AOL SUCKS IT BIG TIME!

for the record, I have my journal on AOL, that is the only reason that I stay with AOL, AOL is the most incompetent internet service that you can chose, AOL sucks, no one else should pay for AOL, if you can, cancel your subscription, I don't wish AOL to fail, because then I'd lose my journal, but I do hope that the upper management of AOL gets a rash, a really bad rash, that spreads to their face and that itches all the time so they cannot sleep and is contageous so that no one will want to be near them, then I hope worse things happen to them, they suck, their company sucks, I don't know how they live with themselves...

 

 

I'm back from Florida...

First I attended my National Store Manager's Meeting in Orlando, then my gf arrived and we spent a day and a half in Orlando, and finally we spent 4 nights at my Grandmother's house on Estero Island...

 

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dave, and Tweedle Dum

 

David and Tif at SeaWorld (it was a blast)

 

Thought about taking up fishing...

 

I really had fun on my Vacation, the best part was showing my gf around SW Florida.  Thank you Tif for making my Vacation memorable!

It's that time of the year again!

OK, it's that time of the year again.  I leave for my National Meeting this Sunday.  Tom Brokaw is our main speaker.  I'll return with new ideas for my store and lots of free books and cd's.  I'm staying in Ft. Myers for a bit of a vacation afterwards with me girl.  I miss her she has been on vacation with her folks.  I get to spend another one of my Birthday's at a Meeting.  It happens more often than not because Sept is Hurricane season and those are the cheap Hotel rates in Florida.  ::shrugs::  My lot in life.  I'm watching "Kinky Boots", it's a great movie, everyone should watch it.  I'm sick.  I'm complaining.  I should go to bed.

 

 

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~squirting sore throat medicine into my mouth!

 

 

 

Good News, Bad News...

GOOD NEWS!

 

David<~~future Uncle!

(I'd like to introduce my Nephew...SPECK!)

 

 

BAD NEWS!

 

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~missing my sweetie

 

 

 

 

I lied

(the sound of cicadas makes me happy, it reminds me of Summers at Pap-pa's house)

OK, last one for tonight...

my hair is too long time for a flat top...

I guess I'm not done making new friends...

OK

Generally speaking, I don't like smokers.  I don't trush people that are dependent on something dangerous to feel normal.  I question their judgement.  I also don't like litterbugs, and as I have previousily stated...

All smokers are litterbugs!

I'm not trying to debate, I'm just stating a fact.  Any smoker that says they have never tossed a cigarette butt onto the ground is a liar.  ::shrugs::  Dirty habit.  Can you tell I pick up cigarette butts off of the sidewalk in front of my store?  Smokers also sit their lit cancer sticks on ledges and burn little reminders of their addiction into stone.  Smoking is gross. 

OK

I am done making general statements about other people.  And know what?  I don't need permission to tell the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 (it's tiring being morally superior, I need an Asst to help me carry

                                                      the burden.  Anyone want to work while I'm on vacation?)

 

 

 

A day in the life...

My girlfriend leaves this Friday to go on vacation with her family.  David<~~sad.  My work is going very well.  I am leading my District in Comp Sales (current sales vs last year's sales).  I am in second place in Plan Sales (the amount of sales the Company wants you to make).  I believe I am now tied for second place in Secret Shops year to date.  My store looks great.  On the way home from work tonight I stopped at a gas station and bought a microwave burger.  Driving home I accidently squirted some onion relish out of the burger onto my shirt.  I pulled the spill up to my mouth and licked it right off.  My shirt now smells like onions.  I like the way it smells.  When my Grandfather was dying, his eardrum got perferated during an operation.  So he couldn't hear so good out of one ear.  When my relationship with Mary was falling apart, I called Pap-pa and tried to tell him about it.  I was very upset and had a hard time telling him.  He couldn't hear me over the phone and eventually I gave up because it was too hard to tell him.  A couple of months later when he heard it from relatives he turned to me and started crying and said to me.  "You tried to tell me."  He felt so bad, like it was his fault.  It makes me cry even now thinking about how much I miss Pap-pa.  I have popcorn kernels stuck in my teeth.  I bought Kettle Corn at the Air Show on Labor Day.  I was hoping to run into my buddy Pablo there.  I do not have his new phone number so I cannot call him.  I need to call his brother here in town and get his new number.  I don't have many friends, I keep people at arm's length.  No one can hurt you if you don't let them get close.  I am a rock.  I am an Island.  Polite applause.  Fade to black...

 

 

i'm hungry

AOL just ate a poem I was working on

AOL SUCKS!

I had a good weekend!

 

HOWDY FAITHFUL READERS, 

This weekend was a lot of fun.  On Saturday I took my girlfriend to MIZZOU to show her my old stomping grounds.  I don't think I could have picked a hotter day of the year to goose march her around Downtown Columbia Missouri.  On Sunday I attended a local Reptile Show and picked up a baby Solomon Island Eyelash Frog.  I named him "Santa".  His relative is pictured here. 

 

Santa is a pale translucent white, you can see some of his internal organs thru his skin.  I have him in a temporary plastic Vivarium untill I can fatten him up some, then he is going in with Mr. and Mrs. Walenda.  I decided to do an "Asian" Vivarium (Malaysia and the Solomon Islands).  The other Vivarium (to be purchased at a latter date), will be my "Madagascar" Vivarium.  My frog family continues to grow...

 

 

                                                       DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Herper

 

 

 

 

Mustard is a greedy little piggie...

My little Tomato Frog 'Mustard' is eating pinkie mice already.  The other day I dropped one in front of his little coconut hut and he struck at it so fast it scared me and I yelped.  Today I put two in front of him and he ate them both.  He used his front legs to stuff the last pinkie down his throat.  Two pinkies are almost too big for his stomach.  The good thing about frogs is that they will eat ANYTHING they can fit into their mouths.  He is growing so fast.  I saw two other Tomato Frogs from the same spawning as Mustard, and he is three times their size!  This Sunday I am attending a Herp Show and plan to pick up two Solomon Island Leaf Frogs.  My family is growing...

 

 

David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Proud Frog Pappa

 

 

 

 

 

I found a website that sells cypress knees and another one that that makes custom vivariums that double as coffee tables.

 

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

 

 

 

I found an alternative

I ordered an Asian Leaf Frog from California that arrived dead.  It bothered me.  I really enjoy the quirkiness and challenge of owning Herps but I take the responsibility seriousily.  I do not know what killed my Leaf Frog.  The only thing I can control is whether or not I have them shipped to me.  Soooo...  I'm not ordering the Malaysian Leaf Frog from Houston that I found on the internet the other night...

 

               BUT!

 

I found a local breeder that has tadpoles of the Solomon Island Leaf Frog, very interesting YELLOW animals.  So I'm going to rethink my 'Malyasian' Vivarium to an 'Asian' Vivarium, and I'll probably switch my 'Madagascar' Vivarium to an 'African' Vivarium to boot...  At this very moment I'm watching "Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory", Gene Wilder is about to sing as they enter 'The Chocolate Room".  It's my favorite part, I like it, it reminds me of how I live my life...

 

 

                          "What is this Wonka, some kind of Funhouse?"  "Why, are you having fun?"

 

 

                                                    David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a big kid at heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My second day off in a row!

I'm sitting here in an undershirt and my Koi boxer shorts on my leather sofa watching "Message in a Bottle".  On my right is my Tomato Frog "Mustard" and my Albino Chocoan Horned Frog "Mr. Grinch".  On my left are "Mr. and Mrs. Walenda" my two Flying Geckos in my Eco Terra Vivarium.  I have been putting my things where they go and my Apartment is looking much better.  Last night I found a website that sells Asian Horned Frogs and Tomato Frogs.  I have been working on my Imperial Guard Army List (the one based on the Royal Regiment of Wales) on my laptop all morning long, and I have a glass of McAlister's Sweet Tea to sip, it's a good day...

 

 

                                                                        David<~~~happy!

 

 

 

David<~~just found an importer of Asian Leaf Frogs!

I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up!  I just found a site on-line that sells Asian Leaf Frogs, I am fired up! 

 

                                      David<~~~~~little bit excited (can you tell?)

 

 

(if you pull on the right margin of the box this journal entry sits in the red letter will line up vertically, David<~~nerd)

 

 

Common sense is not all that common

SEATBELTS!

 

I wear them every time I ride in a car...

 

(I was in a roll-over car crash)

 

THIS IS WHAT BUGS ME ABOUT PEOPLE THAT DON'T WEAR THEIR SEATBELTS

 

"I once heard about a guy that attended college with a man that got a speeding ticket from a Cop who read about a girl who had a pizza delivered from this teenager that knew this kid who had a friend in grade school whose older sister worked with a lady whose boss had an artificial leg that was made by this doctor (so he should know) whose Grandfather had a dream about somebody that might have died in a car wreck if they had been wearing a seatbelt, so of course I don't wear seatbelts because they are unsafe"

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts. 

There is the truth and there are lies. 

Black and White. 

No debate.

 

 

Seatbelts save lives

 

People that do not wear their seatbelts are risking their lives.

 

(OH, while I am making absolute statements)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      ALL SMOKERS ARE LITTERBUGS...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 David<~~~~~~~~~~making new friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love St. Louis...

ST. LOUIS TRIVIA!

We consume more barbecue sauce per capita than any other city in the United States here in St. Louis...

The first Lung Cancer operation and the first Lung Transplant were performed in St. Louis...

7-UP was invented in St. Louis...

The Ice Cream Cone and Iced Tea was invented in St. Louis...

The largest collection of mosiac art in the world graces the walls and ceilings at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis...

T. S. Eliot, Maya Angelou, William Gass, Tennessee Williams, and Eugene Field are all from St. Louis...

James Buchanan Eads built the first bridge using steel truss construction here in St. Louis...

St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Zoo, Cahokia Mounds, Museum of Westward Expansion, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, Grant's Farm; all major attractions and all free here in St. Louis...

Susan Blow founded the first Kindergarten here in St. Louis...

Peanut Butter was invented by George Carver here in St. Louis...

Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Miles Davis, Albert King, David Sanborn, and Michael McDonald are all from St. Louis...

The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space capsules were built here in St. Louis...

The World's first skyscraper, the Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building, was built in 1897 here in St. Louis...

The Nation's first Interstate Highway was constructed here in St. Louis...

John Goodman, Kevin Kline, Scott Bakula, Josephine Baker, Betty Grable, Vincent Price, Buddy Ebsen, Redd Foxx, Shelly Winters, Virgina Mayo, and Marsha Mason are all from St. Louis...

The Nation's tallest man-made monument, The Gateway Arch, is here in St. Louis...

The bread slicer was invented here in St. Louis...

 

And the best part about St. Louis?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       David<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lives in St. Louis!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                           i'm sleepy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This here's the story 'bout a man named...

Yesterday was a good day.  I have been off work for the past four days and it's been a nice break for me.  Yesterday I woke up early because I wanted to see the lights on my new Vivarium change over from the night time system to the day time system.  I acquired two flying geckos (a male AND a female) I haven't named them yet, I'm thinking about Mr. and Mrs Walenda.  Anyway that's how my day started with the successful transition of my lighting system.  I spent the rest of the morning opening boxes from my move and putting books into piles...Fiction, Bio, Wild West, Supernatural, Graphic Novels, UK, WWII, History, Herps, etc...made a huge mess on my living room floor.  Tiffany picked me up and we went to Johnnie Brocks to look at Harry Potter costumes for my upcoming HP7 Party at work.  Then we drove downtown for the rest of the day.  We planned to park at the Jefferson Memorial Parking Garage as a base for our day's events.  As we pulled up to the automatic ticket dispensing machine at the entrance to the parking garage a Japanese tourist jumped in front of Tiffany and stole our parking ticket.  The gate went up to let us into the Garage but without a ticket we would be charged for the whole day ($10 instead of $6).  Tiff couldn't back up to reset the pressure switch in the floor because of the line of cars behind us.  I was very mad at the Japanese tourist.  So we walked to the Parking Garage exit to explain things to the attendants.  The supervisor gave us a handwritten ticket so that cleared things up.  We left our cooler and padded chairs in the car and hoped the Metro down to Union Station for Dinner.  Union Station is going downhill just like most of the Malls in St. Louis.  There are too many of them and the vacancy rates are 60% and they have a lot of Mom & Pop shops.  We ate at Landry's Seafood and walked the mall.  Tiff bought an eye glass repair kit (she lost her screw), and I bought a mechanical butterfly (I didn't lose my screw).  We rode the Metro back down to the Arch and stood in line to use the restrooms underneath the Arch in the Museum.  I popped into the 'Mercantile Store' to pick up a Phrenology Bust that I had seen but I didn't buy it (after looking at the price I remembered why I didn't buy it during my last visit).  We walked over to the site of the evening's concert to see how many people were already waiting and it was starting to fill up, there was no notices posted about coolers so we walked back to the Parking Garage to get it and our padded seats.  As we arrived back at the concert site they had erected signs stating the rules of the "Celebrate St. Louis" concert series.  Rule #1:  No Coolers.  So Tiff headed down the steps to snag a good seat for us and I hauled the forbidden cooler back to the Parking Garage.  When I got back Tiff had grabbed us some great seats eye level with the stage just a hair off of center (missing the green tent erected to shade the Sound Mixing equipment).  The opening act of the concert was R. Scott Brian (he used to play with Sheryl Crow).  He was pretty good.  I walked around and looked at the concessions area at the concert and every time I passed Tiff I tried to get her attention to wave at her but fate intervened each time.  Emmylou Harris started her concert at 8PM and she was great.  She sang some of her stuff, some of George Strait's stuff, some of the stuff from her 'All The Roadrunning' duets with Mark Knoffler, some of the 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou' stuff, some of Neil Young's stuff, and some Paul Simon's stuff.  It was a great time.  After she finished they had fireworks on the river in front of the Arch.  When we got back to the Parking Garage we discovered that they were letting people just leave without paying so earlier I worried about 4 bucks and I ended up paying nothing at all to park.  We left and headed back to the Apt Complex.  We stopped at Lion's Choice because I had a craving for BBQ (and I'm not even pregnant).  It was a good day.  Tiffany is a great girlfriend...

 

 

                                                           David<~~~~~~~~LUCKY GUY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                           i'm hungry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David<~~~~~~feeding my frogs!

I am SLOWLY putting things away in my new place.  I stopped at two pet shops on the way home from work.  I picked up crickets for "Mustard" (my yellow Tomato Frog) at one, and TWO rat pinkies for "Mr. Grinch" (my albino Chocoan Horned Frog).  I am sitting here on my couch watching Cable.  Shoot me now...

 

 

I'm hosting my parents this weekend...

David & Tiff at the Rehersal Dinner...

Flower Girl...  (those are my feet on the left)

Dana and Mark...

I think my Brother is in TROUBLE!

The Wedding Cake, the seashells are white chocolate (yummy!)

 

 

 

My folks are visiting me this weekend.  They took Mam-ma's furniture down to her new place in Florida & then visited my brother Mark and his new Wife Dana in Atlanta.  I have them Friday night and all day Saturday, they leave for TX on Sunday morning.  Mark sent his Wedding Photos with them and I have loaded them onto my laptop and they are displayed at the topof this page.  I am waiting for them to mosey on over here from their Hotel room (lazy layabouts slept in).  Tiff gets off at noon and we all are going to Kimswick to eat a late lunch and stroll around the Antique Shops.  We will prolly hit a Museum or the Botanical Gardens later on this evening...

 

                   DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~tour guide

 

 

 

I'm all moved into my new Apartment!

NEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWSFLASHNEWS

 

DAVID<~~~~~~~~~~~~in my new Apartment!

 

                                      (BARNES & NOBLE HAS JUST GIVEN ME AN ADDITIONAL 170 SHARES OF RESTRICTED STOCK, WITH A VALUE OF ABOUT 1,000 BUCKS!)