

WIRELESS INTERNET!!

2005-02-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

It may not be special for most internet users, but it is to ME, because I finally got wireless internet! Now I can surf the internet without having my mom and dad bitch at me for tying up the phone lines.

Anyways, later.

Heh, I got paid today...

2005-02-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

...but it was only about $338 or so because I only had 31.5 hours for one of the two weeks I worked.

Oh yeah, I was named 4-Star Cashier of the Month for January 2005 (just my 2nd full month there). Pretty cool there. I got a $25 gift card and I get to wear a new brown vest and brownish name tag. Heh.

Anyways, later.

Figured I'd post out of boredom...

2005-02-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

I seem to be slacking off again as it pertains to posts on here... I gotta think of something to do to pass the time...

I KNOW! I'll put my message boards back up! That's what I'll do!

I love it when I'm off work...

2005-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Man, there's nothing I like better than staying up and sleeping in whenever I'm off work. I only get to do about twice a week nowadays as opposed to every day whenever I didn't have a job. But since I have a job (a job that I actually LIKE, mind you), you can't sleep much. You gotta be makin' that money, yo!

I usually average around $360-$370 on my bi-weekly paycheck. Twenty-five percent of it immediately goes to my mom to help her pay bills, since I still live at home (that's usually $90 or so, give or take a few bucks either way) Forty dollars goes on my Wal-Mart shopping card to pay for gas to get me from Trumann to Jonesboro five days a week. After that, the rest of my money is mine to do with as I please.

Anyways, I'm tired, so I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed now. I'm gonna sleep in a bit and then go to Jonesboro tomorrow to get some clothes.

Later.

BEDTIME!

2005-02-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

***yawns*** More work tomorrow... Nooooooooooo... But it must be done, I guess...

Gotta make money, yo.

Later.

Yawn...more webcam pics...

2005-02-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

More webcam pics over to the right marked under February 7, 2005.

Oh yeah, the Patriots won the Super Bowl again last night... BOOOOOOORING...

Later...

Some new webcam pics...FINALLY!

2005-02-03T21:07:00.000-08:00

I finally put up a new batch of webcam pics for you to look at over towards the right. I recently got my haircut so the pics of me should look better than the other two webcam albums of me.

I bought Napoleon Dynamite on DVD yesterday. I highly recommend the movie for anyone who wants a good laugh. It's a pretty cool and interesting movie. Pick it up if you haven't seen it before. At work today, somebody came through my line with a copy of Napoleon Dynamite and I recommended it to her as a pretty good movie. Hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

I think the haircut and dressing nicely gave me a little confidence with myself today, because I got several compliments from my co-workers (mostly females) about my new haircut. :) That made me feel good.

Anyways, I'm going to enjoy a nice day off from work tomorrow.

Later.

What a busy last couple of days...

2005-01-30T19:37:00.000-08:00

I hated how busy work was Saturday night. From 9am to 6pm it was a constant onslaught of people. They wouldn't stop coming in the damn store...

Other than that, I've been working my ass off at work.

I guess there's not much for me to say. Anyways, I'll post sometime later.

All went well today...

2005-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

Everything went well at the doctor for my mom today. She had more cortizone shots put in her back to try and help her back out some and the procedure went well.

I got my paycheck today and hopefully I will not be tempted to buy meaningless stuff like on my last check. I have GOT to manage my money better.

Other than that...it's the same old, same old... You know how it goes...

Out.

I'm a pretty accomplished person...

2005-01-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is pretty strange here. I seem to be a popular person on the internet. Looking up the name John Hicks on Yahoo's search engine brings back about 1.4 million results for "John Hicks". Among the results, I've found out that I was once a famous economist, a jazz pianist, a former offensive tackle for Ohio State University in the early 1970's, a painter/lecturer, and a convict on Ohio's Death Row.

I seem to have a bunch of ties to Ohio it seems... lol! Anyways, I'll have another batch of webcam pics up later tonight sometime. I have to take my mom to the doctor right after I get off from work so she can have more cortizone shots put in her back. It'll be painful for her, but with me there with her, she'll be okay.

Watch for another batch of webcam pics. As for now, I'm off to take a shower. Later.

What's this? Something NEW on here!?

2005-01-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

If you've noticed, I've put the comments and the guestbook back up, but that's not what this post is about... I put up some of my webcam shots on Photobucket.com. It's a site where anybody can set up a free account and upload their pictures on there. I recommend anyone that needs a place to upload pics to go there or Imageshack.

The webcam pics are over in the middle column. I'm thinking of putting more up there every so often.

Hope you enjoy the webcam pics.

Later.

P.S. Jeanie, hope this was a good post for ya! ;)

Boredom seems to be the magic word on this blog...

2005-01-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

Read the title of this post and weep. Boredom is an all too common malady here on John's Dumb Blog and unfortunately I have been affected by the boredom as well, which is why most of my recent posts lack any substance or content and why updates are mostly few and far between.

Lately all I've been caring about is working my job at Wal-Mart and talking to my good friend Jeanie on occasion whenever time and work schedules allow it. We talked earlier this evening about the bashing going on this blog and why people would do that. She had strep throat and had to go to bed early though. Hope she gets better soon.

The Wal-Mart that I work at is doing some remodeling, where we're going to get the registers redone, some new self-checkout lanes, and those rotating bag holder thingys. I heard some people actually HATE those new bag holders, and why do they? It makes the cashier's job a little bit easier in the way that they don't have to reach over the bag holders to put stuff in people's carts and that you can fill up more bags as well. Why are most customers so damn lazy these days? I know that isn't the right attitude to have up at work (I have a great attitude up there), but still. Don't be so damn lazy. That's what those new rotating bag holders are for. To make life for me and the other cashiers a little easier.

It's getting a little late on here. I'm gonna hit the bed. I'm so damn tired. ***yawns***

Later.

What do we have here?

2005-01-23T16:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I got on here and noticed a couple of posts on my tag-board that were fairly idiotic. Idiotic in the way that they were trying to unsuccessfully bash me on here. The posts were deleted as soon as I saw them today.

To whoever it was who posted those comments, a little courage can go a long way these days, even on the internet. But, of course, using the safety of the internet, they decided to remain anonymous using bogus names... Don't worry about being caught, idiots, I don't really give a shit about who you are or about your comments. But don't fucking bring Jeanie into any of this. Doing so just shows how much class you people really have. She doesn't deserve any of it.

Any way you slice it, any more comments that are posted on here about me or Jeanie will be deleted as soon as I see them, no questions asked. I won't even dignify those comments with a response after this post. They will be ignored and deleted.

Grow up and get a life. Please.

...on second thought, I think I should take the tagboard off and disable comments on this blog... That way I'll KNOW this won't happen again...

Anyways, work today was busy as usual for a Sunday...I'm just glad I have Tuesday and Wednesday off. I have to take my mom to the doctor on Tuesday in Jonesboro and Wednesday I'm pretty much bored... I get paid on Thursday, that's a plus, though. :)

Later.

BORED!!

2005-01-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

I'm BOOOOOOOOORED!

Jeanie, where are you? I'm bored and I need someone to talk to!

Enjoying some time off...

2005-01-21T15:08:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to get off my butt and post since I have time off. I've got an early week of work ahead starting tomorrow. I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday and I have to take my mom to the doctor on Tuesday.

Other than that and talking to Jeanie, I'm bored out of my mind... Aren't I always?

I get off work early each day that I work this week, so I hope to post more on here.

Later.

The date...

2005-01-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

My date with that girl (her name's Morgan, BTW) went well last night. I met her up at the movies because she had to take some stuff back to the mall. We decided to see "Christmas with the Kranks". The benefits of going to the movies on a Thursday night are great, I should add, because Morgan and I ended up being the only two people there watching that particular movie! We had the whole movie to ourselves.

We had plenty of time to talk and whatnot before the movie. She told me she's had a couple of bad experiences with boys in the past, which is why she doesn't date at all these days...so that technically meant that the date last night wasn't really a "date" but just going out as friends. She DID say she was open to date whenever she didn't have to worry about school and homework, like during spring break and summer. I told her I'd be available for that and she said it was cool. We'll go out again and see another movie whenever our work schedules permit.

She did say she'll have more time for dating whenever school isn't an issue, and she's a very nice girl to talk to, so we'll see what happens as far as the boyfriend/girlfriend thing is concerned, if it comes to that. We'll still have to get to know each other a bit more, more than the two or so months we've known each other. Neither of us want to rush things. I'll respect her wishes of just going out and doing things as friends for now.

Oh yeah, the movie. It was pretty good. It had its funny moments, of course. I don't want to spoil anything, so you'll just have to watch it yourself.

Later.

My future work schedule...and bored yet again...

2005-01-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

I believe I already mentioned that I worked 9am-4:30pm on Friday. After that, here's my schedule for the next two weeks:

1/15: 3pm-10pm
1/16: 7am-3pm
1/17: 1:30pm-10pm
1/18: 11am-8pm
1/19: 1pm-10pm
1/20: OFF
1/21: OFF

1/22: 8am-4pm
1/23: 7am-4pm
1/24: 8am-4pm
1/25: OFF
1/26: OFF
1/27: 7am-3pm (PAYDAY)
1/28: 9am-6pm

Remember I got my date tomorrow with that girl. :)

Later.

NEW TEMPLATE! HOORAY!

2005-01-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

As you can see, there is a new template on this site. A bit more simple and less yucky than green (happy Jeanie?)...

Anyways, I'm off for two days starting tomorrow...and I need it... Besides picking up my check on Thursday, I also have other plans for that day as well. Considering how often I do this, it's pretty extraordinary. And you people will be wondering why I don't get out more after hearing this... Oh yeah, that thing...

I'm going on a date! I have a date with a girl that I work with at Wal-Mart who's also a cashier. We're probably gonna go out and see a movie, we just don't know which one yet.

I'll change the guestbook and message board to reflect this new template as well.

I'll post about the date Friday. Later.

New template to come perhaps? We'll see...

2005-01-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

This post is to let you people know that I may be searching for a new template soon. Version 5.0 of this blog will come soon enough when I find a template that I like. As Jeanie once told me, "Green is icky!" Well I have grown tired of this template...and I am tired myself...***yawns***

I'm off to bed... Later...

Another 4-day stretch of work coming up...

2005-01-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

This is a post for all my fans out there that still read this to show you that I am STILL alive and kicking, though if I keep mentioning that fact, I may end up dead somewhere, and let's hope that never happens...

Tomorrow (or technically today) I work 9am-6pm...
Sunday I'm working 7:30am-3:30pm...
Monday it'll be 8am-4:30pm...
And Tuesday the schedule is 8am-4pm...

I'm off Wednesday AND my payday Thursday! Yippee!

Then it's back to work Friday 9am-4:30pm...

It's so fucking cold outside... This weather is royally screwed up... I heard it was supposed to snow this coming week, then I see on the weather that isn't true...that it's supposed to warm up yet again. Make up your damn mind!

Every paycheck I get in 2005, starting with the one I get on the 13th, I'll try to manage well. Save as much as I can and accumulate. That's the John Hicks Money Saving Plan for 2005, people! Holla at ya boy! [/ghetto speak]

Time to wrap this bad boy up for the night. I'm off to the bed. Later.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2005-01-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year to the two or three people that still read this once-thriving blog...

Man, can you believe it's been FIVE YEARS since that supposed Y2K thing? I never believed all the hype surrounding it. My computer at the time was indeed Y2K compliant and this one is Y2K5 compliant. lol! ...ehhh, never mind... I'll move on...

At Wal-Mart today I was informed that I was upgraded from a temporary worker to a part-timer, which is good. Can't believe it's been a month and a half since I started working there... I really like that job, even though it was deader than a doornail up there early this morning (I worked 8am-4pm). I work 7am-4pm tomorrow and Monday, then I have Tuesday off.

Since it's the occasion, I figured I'd list some of my New Year's resolutions:

| Keep my job at Wal-Mart for the entire year and beyond.
| Manage my money better.
| Keep my cell phone.
| Go to every Trumann Wildcats football game in the 2005 season like I did in 2004.
| Become better friends with Jeanie and hope our busy schedules don't get in the way of a great friendship. ;)
| Possibly find a girlfriend. :)
| Try to get a little more confidence about myself.
| Increase my DVD collection.
| Get some better clothes later on in the year when money permits.
| Hope the Arkansas Razorbacks have a good 2005 football season and don't get killed badly by Southern Cal on September 17, 2005.

That's just all the ones that I felt like putting down.

Oh yeah, the Arkansas Razorbacks are 12-1 on the year in basketball, with our only loss to Illinois. Why the Hogs aren't ranked in the AP Top 25 is beyond me. Give the Hogs some respect, people! Jeanie's school, the Cincinnati Bearcats, are #22 in the AP Top 25 (as of today) and 11-1 on the year with their only loss to...Illinois. Yep, Illinois, the #1 team in the nation is the only team to have beaten Arkansas and Cincinnati so far this year. If the Hogs aren't ranked in the next AP Top 25 poll that comes out either tomorrow or Monday, I'm gonna be super pissed off.

This is my longest post in quite a while... Whew! Anyways, I gotta get up at 5:00 tomorrow so I can get ready and leave the house by 6:00 to get to work before 7:00.

Later.

Warming up soon...

2004-12-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

All the snow and ice should be completely melted by Thursday (when I get my next check) because the high is supposed to be 65 degrees (!) outside then. My next check will be lower than last week's check because of missing those two days due to the weather but the two Sundays that I worked (I get paid $6.80/hr on Sundays) should make up for it. That's the good thing about Wal-Mart: everybody gets paid a dollar more an hour than their normal rates on Sundays. I'll give my mom her 25% of my check, then put $50 on my cell phone and $50 bucks on my Wal-Mart shopping card for gas. I might buy a game with what's left, maybe not. We'll see what happens.

Anyways, later.

SNOWED IN!!

2004-12-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

I called in to work today and told them I wouldn't be able to make it up there today because of the way the roads are today. My hourly supervisor was cool with it, he understood. I told him I'd be up there tomorrow if conditions were better, if not, I'd call in before hand.

I got some pictures of how it looks here with my digital camera. Hi-res pics ahead (1024x768) from 300-400+ KBs each in size! Take a look:

| picture 1 - 392 KB - a picture from my front door...the middle building is where I go to church on occasion...
| picture 2 - 412 KB - some snow on the ground...just to show the accumulation...
| picture 3 - 399 KB - my car, which wasn't covered with much snow...
| picture 4 - 410 KB - a view of one end of the street I live on...
| picture 5 - 371 KB - a view of the opposite end of the street that I live on...
| picture 6 - 460 KB - some of my footprints in the snow...

I may end up not going to work tomorrow either because the roads aren't totally cleared up yet. We'll see how it goes. Later.

Told ya I'd be back...

2004-12-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

Told you people the next time I'd update that I'd show you a picture of my cell phone...

Here's it is - my Kyocera K9... Kickass, huh?

Anyways, before I got off work today at 6 pm, it was the busiest I've ever seen Wal-Mart. I was glad I got out when I did. Today was my 7th day in a row that I worked, and now I get TWO days off! Woo-hoo!

Well, anyways, later.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

2004-12-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Man, it really has been a while since I last updated, huh? That's the downside of me having a job; updates have become few and far between these days. But worry not, dear fans - the blog is not dead...I have updated at last to tell you of what I've been up to lately.

I've been working my ass off lately. Yesterday I got a cell phone: a Kyocera K9. I'll post a picture of it the next time I update.

I'm gonna get ready to head out...I have to be at work at 3:30pm today. Later.

Enjoying my two days off work...

2004-12-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

I'm off today and tomorrow, so I figured I'd get a post in so you people might still come to this blog.

And Jeanie, I posted now. Happy? :D lol!

My funds from my first check are fading. I only have $30 bucks to last me at the moment, but if I'm lucky tomorrow, I can wash some windows and get an extra $40. I put $10 worth of gas in the car today so I can help take my mom to the doctor tomorrow and for us to shop for some nice clothes for me.

I actually prefer going to work in the afternoons rather than the mornings. Just my thoughts on that. Later this week, there will be some days where I'll go to work in the afternoons and work until late at night. I like it better that way.

Anyways, later. :)

I get paid later today! Yay!

2004-12-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since my last post...but the big news of the moment is that I get paid later today! Woohoo! After I get my check cashed, I have to put 25% of it back to give to my mom to help her out with bills and whatnot. After I get my second paycheck on the 16th, I'm planning on getting my first cell phone.

"WHAT!? Your first cell phone!? You're 22 and you've never had a cell phone before!? Have you been living under a rock lately!?"

That's probably what you're saying to me right now. No, I've never had a cell phone before. The reason being is that my family could never afford one...they had more important things to do with their money than to give their son a cell phone like every parent does to their kids these days. Practically every fucking 14-year-old has a cell phone of their own today. But since I'll soon have the money to afford one, I'll be able to get one and feel good about having one because I know I'll have spent my hard earned money to get one rather than have my parents buy one for me like most parents do for their kids these days... Wow, a 53-word sentence. That's like a personal record for me... Heh...

Here's my work schedule for December 4th through December 10th:

12/4: 10:30pm-7:30pm
12/5: OFF
12/6: OFF
12/7: 11am-8pm
12/8: 2:30pm-11pm
12/9: 12pm-9pm
12/10: 3pm-10pm

And from December 11th to the 17th:

12/11: OFF
12/12: 11am-8pm
12/13: OFF
12/14: 1pm-10pm
12/15: 2pm-11pm
12/16: 1:30pm-10pm
12/17: 3:30pm-10:30pm

UPDATE:

Here's my schedule from December 18th to the 24th (Christmas Eve):

12/18: 12pm-9pm
12/19: 12pm-9pm
12/20: 9am-6pm
12/21: OFF
12/22: OFF
12/23: 10am-6pm
12/24: 8:15am-1:15pm

How about those weird hours for Christmas Eve? That's how it is. Wal-Mart will close at 6 PM SHARP on Christmas Eve and will be closed all of Christmas Day. Man, I'll end up working 7 days in a row from the 14th to the 20th. That schedule wasn't finalized, BTW, but a lady let me look at my hours before they put it up in the back. I'll verify it when I go back to work on Tuesday.

I'm gonna get some rest now and go to bed. Later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! YAY!!

2004-11-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting in 4 days...busy with work...

Of course, today is National John Hicks Day, celebrating the 22nd anniversary of my entry into this world...

For those who still don't get it, today's my birthday... Yay!! W00t! W00t!

Of course you already knew it was my birthday by looking at the title of my post today, but there may be one blog reader who doesn't "get it". lol!

It was some day for me. Work turned out not to be as busy as I thought it would be... For some reason, I like my job out there at Wal-Mart a hell of a lot better than my old job as a cart pusher at Price Chopper. Mainly because it pays $.65 better an hour than Price Chopper did and that I don't have to go outside at all to get any carts. Heh, heh. Cashier work is actually very easy once you get the hang of it. The only thing I'm waiting for now is my first paycheck, but before that, I get two days in a row off on Monday and Tuesday.

I work 10:30am-7:00pm tomorrow. I gotta get some rest now.

Oh, and Jeanie, if you're reading this: sorry for me being so busy...I finally got a chance to be on here because of my birthday. Hope things are going well for you. :) I REALLY miss talking to you. Don't YOU stay too busy now! lol! Talk to ya later, Jeanie. :D

Very quick post...

2004-11-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

I'm making this very quick post to let you know what's up...I've got a long 9-to-6 day tomorrow...it should be easy since I'm still learning how to be a cashier, it'll be hands-on training for the next day or two until I feel that I can do it myself.

Later.

John's Official Stats For Grid Picks #12

2004-11-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the Grid Picks contest is officially over for the year (even though I'll check the paper tomorrow to make sure there isn't a Week 13 on there). I didn't close out the year very well, going 14-of-24 on the year and falling 4 picks shy of 200 correct picks on the year. Out of my 196 correct picks on the year, I nailed the point spread on 11 of those games (about a 6% occurance of nailing a point spread on a correct pick). Here's my stats for the final week of Grid Picks:

Score: 14-of-24 (.583)

Incorrect picks:

Michigan State/Penn State
South Carolina/Clemson
La.-Lafayette/La.-Monroe
Florida State/Florida
Michigan/Ohio State
Missouri/Kansas
Wisconsin/Iowa
New Mexico State/Utah State
Oregon/Oregon State
Washington/Washington State

Point spreads covered:

NONE

Final year-to-date score: 196-of-287 (.683)

Final point spreads covered score: 11-of-196 (.056)

Best weeks: Week 1 (21-of-23), Week 4 (3 point spreads covered), and Weeks 8 and 10 (2 point spreads covered in each)

Worst weeks: Weeks 5, 7, and 12 (14-of-24 in each week)

Oh well, at least I didn't miss 100 picks on the year (only 91), but I missed getting 200 picks, and that pissed me off more... I tried this year, but there's always next year's Grid Picks, and I guarantee that I WILL win sometime next year.

Later.

My first day went well, I guess...

2004-11-20T21:43:00.000-08:00

My first day at work went well...I'd post more about it, but Blogger screwed up when I tried to post while ago...so, I'll just post about it tomorrow...

Later...

I am officially a Wal-Mart employee...

2004-11-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

You can now count me as an official Wal-Mart employee. I got my name tag and everything. I go in at 10:00 am tomorrow and work until 3:00 pm doing some more training and whatnot. Then I'll have Sunday and Monday off, before I go back in Tuesday at 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. That will be my first real test at work. The rest of my schedule for the week will be determined by Phillip, who's in charge of making hours for the Wal-Mart Associates (as I am now called).

I saw a friend of mine up there at orientation that used to go to school with me at Trumann before she moved to Nettleton schools. She's also gonna be a cashier, too. Man, it was surprising to see her up there today, a real treat.

Anyways, later.

Better make a quick post!

2004-11-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

I wish tomorrow would get here... I want to start to work soon...

I got another call back!

2004-11-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

Wal-Mart called me back earlier today at around 4:15 pm and told me to come up there for orientation on Friday at 1:00 pm. I'll be up there quite a while, a few hours at least...maybe longer, depending on how many people come for orientation as well.

This news couldn't come at a better time for me, considering my birthday is in 9 days - on November 26.

I beat Enter The Matrix with Niobe on Easy mode in 3:48. Since I did that, I'd like to use some cheat codes on the game now, just out of curiosity.

Here's a screenshot of my saved games on there after I finished both of those games.

Well, like I said, my orientation is this Friday at 1:00 pm, which is a week before my birthday. I wouldn't be surprised if I worked on my birthday, but oh well...maybe I can tell my co-workers it's my birthday and they might throw a small party! lol!

Anyways, later.