Fear the Crab

Over the weekend I spent some time at a beachhouse in Laie. It was a gathering of almost everyone from The Lab, plus relatives and friends. The house was huge, way bigger than what I imagined, and it was right there on the beach. Which, I suppose, explains why it’s called a beachhouse. Maile and I went on Saturday, but a lot of people were there since Thursday. We weren’t intending to stay over, though, since Maile had a lot of work to finish by Monday. I tried some fishing with Mark’s new and expensive rod and reel (oh yeah, no pressure), but the last time I cast any sort of fishing line was back in the elementary school days. I only had one good cast, while the rest of the time I’d barely make it 10 feet. Needless to say, I didn’t catch anything. The rest of the time I spent playing with the kids, whether it was throwing a ball around, digging holes in the sand, or making sand sculptures. Maile made a really nice turtle, since we saw one in the water.

Today started out smashing. I slept late and woke up late, but still in time to get ready and leave for work before the morning rush hour. On the way, Star 101.9 was having an informal contest, which was basically listening for whenever Mortuary Chris “let one go” and being the 9th caller. I guess he had a lot of burritos the night before. Lucky me, I dialed in and managed to be the 9th caller. So I won passes to the Laugh Factory, which is interesting because I was just thinking of going there. I don’t recall how many passes I got, probably two. I should have tried to ask for more, like tickets to The Vagina Monologues, or something, but when they finally took me off hold I was reversing my truck into a parking stall. It’s very difficult to talk on a cell phone while navigating between two concrete pillars.

Later tonight I’m getting together with a bunch of old friends, and we’re likely going to hang out at Ryan’s Bar and Grill. We were supposed to go to the Laugh Factory (odd that it’s been the subject of the week for me), but due to a booking problem they won’t have a show until Thursday. Normally they have comedy every single day. So it’s a night out at Ryan’s, and hopefully a lot of people show up. It’s been a while since we all got together.

I’m at work early, contemplating whether or not to start now or wait an hour. I assume starting now will mean I get to leave early. I suppose if I did decide to start early, I’d have to email my boss and say so. My indecision probably stems from the lazy feeling I have, which combines a desire to procrastinate and a groggy, slept-late state of mind.

My butt itches. I think I’ll start work early.

Well, it certainly has been a while. You can thank Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for my prolonged absence. There’s just so much to do in Zelda that it’s almost a sure-fire way to lose your social life. Thankfully Maile is very good at bringing me back to reality.

Let’s see, what’s happened so far? I think I’ve gotten into the groove of things at my new job(s). Deliveries for The Lab are becoming a habit, and many of the offices are permanently scarred into my memory. Sometimes I can get done with my rounds in less than three hours, which doesn’t mean good things for my paycheck since I’m on hourly. The Office has been holding steady; at least, I’m able to do the simple things. I haven’t gotten any major projects to work on yet, mostly because there really isn’t anything to do right now. There are still aspects of that job that I have yet to touch, but it seems I have to rely on my fellow student workers to show me the ropes, since the bosses are really busy with fixing another highly-visible project. And being that it’s finals week, I rarely see my coworkers. So I busy myself with checking Postmaster mail and setting up mailing lists while browsing the web pages for weird stuff.

On the homefront, life has been normal for me. I finished off my ICS 241 math class, and feel fairly confident I’ll pass with at least a C. That was my main goal, and if I score better, it’ll be all the more sweeter. Those E-Commerce classes I took were interesting, and I think I learned a few things, but the way they were carried out left something to be desired. The prof stressed communication, but it seemed to be lacking on his part. I would email him with a question, and wouldn’t get a reply for several days, if ever! Thankfully they were 100-level courses and pretty easy, otherwise I’d have more white hairs than I do now.

Life, however, has been anything BUT normal for Maile. Her brother’s back on crack again, and I actually witnessed the demon itself one day. He barged into the room and demanded the money Maile has been holding for him (because he’s so irresponsible with finances). When she refused, he got angry and tried to take her purse. Instead he missed and grabbed her backpack. Despite not having any money in the backpack, he ransacked through it, all the while spewing curses out of his retarded mouth. Maile finally gave him his money and he left. I found out later that everyone’s suspected he’s been on the rock from way before. Apparently he was given money to buy a nice present for his son’s 1st birthday and attend a small party, but instead he spent the money on crack and didn’t go. He’s back with this mental-case girl named Josephine who’s also on the rock (and with whom he had his son). Maile’s brother hasn’t been back for about a week, but he’ll start coming around once he wastes his cash.

The sad thing is that he blames Maile and the mom for his condition. Talk about a lame cop-out. His claim is that he was given too much responsibilities to handle, that Maile and the mom expected more from him than he could produce. Whatever. All they asked was that he help contribute to the house, either by getting a job or something. But no, the mere thought of hard work seems to be like a bad case of SARS for this whelp. Oh, and he also believes he has a mental condition, which is why he acts this way. I would tend to agree, but not for the reasons he gives. He feels it is justification for his behavior. I feel it’s simply stupidity. The guy is just spoiled, thinking the world has to give him what he wants without him working for it. I told him once that I was able to buy a new truck and these video games only because I worked and budgeted my money. At the time he seemed to take it to heart, but I guess he can only think short-term and can’t stand waiting for hard work to bear fruit.

So now the house has become like a fortress, with secured doors and a significant change in lifestyle. It’s like everyone’s on alert, since no one knows when he’ll drop by with some fake-ass sob story to try and wheedle pity and money out of the family. Pretty soon we’ll have to start using passwords and retina scans.