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My old home, in ruins…

It appears that drug addicts have made my old home, a place that was practically sacred to me, into a drug nest.

This hurts me deep down inside.

My dad built the first two parts with very little help. I helped with the third part of the house.

I had expected this to be knocked down already, given how fast the guy who bought the property from us wanted us out of there. It’s been 19 months, man. 19 months since he rushed us out of there, gave my mother grief because our search for a new home took longer than he wanted, and yet he’s done jack with it.

I wish I could have my old home back, just so I could clean up the place, and have a place to stay.

Tomorrow begins week three at Stream, and I’m actually feeling eager to go in and work. Between that, and some stuff I’ve seen on CraigsList, as well as the bulletin board at work, I’m beginning to feel rather optimistic about getting back onto my feet.

I’m going to have to wait a little, to see my paycheck, because I would rather know what it will be, so I can make offers, but I know I also want to get into a place that gives me a smooth curve to work with.

$500 a month wouldn’t be bad to pay at all, if it includes utilities. I suspect that not only can I afford that once I start getting paid regularly, but I can also get myself back onto my feet fairly quickly.

Just wish me a little more luck, and let’s see what happens.

Photo: Ashley Drive at Cass Street, as seen from the North-West corner, Tampa, FL.
Map: Provided by Google Maps

This intersection is the absolute bane of those of us who commute on foot here in Tampa, FL.
Ashley St. (left) is a two way street, with southbound traffic coming freshly off the Interstate only a block north of this crossing.
Cass St. (right) is a one way street, just entering downtown Tampa.

Ashley, going southbound, has four lanes going straight across, and a single turn lane. The northbound half of the street has two lanes going normally, and a turn lane that starts a block earlier.

Cass Street has four lanes, with one of them dedicated to turning left, and one other a split left-straight lane.

The issue with this is,
When you try to cross Ashley Street on foot, using the pedestrian signals, and you’re headed East, it’s nearly impossible to do, because of two things:

• The people turning from Cass to Ashley seemingly ignore pedestrians until they’re about to hit one. This gets to be annoying as all hell.
• The crosswalk indicator goes from Walk, to a flashing Don’t Walk in a matter of mere seconds (About five seconds, to be specific).

Heading West is only marginally better, as you get the chance to get across the street a little early, due to slower traffic headed North, combined with entering the crosswalk early, before the Walk signal is illuminated.

The entire street needs improvement with its walk signals, but this spot is most relevant to me since I cross here, or a block north, to go to the Public Library.

Argh, indeed.

1: I am now employed by Stream, providing the function of America Online Technical Support, Entry Level.
2: Homeless Recovery is now footing the bill for me to stay at the Salvation Army, while I earn my first paycheck.
3: Homeless Recovery is offering me assistance with paying for my first month’s rent.
4: Homeless Recovery has set me up with health insurance, so I can finally go see a doctor about my throat, my knee, and my spine, at no cost to me. Medicines will cost me $1.
5: I’ve had my food stamps for a week now, so I don’t have to spend cash for most food.
6: I have a one month bus pass, so I do not have to keep paying $3.25 for the bus each morning.

Almost un-homeless now.

The following is a little copypasta (that would normally go in an email) from the guys and gals at MoveOn.org, a group with a mailing list that I’ve been subscribed to for a while. They sent me an email a little earlier today, which mentioned that our country’s government is attempting to take another slash at public broadcasting (NPR and PBS), which is something that I cannot accept.

When I was a kid, I grew up on PBS. I remember Sesame Street (though Big Bird traumatised me as a child More, for another story.), Arthur, The Reppies, Nova, Nature, 3-2-1 CONTACT!, and numerous other shows that showed up on the two PBS channels we have here in Tampa (Channel 3, WEDU; Channel 16, WUSF). In fact, I admit that those were the two channels I enjoyed the most, because they were the way I thought television should be: unfettered by constant reminders to drink Cloaca-Cola, requests to join the Dyspepsian Generation (You got the right one baby, uh-huh), and lacking in reinforcement that sex is a requirement to be popular on television!

I’d like to help save this resource while it still exists.
If I ever were to decide to have children, I would love to have PBS around for them.

I never really got to listen to NPR as a child — I probably thought that it was too boring then, but the issue is, both NPR and PBS are public resources that many of us rely on for news, education, and entertainment. If we let the United States Government take a knife to their already limited budgets, this could easily spell the end of quality television and radio shows in our country.

Therefore, I ask you to help me out. Put your name to this, and show our Government that you want them to show respect to public broadcasting. Put the knife away, and don’t cut their budgets!

Thank you for your time,

— Justin H.

Hi,

President Bush just proposed drastic cuts to NPR and PBS. We’ve stopped similar cuts in the past, but enough is enough: With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happens again.

We need Congress to save NPR and PBS once and for all.

Can you help out by signing this petition to Congress? It’s really easy—just click the link below:

Civic.MoveOn.ORG, Public Broadcasting, Referral link

Thanks!

[tags]Save Public Broadcasting, NPR, PBS, United States, Government, Politics, MoveOn.org, Children’s Programming, Commercial-free News, Commercial-free Television, Petition[/tags]

“This was an incident where the deputy felt his life was being threatened and rather than using a gun he used a Taser,” Sheriff Don Fleming said. “When you’ve got a guy bigger than you, waving a baton is like waving a feather at him and we don’t want to shoot a student.”

The Archuleta family questions why deadly force was used and not a Taser gun which fires a disabling electric shock.

This is why I’m in favor of [tag]Tasers[/tag] and other, safer alternatives than a gunshot wound to the head.
Yes, Tasers still have a potential to kill, like any weapon, but it’s still not that bad. It’s more likely to disable you and keep you from getting yourself killed by a regular firearm.

There’s an appropriate time for any weapon. If the officer’s pretty much in range, and you decide to charge him, yes, he can taser you. If he’s a hundred feet away and you’re waving a gun, then yeah, he can shoot you with his firearm, because the taser is OUT OF RANGE.

I’ve spoken with several officers who carry tasers in my city. For them to be able to carry their taser, they have to undergo training to use it. Part of their training is to know what to expect if a suspect manages to get the taser out of their hands and zaps them with it. These guys and gals know what fifty thousand volts feels like.

I’d rather not take a hit from any of the stuff they can use, but I’d prefer pepper spray or a taser to being shot and wounded by a firearm.

Well, while I was digging around on [tag]HARTline[/tag], the local bus system’s website, I was offered a link to one of [tag]Google Labs[/tag]‘ projects.
It seems that one can now use the power of Google to plan out a bus trip here in [tag]Tampa, Florida[/tag].

It’s a rather useful tool. Just put in the two addresses or intersections nearest your destinations, choose a departure or arrival time, and Get Directions.

The service is laid atop [tag]Google Maps[/tag], and uses authoritative data from the Testing regions (there are a total of nine cities testing out Google Transit at this time) to show routes and scheduled times. They may or may not cover routes on detours, so be advised that this is only to be considered as a general guide on riding public transportation.

One of the nicest things about it is, although you are looking up bus routes in general, you can also switch it over to driving mode, should you choose to change your mind and drive or get a ride from point A to point B.

[tag]Google Transit[/tag] is the name of this new tool.
Hopefully, we’ll see more cities adopt it — I’d love to see PSTA jump on board, too.

I’ve been coming to [tag]Jake’s Java Joint[/tag] for the past couple of weeks or so, either just for a cup of coffee, or in the case of last Friday, to work on my coursework for my getting licensed (progress: I went from 5% done to 64.07% done in just that day).

It’s a quiet place, with a friendly atmosphere and very inexpensive internet terminals. I would much rather pay $6 per hour here at Jake’s (delicious pricing), and be able to order a cup of coffee (I have a cup of Jamaican Me Crazy right here), or a cup of [tag]cappuccino[/tag], a bite to eat, or something, than go to FedEx-Kinko’s, deal with their sterilized environment and anywhere between ~$13 and ~$19.26 per hour terminals that are very crippled (not even Mozilla installed, for shame).

Need something installed on the terminal at Jake’s? Just ask.
Need something off your USB thumb drive? Plug it in. Can’t do THAT at Kinko’s.

The environment is very peaceful.

If you’re in the [tag]Tampa[/tag] area, you should check ‘em out.

Okay, so, this year here in Florida, the [tag]Florida Lottery[/tag] Commission decided to have a “[tag]Holiday Millionaire Raffle[/tag]“.

For $20, 1,250,000 tickets were sold (Total of $25,000,000 pulled in), as a limited run. This game sold out in ten days. No one else may purchase a ticket from a retailer location.

My coworker and I were standing around the lotto machine at work one afternoon, when an urgent email popped onto its screen, telling us that there were only 65000 tickets left. I tell her, “That game’s selling out tonight. I bet there’ll be a ticket on eBay soon. Sell me a ticket.”

Now, [tag]eBay[/tag] has a policy against selling lottery or raffle tickets through their site.

This person found a clever way around that particular rule, by [tag]auctioning[/tag] a CD Jewel Case, and giving the ticket with it for free.

I think I’ll have to tell her about that, and how right I was.

Now, I don’t think that guy’s gonna get too many bids, starting his so high. I’d have started at $100, not $1,000. That’d be profit right there, at least, and of course, it might even escalate into a bidding war. But, starting at $1,000? If I bought that, and the ticket inside lost, I’d be mightily irked about that. $1,000 for a piece of plastic to store a CD or DVD in? Yeah. Right.

Still, it’s pretty funny. ;D

… and being a former cyclist, I’m only partially pleased with it.

Bay News 9 reported^[a] on Sunday that drivers are to give cyclists a three foot berth, or face the consequences.

Failure to do so, and being spotted by an officer will result in a moving violation fine, as well as points added to your license.

What would please me more is if cyclists would actually, you know… used the sidewalks when they’re available and in reasonable condition. Too often have I driven or cycled down the road, to watch some cocky cyclist riding half-in the lane for traffic, causing everyone behind him to slow down and honk their horns.

Fix that particular issue, or start ticketing the cyclists, too, and I will be more pleased with the idea.

I have terrible news.

My mother passed away this evening, while I was at work.

This morning, I had said, “Today will be the day that kills me.”

I wish I would avoid statements like this, however… These are the statements that wound me the most.
When I got the phone call at work an hour ago, I was too stunned to control myself.
I fell down on the sales floor, and I couldn’t stop crying.

Right now, I’m waiting for the police to allow us into the room, so I can see her.

… I didn’t even hug her this morning. I feel so damn rotten. :/

So, I was doing some more reading over at Recommended last night, and I noticed the topbar, and a series of links there.

One of the link icons was a bit illegible for me (curse these olde eyes, lah), but it lead to a place called ‘[tag]freecycle[/tag].org’.

Now, the name initially made me think, “Hm, are they operating some sort of bicycle pool, or even giving away bicycles? What’s the catch?”
So, of course, being one of those fools into getting things for free, I checked out the link.
Although it wasn’t what I initially thought of it, it’s just as good.
People all over the world have developed groups where they can leave things up for people to pick up if they are looking for it, while asking others for things they could actually use. All this activity rescues things from heading to the landfill, and essentially encourages [tag]recycling[/tag] at a very useful level.

This is something I, too, can honestly recommend.

Freecycle.org. Check it out.

This will likely be the last post I write from my current house here.
As I type, most of the house is packed up, and loaded on a U-Haul Truck of DEATH outside. This computer and a bit of other fluff is all that remains for me to pack up, so I shall also depart soon.

The downside: I’ll be offline for a couple of days while I wait for all services to be restored at the new house.
I may have to switch jobs to be sure I can foot my bills.

The upside:
I will be much, much closer to in-town things, shopping, better job opportunities, social spots, etc.
I might not have to live my life on the computer, if I make friends up that way.
I will be merely a few blocks away from a park I used to go to as a kid, with my dad. That means free exercise. I might even take up Tennis or something, since there are actually tennis courts there.
I will have real privacy!
I may have to switch jobs to be sure I can foot my bills.

Wish us luck as we break in a new house!

Cheers,
— the staff and author at Eau Salée Lunaire.

Well, some of you may know, others may not.

Offline, I’m just a Customer Service Center clerk at my local Albertson’s.
Those of you who actually know me on a deeper level than I let on in my blog are already in the know about how much I used to loathe my job — or, rather, my boss, who made my job a living hell.

When my boss quit last week, I could honestly say that I felt a huge burden being lifted off my shoulders.
Her very presence inspired new lows in how apathetic I could be about everything. I started smoking much more than usual, drinking lots of soda, coming in late because I didn’t care…

But when she left, all that was scrubbed. I actually enjoy working again, even if it *is* just me and one other person officially in the department.
I’m not sure how we’re going to get this thing running properly, and how I’m gonna pull off my vacation this year, but it’ll happen, somehow.

Beyond that, I’m waiting on moving soon here. Paperwork drama is in the way, but that’s okay.
Hopefully, the price of housing starts to level off, and come back down to Earth in this city, for the following reasons:

If the cost of housing keeps going up, the working class on the low end of the scale aren’t going to be able to afford a place to stay. Apartments keep selling out to turn into condos; Houses keep going up in their prices, making it hard for the single to afford a place to stay; The few apartments who won’t sell out realize their space is at a premium, and can simply charge more and more for rent per month, knowing the threshold and adjusting prices to milk the most out of people.
Hell, it’s part of the reason I’m helping my grandmother with her new house bills - it cuts what I have to spend, out of pocket for a place to stay, since rent would cost me the same per month, or even more.

The other part of my reason:
For the record, and something I’ve not even completely told people I’ve been close to, or even intimate with: I love my grandmother dearly. She’s the woman who adopted me when I was a baby, and my biological mother didn’t give enough of a damn about me to take care of me. I regard this woman as my mother, for all intents and purposes. When I was eighteen, I helped her take care of her terminally ill husband — my grandfather, my father, if you will — and gave up college. Something he had me promise was that I make sure she’s taken care of and treated well until she, too, passes away. Apparently, he charged her with similar conditions before his mind faded too far to remember her. I remember a couple of weeks before he passed, she was trying to give him his medecine, and he refused to let her. She called me, and I spoke to him. “Dad, Mom’s just trying to give you some medecine, trying to ease the pain…” And he called me by name. He asked me, “Who is she?”

She is the woman I would die for, if it means helping her.
I owe her my life.

Inter-net-esting things to see:
Full Metal Photographer, Honky Tonk Badonkadonk (blog entry coming soon-ish), anisaerah

So, I was in Britton Plaza yesterday, trying to find a parking space.

So, here I am, trying to turn right, and this idiot pulls up…
Perhaps I should describe the area:
In front of Albertsons, where everyone crosses the road to get to their cars, there’s a fire lane strip, as well as enough space for a car to get by in each direction. See this picture?

I’m the blue rectangle, wanting to turn right.
The red rectangle is this idiot who thinks he can make that spot a parking space.

I just snapped at the guy, “THAT’S NOT A PARKING SPACE, YOU FUCKER.”, and drove off to the left instead to find a space.
I’ll be asking our parking lot officer if people can be ticketed for that - it’s obstructing the right-of-way, and putting our customers at risk.

More at Eleven.

I’m doing well.
I’m down from 335-340 pounds to an even 320 pounds. So far, my eating lifestyle refocus is doing me a huge favor.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, either, because the extra weight was taking its toll on my left knee, since I do squat a lot at work.

Unfortunately, my eating habits are a bit more expensive than before - you pay so little for junk, and you pay out the nose for healthy alternatives.

Also, I will be moving in the next two months or less — depends severely on what offers we can find here in South Tampa. Trying to keep it under $115,000 for as many bedrooms as possible.
Good luck on that, right-o.

It’s gonna be kinda sad, though — moving from the place I grew up in for damn near 24 years, just before my birthday.
It’s all for the best, though.

Well, we’ve been engrossed in trying to get a new house built here. Unfortunately, the company we’re trying to go through (Jim Walters) is giving my mother one hell of a runaround, and is making no progress.

This is not good. This house we’re in needs to be rebuilt, from the ground up, not only to stand up to code, but to fix a number of glaring flaws in various issues here.

The best example is this house’s wiring. When my dad built it 20 or 25 years ago, he did all the work, including the electrical wiring. In the beginning, it was fine. We didn’t have much that needed constant electricity, so all was well with the world. However, we’ve learned over the years since his death that we can’t run certain things together. Namely: the microwave, the portable electric heater, the washing machine, the deep fryer, the toaster. If any two of those items are on at the same time, we lose power in part of the house.
Unfortunately, my room is affected by this particular development.

To make the matter worse, the wiring has developed a short of some sort. We can’t switch on the power in the living room now (as in tonight), and this also affects my room, which is linked to the living room, electrically. So, we’ve a pair of optionen:

• Get the wiring repaired
• Move out and hope to find something in South Tampa that won’t break our budget
• Get Jim Walters to get the hell off their ass and build for my mother.

Honestly, I’m rooting for the latter. Right now, we’ve had to put my mother’s insulin in a glass of ice, and put it back in the freezer, in an effort to keep it cold. It also looks like we’re gonna have to pay someone to work on the wiring ASAP, until we can get an answer out of someone.

I also think I neglected to mention my car trouble earlier this month — seems that I had two lugs on my front right tire snapped off somehow, so I had to get that replaced. While those were being replaced, they found out that my right rear tire had its crown bolt (?) completely stripped and was ready to fall off, as observed by its wobbling when they jacked the car up.

Fun times, lah?

And it’s so cute.

There is a small hole in the screen of my window, from when I had to run a phone line through it (thanks a fucking lot, Verizon), and sometimes, the lizards will crawl through it and entertain me with their antics.

This is the first time I managed to catch one on camera, but it’s so cute! They just sit there, bobbing their heads and blinking at you. :3

This little guy was sitting between the windows here, just sorta sliding his way down, but he went at the wrong angle, so he stopped a little earlier than he wanted, probably. :3

Just lookin’ at ‘em makes me pretty happy. :3

Some of you may remember when I mentioned a local coffee shop named Jammin’ Java a few months ago.

I still visit from time to time, though not nearly as often, since my budget is really, really tight. What made me blink and double-take when I dropped in earlier this month was an article taped to the window: Weekly Planet, Best of the Bay 2005: Best Smoothie. I was seriously shocked and amazed to see this, to be honest.

You see, Xtreme Juice has taken home the Best Smoothie award for several years now, as their smoothies proved to be capable of trumping the stuff pouring out of Smoothie King. Before Jammin’ Java, I’d always go to XJ for a smoothie, simply because I liked what I tasted there. It went down smooth, and they even offered non-dairy versions of their smoothies, since most of them involved frozen yogurt.

However, I had grown to a point where I didn’t really care as much for XJ as I used to. At that time, I was going to Evos for smoothies with my meals (mmm, vegetarian fare).

I had noticed that the business that was in the place that Jammin’ Java stands at now had rarely ever been open — it was some sort of tax preparation service, I think. Being a long-time resident of South Tampa, I remember that the building used to be a drive-thru convenience store, though I can’t recall who it was owned by. Instead of seeing the old signage there, I saw “Coming Soon! Jammin’ Java”.

Once they opened… The rest was history in the making.

I’m surprised, though, since they had just opened up a couple months prior to the article.

This rocks.

Updated, 10 July 2005, 13:08 Z: Geo data for those of you using GPS systems, Google Earth, etc.
For those of you who know me, you know that I’m not as much of a coffee drinker, as much as I am a drinker of high-caffeine or Guarana based drinks.

This hasn’t changed, yet, but that’s because I’ve yet to try the coffee at Jammin’ Java, a new drive-thru coffee shop in South Tampa. For those of you who’re more into coffee as long as S7s isn’t the one slinging it in their stupid cup names (who the hell orders a ‘venti’, anyway. It’s large, get over yourselves), have a look at the north-west corner of Gandy Boulevard and Himes Avenue, near MacDill Air Force Base to check them out.

The easiest way to enter is by heading south on Himes, and making a right turn when you see the “Vino é Pasta” sign on the corner. They’re open until 8 P.M. (I’ll be updating this entry with much more complete information about their hours, as well as ICBM tags for those of you who’re into GeoURL or Google Maps), if you’re in the mood for a drink this late.

Speaking of late drinks, Jammin’ Java doesn’t serve only coffee, as the name may imply.
Remember, this is Florida we’re talking about — Hot Drinks + Hot Weather != Mixing, very often. They also have smoothies, of which I tried their Strawberry one.

My opinion on the smoothie?
I’m a little biased. Having worked at Xtreme Juice a few years back, I’m permanently addicted to their smoothies, and won’t touch Smoothie King with a 60 foot pole.
I wouldn’t object to Jammin’ Java’s smoothies, though — It’s cool and refreshing, and lacks that gritty texture that a smoothie laced with large amounts of Turbinado would have. However, I could ask for a bit more sweetness to its flavour — it’s a bit on the tart side, which I disliked. Perhaps it’s just my taste buds today, to be honest.

Also of note, and I’m a fair bit proud of this:
I was headed out to do the weekly chore (read: laundry, and paying bills), and I noticed they were open. I circled through the Publix parking lot and headed in.
I was their first customer of the day.

… Glad I shaved after all.

I’ll post a few pictures in a bit, after I find the folder I stored them in. :p

• Location information!
  • Northwest corner of Gandy Boulevard and Himes Avenue in South Tampa
  • Lat/Long (Degrees, Minutes, Seconds): 27°53′38.32″N 82°30′8.17″W
  • Lat/Long (Decimal): N 27.89397 W 82.502271
  • ACME Mapper: [here]
  • Google Maps: [here] — You may use Google Maps to summon a directional list to reach the location.
  • Google Earth: [Jammin' Java.kmz] (should also load in the legacy Keyhole client, as well)

Ever just feel unsatisfied with your current career?

I feel like that right now.

If anyone within a 10 mile radius of 33611 is looking for someone for clerical work, perhaps 20 to 40 hours a week for at least $7.50 an hour… o_o;

Well, I’ve been given physical therapy for my knee.

Let me tell you, it leaves me cranky as hell when I get out. I can barely walk, my knee aches like hell, and the ice pack they put on it makes me ache even worse for an hour.
At least when I leave HealthSouth, I can go right next door to Evos, which is located on S. Howard Avenue.

Why Evos?

Simple.
Airfries, my friend, are healthier for you than McDonald’s french fries.
I go there after I leave, just to get the fries, usually. Potatoes contain potassium, though in smaller amounts than bananas do. However, I can’t eat bananas - I just can’t swallow the sickeningly sweet taste of the fruit.

Thus, I eat the potatoes, get potassium, and help prevent a possible cramp.
Hooray for only 5 grams of fat instead of 20.

Sadly, Evos is seriously only for local(g)hosts in my area. Perhaps the rest of you should email ‘em and say you want an Evos in your city?

Last time I posted here was nearly half a month ago.

Mayhap I should go into a recap of what’s happened since then…

I stopped caring about myself, and didn’t really notice it. My boss pointed this out to me yesterday at work - they’re all so used to seeing me in one mood all the time, but I seem to be down after this point. Sure, I’ve become much quieter, and exclusive at this point, but that’s to be expected of me, when I’m trying to forget his death.

I think I’ve gained weight. Must get back into at least monthly DDR - haven’t played in 2 or 3 months. Should look and see if there are any new DDR machines locally, since I stopped going to Tampa Lanes to play. They had bootleg hack machines that sucked ass, and Q-Zar costs more per play, with their legit machine in a really bad spot (glare on the screen). I could always go to Sega GameWorks, but then I have to pay for parking, and try to go during the day, with $30 to spend. I only need $10 worth of DDR, but that’s how SGW works — $1 or $2 for parking; $2 per bottle of water; $20 for a one hour play pass, since it’s cheaper than $10 in their credits. $10 of their credits will get me about… 10? 15? games of DDR, assuming I play only singles.

I know I’ve gained weight. I’ve eaten a lot more ice cream as of late. As a result, I’ve stopped dropping by Ed and Eddie’s to curb my cravings, and also won’t buy ice cream from where I work at. I don’t need it, though I want it. It does not help that I’ve also stopped smoking, either — I get stressed out easily at times, as a result.

Being depressed has all but blocked my creativity.

I somehow got myself hooked on Second Life, and have really been slacking on conversations, just to immerse myself in a 3D world that lets me escape this one.

I need to buy more Jolt Gum. I’m still awake, sorta.

Anyhow. I’m off for a bit, or somethin’.