i wrote the last post a couple days ago and then forgot to put it up, so you probably haven't seen it. if you care about things like chronology, scroll down; if not, read on.

today was the first day of the new job. i didn't really have a problem getting up early, which was surprising, but i did get kinda tired as the day wore on. the very first thing i did was accompany one of the other service techs to a place that makes caskets (their hoist wasn't working properly). that was pretty cool, if cold and rainy. after that, i watched product-knowledge videos for a few hours; i kinda felt like taking my own life, but i persevered. this will take some getting used to.

i had dinner with the family yesterday, as i would imagine many people did. we had some yummy-licious ham/pork and potatoes. there were some peppers that i did not partake in, but i hear they were all kinds of lovely.

erin was holed up in her room all day, alone and studying, so i brought her a plate of piggy goodness. i also picked up a copy of the Shaun of the Dead dvd and watched it with her (after she devoured the dinner). i had, of course, seen the movie long ago, but erin had not, and i felt that was something that should be remedied quickly. unfortunately, because yesterday was easter, i had to buy it at wal-mart. fortunately, the movie is excellent enough that it made up for the various dirty feelings that wal-mart instills in me. the bonuses i've seen thus far ranged from giggle-worthy to hilarious. consider it highly recommended.

also, i had this conversation with craig a few days ago, and found it amusing:

me: this is the biggest dildo i have ever seen: [link]
craig: I'm not clear on why I'm looking at a giant dildo
me: because you clicked a link that was prefaced by "this is the biggest dildo i have ever seen."

  mood: a bit tired...
now playing: front line assembly - synthetic forms

the impossible has finally happened. yes, that's right, kids... i got a job. :P

alas, everyone else is more excited than me, but that's not really a new thing. which is not to say i'm not happy. oh, i am. this not only means that i will have money to do things such as pay for car insurance, but that i will get to throw out all those help-wanted ads, business cards, and website print-outs that i have accrued, whether through my own means or through the generosity of others. i'm thinking of burning them in effigy of all the people who didn't hire me. whether or not that's too extreme, i'll decide later.

the job itself is at a place that installs and services equipment for factories. i'll be one of the guys who inspects and repairs hoists. "wow," i can hear you all saying, "is that good?"

it most certainly is. at least, that's how it seems. it pays well, and it's in my field (electrical engineering), and because i'm not in school right now, i think it's pretty essential that i get some experience that will be useful for me later, rather than just working at mcdonalds for some money. besides that, the benefits are quite good. they'll pay for any classes i take, provided i pass... i won't be starting that right away, though, given my history with working snd schooling at the same time.

the only downside is that i have to be there at 7 in the morning. this will take some getting used to, since i normally get up around noon.

so that's that. i start on monday (very, very early monday), and i'm looking forward to it. not excited, though, because (after all) it's still a job. ;)

  mood: i've been (much) worse
now playing: nine inch nails - the line begins to blur

i found [this monstrosity] one night while looking around online. now... a couple things. they got most of it right, which leads me to believe they have a team of engineers doing nothing but watcing xbox live conversations 24/7. also, i just can't imagine what microsoft was thinking, or what parents will think after reading this. i swear, i would laugh so hard if either of my parents ever attempted talking to me in l33t h4xx0r 5p33k.

here's the errant picture of me wearing bunny-ears:

turns out that erin wasn't holding it for blackmail purposes, but just forgot to send it. i dunno why my hand looks so disembodied, but it is my hand.

broken (my laptop) has been making funny noises over the past few days. turns out i have to rip it apart and solder the power connectors again. this is the third or fourth time i've had to do this. damn you, dell, and your lame-ass power connector design.

  mood: slightly annoyed
now playing: nine inch nails - suck

beware the ides of march.

  mood: the walls, they're closing in...
now playing: neuroticfish - they are coming to take me away

you may have seen a giant inflatable Wendy sitting atop Wendy's fast-food joints. if you haven't, well... then now you know about it, at least. whenever dad sees one of these, he makes a joke about it being my girlfriend. i'm not sure how that started, but that's what he does. paying attention? good. remember that.

there's a thing that goes on here in utica once a year called the Heart Run (& Walk), which i've been taking part in, along with mum and brother, for the past many years. this year, they had one of the giant wendys sitting in someone's front yard along the course. as we walked by it, it fell down on its back, and i knew it was a golden opportunity to take a picture of my "girlfriend's" panties. oh yes. i took an upskirt shot of a giant inflatable wendy.

after i took the picture, the guy tending wendy tried to set her back upright, but all he managed to do was make her slide around on her back. it looked like she was breakdancing. it was most excellent.

i've also recently discovered a new comic -- which is utterly delightful -- called [Questionable Content]. There's a bit of indie-rocker humour in it, but don't let that turn you away (if you're not an indy-rocker), because there's plenty of other amusing stuff there to keep you happy. they've had a couple guest artists do strips, and [this one] is absolutely a riot to me. note that it's absolutely nothing like the rest of the comic.

erin and i were hanging out one day so she could put off studying, and we went to k-mart. there were some bunny ears sitting around, so we took turns putting them on, and took pictures. i got the picture of her in ears, but not the one of me. odd. wonder if she's planning on using it to blackmail me. anyway, here's the one of her:

  mood: no work and no play makes jess a dull boy
now playing: marilyn manson - the last day on earth

just popping in quickly tonight to say that the move has been made (obviously). this shall be the site's new home for at least a year; longer, if it works out well. the old site still isn't up, so i can't update it anyway, even if i'd wanted to. which i don't. hah!

since i have a server that will support it now, i'm thinking of switching over to PHP (so we can finally say good-bye to the javascript). all i have to do now is... learn PHP! when i do, i'll try to make the transition as transparent as possible, but there may be a glitch here or there. so... yeah, look for that relatively soon!

  mood: i feel like i have bloody spider webs all over me... so... itchy.
now playing: collide - shimmer

i apologise for the downtime. i suppose that's one of the drawbacks to hosting one's site on a free server. i'm thinking of getting something cheap, but infinitely better, as well as a real domain name. either www.the-swizzlestick.com or www.the-swizzlestick.co.uk. either way, i think it'd be pretty slick. and i don't imagine it would be too difficult to get the 4 readers to update their bookmarks.

a few changes here and there at the site, though mostly ones that you'll never notice (skip this paragraph if you don't care). there is now a lot less html, and a little bit more css. w00t. the only difference that will matter to visitors, however, is that i now have the last five posts on the home page, rather than the [annals] page (which is now just a list of links to the various monthly archives).

and, to satiate your ever-growing hunger for entertaining pictures... my brother has some posable lego robot things, and they've been amusing me for the past few days. of course i took pictures:

the first one is a spoof of charlie's angels, the second and third are the genyuu force (from dragonball z, a show i don't watch, but love to make fun of), and the remaining four are robot can-can. yes, you read that right. i have far too much time on my hands.

  mood: bleary-eyed tired
now playing: front 424 - nomore - nomore