Jasper Jones

You might have noticed that I don’t post my political views on this blog. I do have views on politics and the Presidential race and the candidates. But I’m not going to post about them or enter into a discussion with anyone unless it is face to face, one on one, mano a mano.

Thee are other sensitive subjects, too. I won’t go into too many details about my dating life. Just be assured that I do have an active and satisfying social life. I don’t name anyone from my personal life without their advance knowledge and permission.

I won’t discuss abortion or other very personal subjects on the blog. Again, I have my views and if you want to meet me face to face for a discussion or even debate, that’s totally cool with me.

I just felt the need to get that off my chest. I know some kids at school read my blog, and I have family and friends back in Nashville that read it. And since this is the internet, I might even have readers from overseas, the Government, my employer and who knows who else all reading this blog.

So, welcome dear readers, I hope you find my posts about the daily life of a college senior in Southeastern Tenneessee to be totally engrossing and entertaining!

At work last night one of the med techs was telling me that she’s taking classes to become a massage therapist. It started out with a little teasing because my shoulders and neck were really sore from the softball game Wednesday night. She wanted to give me a neck massage but was afraid that if she did that while at work that someone would cause trouble for us. Touching another employee is not a good thing as far as management goes - they don’t want to have a sexual harrassment lawsuit or anything. So I didn’t get the neck massage, but I wanted one!

When she finishes the massage classes she will probably move out of the area and get a job at a resort or large spa. There’s not much of that in Chattanooga.

The closest big city for us is Atlanta. It’s about a two hour drive south of here. I don’t know if there is a lot of demand for massage in Atlanta. We were talking about that possibility and did a search for Atlanta Massage and were surprised to find so many listings. We found these using a special search directory called Clicksmart. This directory lists professional in categories like:

Contractors
Florists
Home & Office Services
Massage Therapists
Mortgage Brokers
Real Estate Agents
Weddings and Events

This week and next are the season premieres of all the new TV shows. I’ve been watching commercials for most of them for months, and the built up anticipation is starting to wear thin. And, sadly, I’m working nights now, so I doubt that I’ll be able to watch many of them after all this promotion.

The one that has my biggest interest is the new Great Race and the new Survivor. But I think I’ll be working during those shows. I wonder if you can get them “on demand” after they air?

And I really like The Unit. Since they moved The Unit to Sunday nights I can actually watch most of those while doing homework. So that will be cool.

Some shows are rebroadcast on the internet. I actually watched one episode of Big Brother on the internet because the “on demand” wasn’t working. So I’ve got options.

After class this afternoon I headed to the hospital for my second interview. This time I met with the doctor in charge of the Emergency Room. I think I got about 6 minutes of face time with him. He’s very busy and very stressed and very distracted. Although technically he would be the boss, I would report directly to an administrator and he would be the one who handles serious issues. I don’t plan on having any serious issues, but I respected the way he wants to meet each prospect and have a say in the people who work under him in the ER.

The HR Manager says that I can start next week and gave me an example of a work shift schedule to make sure I can work my shifts around my class schedule. All my classes are early in the mornings so there’s no conflict with second and third shift work. All I have to worry about is making time for homework, a couple of labs, and enough sleep. A little party time, too.

So far it all looks good and I’m ready to jump in.

This probably sound silly but I have a little case of homesickness today. I’ve been back at school only 6 days and I’m thrilled to be rooming with my buddy Alex again. We have a dorm room filled with guy stuff and “boy toys” like my mom says. It’s got a comfortable bed, food, a wall of electronics and room to study. But you know, like they say in the Wizard of Oz movie, “There’s no place like home.”

One of the things I really miss is the quiet of my parents’ house. We live on a nice piece of property, back from the road, and at night all you hear is crickets, frogs, and this year, the desperate mating songs of the locusts. And every fifteen minutes, there is the reassuring chime of my mom’s grandfather clock. I never knew how much I would miss that chime until I got here at school and don’t hear it anymore.

I think everyone in my mom’s family owns grandfather clocks. It was a standard “must have” for each of her sisters back in the day when they first got married and bought their first homes. The tradition started when my mom’s grandmother came over from England and hand carried her own mantel clock. She still has it and it still chimes faithfully throughout the day.

My mom’s grandfather clock was made by one of the most famous clock makers in the world, Howard Miller. There are a couple of other famous clock makers, like Seth Thomas and Bulova, but my mom loves the Howard Miller clocks. She often tells me that my generation doesn’t appreciate the finer things in life and that when I get married that I need to have a grandfather clock in my home, too. she’s shown me the newer, contemporary styles that you can buy, and I think she’s right. That is one family tradition that I’d like to carry one, with my own sense of style, of course.

If you are madly in love with a woman and you want to find a very special gift for her, I can point you in the right direction. I happened to overhear a conversation at the TGI Fridays with a couple of hot - I do mean HOT - chicks talking about a bachelorette party they had attended and their thoughts on the gifts for the bride-to-be and some great girl gossip.

Well, the most important thing I took away from that eavesdropping was that hot women really love expensive, unique lingerie. And these women know the good stuff - so don’t even try to get away with something cheap and trashy. Evidently, there are some particular brands or makers of fine Lingerie that most guys can’t even name off the top of their head but trust me on this, the girls know.

So clever guy that I am, that night I surfed the night for the names I had overheard and I found some great pieces. I bookmarked them and even sent myself an email with the info, so that I will always be able to find this again. In fact, these web sites are a great source for all kinds of great items plus they are all about discounts and saving money. So you might want to bookmark Shopping.com and Dealtime.co.uk, too.

One of my personal heroes is Mark Twain. I remember reading all his books as a kid and really enjoying both his storytelling and his writing style. It inspired me to even read his biography in a book that I checked out of the school library. That shocked both my teacher and my parents! A library book? Me? LOL

So I learned a little about Mark Twain. For the times he lived in he was a very different character. He had some eccentric views about politics, race and all kinds of things that were just too forward thinking for most people who lived in his era. Strangely enough, when I was at the drug store tonight I noticed that on the cover of TIME Magazine they are featuring Mark Twain and the cover story is about his forward thinking. I might go back and buy that magazine tomorrow just to read what they have to say about my hero. Too bad I didn’t know they wee interested in a story about Mark Twain - I could have written that myself and it would have been sweet to get paid for my writing.

One of my buddies has been working this summer as a security guard for Sonic. It’s not one in a bad part of town, but all the Sonics have beefed up security since a couple weeks ago there was a shooting at one. The Sonic was full of customers on a busy night and three guys with guns drove up and went inside where they cook and tried to rob the place. But the manager pulled out his own gun and shot two of the guys as they tried to run off. So now all the Sonics are required to have a security guard on duty from dark until closing. It worked out good for my buddy - he hadn’t found anything to do yet and he loves cop stuff. He even has me interested in cops and I went to the gun range with him last weekend for a couple hours.

One of the thing he really likes is all the tactical gear. It’s all about pockets. His pants have pockets everywhere. He wears a belt with holsters and holders all around it. And he has a vest with tons of pockets. He buys most of the gear online from a web site called lapolicegear.com and I checked it out tonight. I saw a lot of tactical equipment on their site that was reasonably priced, and a lot of the items qualify for free shipping or a free extra gift like a cap or coffee mug. I think I’ll order some of the mil-spec BDU pants and try them out for hunting and yard work. Who knows? I might pick up a part time job doing security work when I get back to school, too.

You may have noticed that I don’t go into a lot of details about my love life here on my blog. That’s on purpose, as I want a little privacy there and I’m sure that the person I am dating wants her privacy, too. So to everyone who’s been wondering, I’m fine, OK.

Would really like to go to the beach for a few days. It seems like all my friends are going to either Destin or Cancun and here I am at work instead of sitting on the sand watching the bikinis go by. It’s making me chafe a little, I have to admit. However, I have responsibilities and one more year of college before I can have all my finances in order and afford to take time off for fun and games.

Instead of driving 8 hours down and back to have a few hours in the sun, I’ve been making the most of the fun things that are around here. We have tons of parks and there is always the lakes and rivers. Lake beaches are not the same as ocean beaches, but they are sand and water and sun, with a few bikinis worth watching, too.

There used to be a huge store on the outskirts of the local mall that was all shoes and all at discount prices. I went there a couple of times to check it out but never really bought anything. I tried to once, though. I found a pair of Nike’s that I liked and I went to the checkout counter and they rang it up. I whipped out my checkbook to write a check and they freaked on me. No checks taken at that store. I said, “What? Who doesn’t take checks????” But they said no. I think it was age discrimination, to be honest. They probably weren’t expecting an 18 year old to have a legit checkbook. But I’ve been working summers since I was 14 and I’ve got money, honey. I could have paid cash out of my wallet, but I wanted to keep my spending cash. So since they wouldn’t take my check, I left the shoes on the counter and walked out. Eat it, shoe store!

Now I don’t even go into a “brick and mortar” shoe store anymore. I buy most everything online from a couple of places that carry good stuff. And guess what, they all take my check aka debit card.

Like, I needed some good casual shoes for going out on dates and maybe a few nice places with my folks. Sandals won’t be good enough for my mom if I try to wear them around her and her friends, and athletic shoes are just a little too casual for some things like a nice dinner date. I need something for when I have on my nice khakis and a golf shirt. A little style upgrade. You know what I mean?

So I decided to cruise a few internet stores. One of my favorites says what it’s all about right in their name: walkingonacloud.com

Now that means the shoes are going to fit well and cradle your foot in softness. It’s all about comfort and style, plus this place has ALL the brand names.

Anybody who knows me well knows that ordinary clothes and shoes don’t fly with me. I want style, and I really like to have things that no one else around here can get. So buying on the internet gives me that edge, too. Like, I could have some Doc Martens, but everyone has those. I could have some Rockports, but that’s what my dad likes.

I’m looking for something like Josef Seibel Shoes and here’s what I’m talking about. Here’s a brown leather, casual but sophisticated shoe, called the “Bancroft.” It has style and it really well made.

Smart guys don’t buy cheap shoes. Smart guys buy well made, quality shoes - and shop for the best price around.