In my May 15th post, I mentioned how I thought all the photos/videos from my first singles cruise were lost when Putfile.com shut down. It turns out I found them on my computer tonight while doing a little digging. I'm currently uploading them into a new folder in my Photobucket account:

http://s427.photobucket.com/albums/pp358/jtr115/January%202006%20First%20Singles%20Cruise/

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

I wound up buying an early Christmas present for myself: a coffee percolator. I haven't had coffee too often for the past two years, mainly because I've been relying on sodas for my caffeine buzz. This past Sunday, one of my co-workers at KRCC gave me a bag containing a packet of Kahlua-flavored coffee grounds and chocolate cookies, along with a card from her and her two dogs. (She usually brings the dogs with her to work.) I've only used instant coffee at home on the rare occasions I was in the mood for it. I picked up the percolator for half-price (about $10.20) at Kmart on Tuesday.

I also received two DVD sets I ordered: The third and fourth seasons of "Saturday Night Live." They were delivered Wednesday night.

I just created a new list on my Twitter account tonight. The "regulars" list consists of those I follow EXCEPT a few of the news sites (I have a separate "news" list for all news-related Twitter sites,) some out-of-city businesses and a couple of mass-bloggers. I did this so I could do a quick run-through of my followers/followees without having to wade through multiple Tweets about the same news story or those who post ten or more blog links within 3 minutes, and without having to click on all the other list categories to get to everyone else.

I'm about ready to go to sleep, so I hope I haven't forgotten anyone for the list. If I did, they should be on at least one of my other lists.

These sheep (along with the dogs and handlers) form still and animated art, with and without the help of LEDs!

I was approached by a homeless man outside the grocery store today. He shook my hand, then pretended like I broke it and asked if I've been lifting weights. I didn't get a hard-luck story or a fake explanation about "needing a few more bucks to get by"; he just asked me for a couple of bucks. I usually don't give any money to the homeless, but this one put on a great act without being pushy.

I just realized today is the second anniversary of my move into my new condo.

This year's KRCC Christmas party was a blast. Like last year's party, it was held at Nosh downtown. Everyone was given paper clips bent into various shapes for "drink tokens":

Only one person brought a kid this year, but he was well-behaved and seated at another table. Also, the conversation at my table (and in the room itself) was enough to drown out anything that might have made me anxious.
As its name implies, "Nosh" mainly serves small foods like finger sandwiches (for parties, at least,) so some of the group decided to go to another downtown bar/restaurant after the party to get some real food. For once, I wasn't at a party thinking "How long 'til it's over?"

I got a call yesterday from a telemarketing firm that was trying to reach my dad. For some reason, certain databases list my parents' names under my phone number. (My parents' number is unlisted so they won't get calls like this.) Since the caller asked for "Lois" instead of "Louis," I knew this obviously wasn't a friend of his. I responded, "I'm sorry. That person isn't at this number." The caller apologized and hung up.

I thought that would be the end, but the company called my number three times while I was at work, not leaving a message. My Call Blocking list was full. I went ahead and cleared the list in order to put this company's number on it. I figure the other numbers on the old list have given up and moved on to other victims.

I attempted to contact the police in Washington DC (the company's location,) but their Web site didn't have any way to file an online complaint. I did file a complaint with the FTC and BBB, however.

Pay for Sunday, December 13: 8 hours (5 AM-1 PM)

(EDIT 10:05) The board operator who comes on after me originally called to say she'd try to make it in at 11 AM, but she called again asking me to cover her entire shift.

The Toastmasters meeting took place at noon at UCCS. There were about a dozen people there, including myself and two guests. The Toastmaster began by giving everyone the Word of the Day: "Gallimaufry" (gal-uh-MAW-free) which means a hodgepodge, jumble or confused medley. Two speakers delivered speeches, then all the members and guests took part in "Table Topics," a one- to two-minute speech about a surprise topic. I was given the topic "New Year's resolutions." I struggled with the topic since I hadn't made any resolutions yet, but I managed to speak for 1:28 and only said "uh" once.

Get ready to Twitter the stars...as we play the star-studded, big-money Twitter Game PM!

• 16:17 #matthewebel performing his last uStream show of 2009 now! Plus a chance to win #freemusic matthewebel.com/ustream #
• 18:45 I was going to attend my first Toastmasters meeting tonight, but either it was canceled due to snow or I couldn't find the right entrance. #
• 21:11 I found another Toastmasters club which meets Friday afternoons at UCCS. I'll call them tomorrow to see if they're meeting this week. #
• 21:15 I'm kind of glad I didn't make tonight's meeting since I just discovered a large rip in the crotch of my pants. #

I'll be blocking e-mails with Hotmail addresses for the next week or so. I was hesitant to block it since at least one of my friends uses it, but I'm being flooded with spam with fake Hotmail addresses. SpamCop hasn't been able to identify the true origin of the messages.

Here's the birthday cookie I got for my dad, along with the card attached to the box:


Dad, Grandma and I each had a piece of the cookie after dinner today!

NOTE TO SELF: 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each month, 6:15-7:15 PM, Security Service Credit Union @ Academy & Constitution.

My therapist recommended that I sign up at a local Toastmasters club to help me overcome my shyness and nervousness about public speaking. The above group's next meeting is December 8th.

I had to fill in this morning at KRCC. The combinations to the front and back door locks were changed and I hadn't been given the new ones, so I had to call the operations manager in order to get inside the building.

I wish I was in a better mood for this. The combination of being stressed/depressed due to unemployment and the general passage of time have made celebrating family birthdays less fun for me. I'm thinking of getting him a cake for Friday's dinner.

EDIT: I've ordered a giant birthday cookie which I'll pick up on Friday before dinner.

I went out to apply in person for two jobs advertised in the paper. Both positions wound up already being filled, but the companies took my resume in case of future openings. I got my hair cut before heading home.

A few seconds before I turned onto my street, a truck from one of the maintenance companies turned and pulled right into my parking space. I don't know if these people are told about the parking spaces ahead of time, but each space has a fairly-obvious sign stating the address for which the space is reserved. The maintenance man moved his truck after I told him he parked in my space.

The singles cruise group has posted the itinerary for its Halloween 2010 cruise. I wish the company would pick a location other than the Western Caribbean for this cruise since Halloween is at the tail end of hurricane season in the area. Every Halloween cruise in the Cayman Islands/Mexico/Belize area is at least partially spoiled by rain and sometimes canceled port stops (especially Costa Maya.) It would be better to have an Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruise (which were scheduled in 2007 and 2009,) or even the Pacific coast of Mexico (which was an option in 2005.)

The big question now is whether I'll find employment and be able to afford it.

The condo maintenance crew was tearing out the concrete from the drainage ditch near my building for the past few hours. I'm glad they've stopped for the moment since the anxiety I had earlier didn't mix well with the sound of jackhammers. Now the jackhammer sound has been replaced by nonstop barking dogs.

I had Thanksgiving dinner last night at my brother's house. In addition to the usual turkey, mashed potatoes and yams, my brother made a corn bread stuffing with andouille sausage.

Even though I haven't found a new weekday job yet, today really does feel like a day off.

I can't wait to hang this up! I also can't wait until I have a similar-looking fursuit (and a full-time job to pay for it!) The calendar can act as a sort of motivational device for that.

Also, a very happy birthday to diegowolffox !

I heard a very brief mention of fursuits this morning on NPR's "Bob Edwards Weekend." Author Margaret Atwood was plugging her book when I heard her say the word "fursuiters." She was talking about them in an advertising sense, though, as people who "wear animal costumes and walk around with placards" (similar to the Chick-Fil-A cow and her "Eat Mor Chikin" sign.) The website for the show is here http://www.bobedwards.info/ftopic955.html&sid=102d75b25eadf7087f1f95760f2ba229 and Atwood's interview is in the second segment. (I don't know if there's a way to fast-forward to Atwood's part.)

I only got about four hours of sleep last night, yet it actually felt like I got more. That's probably because I managed to avoid caffeine for the last few hours of my shift.

Today at KRCC, the engineer did some electrical work during my shift. He wanted to see if he could install a couple of external lights on one side of the building. Twice during his work, the engineer accidentally cut power to the studio equipment. I thought the station had gone off the air, but the recorded program was still playing once the power came back on. Also, no one called the station to report any silence, so the outage only affected the control board.