Janicek.com

Elise just found out that one of her bestfriends from home is a Mom as of 9:15AM this morning.
Welcome to the world,
Liam Brandon
7lbs, 7oz
21 inches long.
Congratulations Lindsey!

I went back to Warehouse Music yesterday during my lunch break and picked up my copy of St. Anger. The clerk seemed like a cool kid, what with his spiked hair, leather and studded jewelry. I asked how the new CD sounded. He said he liked it a lot and was going to buy it himself. I went on to explain to him that I’ll give my money to Metallica only because I’m a fan (despite Load and ReLoad). I then told him that I usually just use Kazaa. Oops. All the sudden the lighthearted friendliness fizzled from our conversation. I left. I guess some diehard record store employees aren’t keen on peer-to-peer file sharing clients. I didn’t care. I came home for lunch and watched the first half of the enclosed DVD.

In other news: Austin was rated the best city for singles in 2003 because of “its terrific job market, its low cost of living…” Who the hell comes up with this stuff? Seriously.

Bossman took us diligent workers out to the Old Alligator Grill last night to celebrate a very successful May. I had a hankerin’ for oysters so I downed a dozen. We all split a couple sampler platters and talked shop over a few margaritas. I was pretty upset that they removed all of the photos from Office Space and replaced that wall with a mirror. A mirror. I love Office Space and it’s cool to sit in a restaurant where part of that movie was filmed. I can’t relate to said movie very much any more. It had a lot more depressing significance when I worked at that other place. Very corporate. Very blech.

Speaking of that other place… right before I found my current job, I was involuntarily moved downstairs to work in the Information Systems department. This meant having a new boss. A fire was lit under my butt to find new work when this “change” was dropped in my lap. Anyway, to spare you the details, that new boss of mine was fired last night. My original manager in the Marketing department was given the choice to leave or take a huge pay and title cut a couple months ago. She chose the door. And just last week the Chief Strategy Officer was given the boot. Man do I ever miss that place. I love the job I have now.

I just got back from my weekly outing with Harold. He and I went and played disc golf. I lost. We weren’t even keeping score and I lost. I knew how this round was going to turn out after I lost one of my discs on my first tee off. We still had fun though.

After golf we went to Sonic. Christina (Harold’s mom) gave Harold some money with which to buy dinner. I wasn’t hungry so I sat across from Harold and watched this not-even-one-hundred-pound boy inhale a double meat cheeseburger and a large order of tater tots. Before he began this strategic carnivorous attack, I asked him if he could eat that whole meal. He told me that he eats like that all the time. He went on to tell me that he doesn’t get fat because he stays active. With a sigh I responded “Oh to have the metabolism of a thirteen year old.”

Harold: “What’s that?”
Josh: “Metabolism is a bodily function that occurs during digestion and converts food into energy.”
H: “Sessassolism”
J: “Metabolism”
H: “Tsusabalism”
J: “Metabolism”
H: “Mesabitism”
J: “Meh-tab-bull-ism
H: “Metublibiblstmism… so what’s your favorite kind of soda?”
J: “I don’t know, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper. I really haven’t thought about it.”
H: “Do you like root beer?”
J: “Oh yeah! I like root beer a lot. Come to think about it, I really like cream soda, Orange Crush, Grape Crush”
H: “Have you ever mixed up a bunch of sodas together and drank it?”
J: “Yeah, that’s a suicide”
H: “A what?”
J: “A suicide. That’s what you call it when you mix all of the sodas together from the fountain. You know, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, that red stuff. Everything except the diet stuff. What do you call it?”
H: “Mixing a bunch of sodas together.”

Typical pause in male conversation

Josh: “Do you want to run over to the record store with me real quick?”
Harold: “The where?”
J: “The record store”
H: “What’s a record store?”

Josh’s internal monologue: Oh my gawd. I’ve come to a point in my life where I’m realizing that I’m getting older. The signs are all here. Hair is either falling out or just deciding that it looks much nicer growing from out of my ears. The forehead is getting wrinkly. I look forward to seeing the optometrist once a year. Body mass moving south. And now I’m going to have to explain why “CD stores” were once called record stores.

We went to the record store (I’m sticking to it). Rumor had it that St. Anger was to be released at 5:30 p.m. Warehouse Music knew nothing of it. It was funny to be in a record store again. I honestly don’t remember that last time I set foot in one.

We left the record store and went across the street to get Elise’s prescription filled (she’s ill). Harold and I sampled some Burt’s Bees hand lotion and smelled like little old ladies all the way home.

I took Harold back to his house and am now home. Next Wednesday we’re going to Town Lake and renting a canoe. Is it considered renting if you don’t have to pay? One of the cool things about being a Big Brother is that you’re inundated with lists of stuff to do from the BBBS office and we get to do a lot of things for free. Like renting boats. The week after that we’re going to go play laser tag.

I have to go tend to my sickly wife now. She has a horrible strain of SARS (Sick And Really Sleepy).

I’ve been suffering from physical activity withdrawal. Since my bicycle wreck I’ve been riding the motorcycle to work. Now I’m restless and fidgety. I bent my handlebar. That’s why I haven’t been riding to work. I removed the grips and the grip shifters and decided that I need new shifters. My old ones don’t work correctly. I went to Cothron’s bicycle shop and ordered a new set of integrated switch shifters and brake levers as well as a new handlebar. The shifters/brake levers won’t be in until next week. I left the handlebar up there thinking I’ll just pick it up when I go back to pick up the shifters. Now I’m thinking I’ll go back over there today and pick up the handlebar. I’ll have to mount that first anyway. And besides, I can still ride my bike with the old shifters.

Elise and I hit the Republic of Texas Biker Rally on Friday night. Well, we didn’t actually go to the rally, we caught the tail end of the entrance parade in downtown Austin. Every year that we’ve gone, I keep telling myself: “We should ride the trusty Shadow up here”. We finally rode the trusty Shadow this time. I’ve always been intimidated by the big, loud custom bikes. This time I didn’t care. Elise helped in reminding me that at least we have a bike. It didn’t take long before we reminded ourselves that we’re getting a Harley. Someday.

We walked around until we were sweaty, cranky and our feet started hurting. We stopped in one bar for a drink and then decided to leave. John called and invited us over to Threadgill’s to see Dub Miller’s band. I had completely forgotten that John and Dub had a lustful past. Lanessa and Kirk came out and joined us later in the evening.

We went over to John & Christine’s and watched a slideshow from their recent trip to St. Martin. After that, Elise and I rode home and went to bed.

We woke up early on Saturday. Elise returned some stuff at Target and did a little shopping at the Red Apple sale. I rode the trusty Shadow into town just to see what was going on. Nothing was really going on so headed home. Elise and I arrived at the apartment around the same time. Elise and I then went to the Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus to see the original mask and script from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Shhh… you’re not supposed to take photos. We also saw Sandy Skoglund’s Radioactive Cats. Very cool.

We drove over to Cody’s and hung out at his apartment for a couple hours. I called Victor and he told me that his cousin, her husband and their Harley-Davidson riding crew from San Antonio were on their way over to his place. Cody, Elise and yours truly hopped in the Jeep and went over to Victors. After talking with everyone for a while, the bikers headed off to downtown to join the festivities. The remaining four of us went out for Chinese food.

Elise, Cody and I dropped Victor off and headed back to our apartment. Victor came over later in the evening. We sat on the patio and decided to go downtown to be amongst the bikes again. We hung out at Cheers most of the night and dodged the wrath of fire breathing bartenders. We went outside close to last call and checked out some of the custom bikes that were adorning Sixth Street.

We came home in the wee hours of the morning. Elise and I went to bed and were couch potatoes all day Sunday. Although we did watch reruns of the Great Biker Build-Off and Motorcycle Mania 2 on the Discovery Channel. And then, if that weren’t enough, we watched Easy Rider on DVD.

I lost my best friend yesterday.

My Dad had to put Max out of his misery yesterday morning. My Mom e-mailed me in the morning to inform me. I was in complete shock. My shoulders immediately hunkered down, my face dropped, I frowned and slumped all day. I’m still blue today.

Max was the biggest teddy bear of a dog. He was a huge Rottweiler who would lay at your feet and beg for a petting. We got Max when I was 17 years old. Mom and I were driving around in Katy and we spotted Rottweilers for sale in a store parking lot. Puppies sell themselves.

Our vet instructed us to take Max to obedience classes. She said the Rottweilers can become very mean dogs and attack humans if not trained and disciplined. Max didn’t have one mean bone in his body. He could easily scare someone, but the worst he would do is drench you with slobber.

I took Max to obedience classes in Katy on Tuesdays and Thursdays after Tae Kwon Do practice. I drove a Mitsubishi Eclipse at the time. It’s really funny to see a huge Rottweiler sitting in the front seat of a import. Nine out of ten times, Max would get a little upset in the car and vomit. It’s even more funny to see a guy in a Tae Kwon Do uniform shoveling Rottweiler vomit from an import on the side of the road.

Max learned to sit, lay down and stay. He eventually forgot the meanings of the commands. If you told him to sit, he’d just lay down on top of your feet and make you want to pet and hug him.

Unfortunately, I barely had a year with Max. I moved to Austin to go to college in August of 1994 and couldn’t really bring a huge dog to live with me in the dorm. Although Max would have been a far better roommate than the one I had. I always made it a point to spend time with Max and Lady every time I went home to see Mom and Dad. I wish I had spent more time with them.

Max was beginning to deteriorate. The inevitable began to sneak up quickly. The vet told us that most Rottweilers don’t make it past 10 years old. Max’s body was being attacked by cancerous tumors to the point where he was miserable and began collapsing. I don’t want to think or write about that though. I want to remember Max as the big, goofy teddy bear of a dog.

I really am going to miss him. I haven’t cried this much in a long time. It’s the worst feeling in the world, losing a friend.

I’ll miss you,Max. I love you.

Yesterday was an up and down day. First the down. As I was leaving work on my bicycle, I was trying to change songs on the MP3 player. My back wheel went off of the pavement and sent me end over end. It was ugly. I wish I could have been a bystander because I know that it was a hellacious wipe out. I think I flipped twice with the bike. Luckily I landed in grass. Had I landed on concrete, I’m sure I would have broken something, knocked some teeth out or cut myself deep enough to warrant stitches. Luckily I came away relatively unscathed. My bicycle didn’t fare as well. I bent the handlebar. I’m planning on staring at my bike for quite a while tonight – convincing myself that I can fix it. Either that or stare at it long enough to convince it to fix itself. Some Jedi mind stuff. I don’t know, I’m new at this.

And then the up. I met with my Little for the first time yesterday evening. He seems like a great kid. His name is Harold and he turned 13 in February. I arrived at his and his Mom’s house at 7:15 p.m. We talked with the case manager for half an hour or so about rules and roles. Harold and I took the Jeep over to St. Ed’s and talked about all kinds of things. We decided that we’re going to meet on Wednesdays when I get off of work.

Elise and I had a nice, long, relaxing weekend. On Friday, Elise and I met each other back at the apartment, installed the bike rack and loaded up our mountain bikes. We rode around Town Lake for an hour or so. Town Lake is where you go when you really want to make yourself feel bad. You can tell by looking at most other people that they didn’t need one extra scoop of ice cream last night. Their bodies move in one solid motion versus a series of mid-section reverberations. Either way, Elise and I had fun.

We were going to go out that night but the bike ride kind of took it out of us. We wound up staying in and watching a few episodes from the second season of the Sopranos.

I woke up early on Saturday and washed the Jeep and the trusty Shadow. Elise and I rode the motorcycle to Canyon Lake and had lunch at the Blue Moon Cafe. I had a really good rosemary mustard char-grilled chicken sandwich. Elise had the grilled chicken quesadillas. After lunch we rode around to see the lake and all of the people floating the Guadalupe River. It was around this point that we realized I needed to get somewhere to get my arms out of the sun.

We rode home, stopping somewhere in Kyle to have a root beer. After getting home around 3 p.m., we both took a nap to recoup. We woke up and went to the mall to pick out a pair of glasses for Elise. After coming home and sharing a sandwich for dinner, we got all prettied up and headed downtown. We first went to the Lucky Lounge. Phtphthphpthpbbth. We stayed there just long enough to drink our cocktails and then high tailed it out of there. We went to Cedar Street next to listen to a band that sounded a lot like Dysfunction Junction, but I was never able to determine. We found a cozy spot at the crowded bar where I indulged in a fat cigar and double Glen Livet on the rocks, Elise had some fruity martinis.

After hours of just her and I talking, we came home and hit the hay. I woke up around 9:00 on Sunday and soaked up some morning air on the patio. Janeen called me around 10:00 to tell me that she and Alfonso were coming into town. Elise and I tidied up the apartment and Janeen and Alfonso showed up around 3:00. We sat on the patio and talked for a little while, then headed to Kirk and Lanessa’s out near Lakeway.

We hung out at and Kirk and Lanessa’s for a few hours. Lanessa’s dad and stepmom were there along with Catherine (Lanessa’s stepsister), B.J., Jason (Janeen’s cousin) and Tonya Minar (Britain). We went to Johnny Fin’s for dinner and drinks around 7:00. My food was pretty blah. I had the crawfish etoufee. Alfonso and I watched the Mavericks lose. Again.

After the basketball game, we migrated downstairs and watched a bikini contest. Uh… don’t really know what to say about a bikini contest. There were girls in bikinis.

We all went back to Kirk and Lanessa’s and stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, shooting the breeze on the back porch. Elise and I came home, I fell onto the bed and didn’t wake up until late Monday. It was nice to wake up on a Monday and not have to go to work.

We went to Target and I bought a couple t-shirts and some new flip flops. We went to the grocery store and bought some shrimp and vegetables with which to make shish kabobs. Elise and I ate dinner and watched the rest of the second season of the Sopranos.

All in all, a very nice and relaxing weekend.

In financial news…

I bought a printer on eBay because our HP 895CXi became possessed and started screaming at me. After two unsuccessfuly exorcisms, I’ve decided to get a new one. I bought a HP 5550. It should be here tomorrow.

I also bought a new saddle for the trusty Shadow. My custom seat job has started to come loose so I decided to replace it. I searched online and couldn’t find a new seat for less than $300. I called the Honda dealer and the stock seats would cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $350.

I bought the stock seats on eBay for $68.

Elise and I went house shopping for the first time tonight. Of course the first house we decide we like would run us an easy $399,900. And said house was a whopping 2,500 square feet.

I wanted to come home and watch basketball. Elise went back out and found some really nice houses that we could actually afford.

This is a subliminal message. You are not actually reading this. My wife is looking for a career in photography. The job market stinks for everyone, especially photographers. Help Elise find a job so we can buy a house.

In other news… I meet with my Little for the first time tomorrow. I’m excited.

Elise and I went to see The Matrix Reloaded last night. All I can say is Pythagorean theorem. I somehow made that choice before I decided to see the movie, and actually went to find out why I had made that choice. Or something like that. Make sure you listen for the word “aporogy” during the confrontation before Neo meets with the Oracle.

I heard back from BBBS on Wednesday. I meet with my Little for the first time next Wednesday. I’m supposed to meet him and his mother at their house, then my Little and I are supposed to go out on our first outing to get acquainted and to establish a schedule for when we are to meet. I’m looking forward to it!

We’re really looking forward to this weekend. We haven’t been home in almost a month. I want to pack in as much fun stuff as I can this Memorial Day weekend.

Oh yeah, congratulations to Bill & Andrea Karotkin on the birth of their first daughter, Amanda!

I’m pretty mad at myself. I keep thinking: “If I could just go back in time – just 30 minutes ago”.

I just signed myself up for tons of free, unsolicited e-mail. A friend of mine just sent me a link for FREE movie tickets. I blindly clicked on the link that she provided and my face went flush. A split second after I clicked, I realized what I had just done. I felt like I had just intentionally dove naked into the biohazard barrel at the county clinic.

I was pretty proud of the fact that I don’t regularly receive spam. That’s been the case for approximately two years now. Oh well. I guess I can join the rest of the world now.

The weekend started out with Elise and I trying to get on the road and up to Dallas before it got too late on Friday evening. I got home from work and loaded what was already packed into the Jeep. Elise finished packing up until 6:30, which is when we finally left.

Having thought that my feet would never touch ground in that city again, we stopped in bustling Temple for dinner. We stopped at Wendy’s because my parents boast about how great their salads are. Elise and I both tried the Mandarin Chicken salad. After waiting almost 10 minutes for our salads, pouring half a cup of light green water out of each, and honestly trying to stomach our “garden sensations”, I got back into line to order us a couple hamburgers while Elise threw away two nearly-full salads.

We got back on the road and arrived at Jenn’s in DeSoto around 10:30 p.m. We stayed up talking on the front porch until around 3 a.m. Elise woke up around six and let me sleep until seven. We ate breakfast and headed to Verden, Oklahoma. We stopped along the way in the booming town of Ryan, OK for a break. It was in Ryan where Elise and I both suffered extensive cartilage damage from returning hand waves.

We made it to Verden just in time for cousin Lisa’s wedding. All but four Boeckman’s (Elise’s father’s family) were sitting on the bride’s side of the church. That’s a lot of people. The Boeckman’s that were present could easily take over the town of Verden and then call it Boeckmanstonfieldville. Or something like that. The ceremony was short and to the point. The reception was at the church. A few of us stayed a couple hours afterwards and helped clean the church after everyone had left. That reminded me of when I worked banquets at the country club. It was nice to know that after this particular wedding, I wouldn’t be working 16 more hours.

After loading up all that we could in the remaining cars that were in the parking lot, we drove over to aunt Barbara’s (cousin Lisa’s mom) to unload. Barbara and I were both wearing flip-flops (sandals, chunklas whichever you prefer). She found a large ant bed on her driveway, right next to where she’d parked. As I came out of the house to come get another load, Barbara said: “Josh, be careful over there… there are a lot of ants on the driveway… don’t step in the ants, Josh!”

I walk towards Barbara’s car. As I walk, I’m singing and bobbing my head to the tune of: “Don’t step in the ants, Josh. There’s ants over by Barbara’s car. Don’t step in the ants, Josh.” I walked over by Barbara’s car, stood there, not having looked down, still singing: “Don’t step in the ants, Josh. “Don’t step in the ants, Josh.” and got bit by the ants. They were all over the place.

I got some bleach from Barbara and fixed myself up. Bleach takes the sting out of ant bites if applied soon enough. After leaving Barbara’s, we drove to Grandma B.’s in Okeene, OK. I rode with Steve in the van and Elise and Joanne rode in the Jeep. Steve and I talked my job and motorcycles.

We made it to Grandma’s at around 8:30 p.m. or so. They saved us a few hamburgers so us stragglers had a late dinner. After dinner we looked at photos of uncle Nob’s new garage. Steve, uncle Richard, uncle Ben, uncle Nob and Eric built a 2.5 car garage in 2.5 days.

Elise and I woke up early on Sunday, had breakfast at Grandma’s and said bye to everyone. We hit the road at approximately 10 a.m.

A trip that would have normally taken 8 hours took 12 hours. Elise and I stopped for lunch at the Two Frogs Grill in Ardmore, OK. Elise had the fried shrimp. I had the short order of baby back ribs. Good food at a really good price.

Elise dozed until we reached south of Dallas. That’s where we stopped. This is what the write up from the Dallas Morning News read this morning:

Three die in fiery I-35 collision
Fatal crash closes highway near Dallas-Ellis border

05/19/2003

By JAIME JORDAN and CONNIE PILOTO / The Dallas Morning News

Three people died and a toddler was sent to the hospital Sunday after a fiery wreck involving a tractor-trailer and car on Interstate 35 about 20 miles south of Dallas, near the Ellis County border.

Authorities shut down both north- and southbound lanes of I-35 for nearly eight hours, backing up traffic at one point for up to nine miles to the north.

Police said a Toyota Camry with four people inside collided with another car as traffic was merging onto the highway from the Ovilla Road entry about 2 p.m. The Camry crossed into the median and into the path of an oncoming semi, which slammed into the driver’s side, killing everyone but a 2-year-old boy in a car seat in the rear.

Ellis County DPS Sgt. Larry Adams said officials had not been able to identify the victims but had found insurance documents in the wreckage. Dallas Police were asked to check the address.
“If things match we’ll take them to the hospital to see if they [neighbors] recognize the baby,” he said. “All the identifications were incinerated.”

Police said two adults and one person thought to be either an adult or teenager died on impact. Shortly after impact, the car burst into flames. Sgt. Adams said the vehicle was carrying a family.

Rick Sherrin, a truck driver from Lamar, Mo., said he was headed south on I-35 behind the tractor-trailer on his way to Laredo. He stopped his rig in the middle of the highway and ran to the accident site with his fire extinguisher as others rushed to rescue the toddler.

“I was trying to put the fire out so the other people could get the baby,” he said. “The fire was spreading on the grass where they were working.”

The truck involved in the accident was carrying herbicide and had tried to stop before the collision, officials said.

The blaze charred both vehicles, but the driver of the truck and the driver of the second car involved in the original collision were not seriously injured.

Luckily Elise and I were near Jenni’s house. After sitting in 100 + degree traffic for over an hour, we exited and drove to Jenni’s. She told us that there was a report on the news that the accident and gave us an alternate route. We would have never made it home last night had we not made the detour. After leaving Jenni’s and finding I-35 again, we saw over 4 miles of traffic backed up on the northbound side of the highway.

Anyway. We got home a little shy of 10 p.m. I took a shower and went to bed.

It was a very long weekend. I’m really looking forward to some R&R this weekend.