USA vs Algeria at the Pub

Okay, so sober Pope over did it at the pub and drank several beers during the game and several more later. Basically I got shit faced. I have no clue how I got home. Only thing I'm sure of was I didn't drive. I took a cab to the pub, had fun, walked to another bar and had more fun. The second bar is on the rail line so that's how I got home. I jumped on the rail and rode it home. The stop is only a few blocks over from my palace.

Okay here is a bit of analysis of the binge. An alcoholic may look to justify the drinking. I work hard so I need to relax. I can't say that's me. I went out to watch a game, knew before hand I wanted to drink and I took precautions to fulfill my promise of "NEVER EVER AGAIN GET BEHIND THE WHEEL AFTER DRINKING." It's nothing but bad news. Little cab or rail rides will do me fine. It's safe and spares me a traumatic legal expense.

The second part is not to make this a habit again. I cannot go out every weekend to drink and get wasted. I got pretty at the pub watching the game. I don't want that to be a habit or common occurrence.

Also I need to time them for unannounced periodic tests. I'm now part of a much larger testing pool so I shouldn't get called very often. My odds of testing have dropped dramatically. Depending on the type of test they are doing will be my window to drink. They use breath and piss test. On one occasion I was told that the urine was not tested for alcohol. The medical staff only tests breath for alcohol and if it was positive they drew blood for confirmation. A second nurse told me urine was tested for alcohol. I doubt it is if they do a breath with a blood confirmation test. Either way they are testing for BAC and not the metabolites. If they test for metabolites in the urine then the window is about 80 hours before the markers are out of your body. I don't plane confirming either method. I'm not subject to randoms on night shifts so drinking on the off days before a set of nights is safe.

Also I want figure out the frequency for testing the larger pool. In the intense pool, I got popped an average of once a month. I could go long periods without test like once from the week of Thanksgiving until my next test in mid February. Last month in May I got popped three times. The nurse said it won't be so intense. Maybe once every few months but since it is a random program you really can't be to safe. So I'm going to record the dates I get tested for the rest of the year to see how often it averages.

No, I won't go out partying every weekend. I'd like to pop back a cold one once in a while at home. If I go out to a bar or pub, I'll use cabs. Never again will I get behind the wheel. Stakes are to high.

Vacation Weekend

I did nothing but watch World Cup matches and drank a few beers. Yes, the sober Pope, downed a few beers on vacation. I'm thinking what the hell. I don't drink often if ever. So I figured I'll put down a few. I'm not going out drinking and driving. I bought six pack to drink while practicing guitar and other projects I'm doing at home. My days of going out and getting drunk are over.

Tomorrow I'm going out to a local pond and see if I can haul in some catfish. I have two more weeks to go on vacation. Nothing major but a wedding out of town next weekend. I rented a high end suite at a five star hotel for the event. I'm not happy to go to the wedding but may as well lessen the misery with nice accommodations.

I see a run out the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday a trip to the local pub to watch USA vs Algeria and England vs. Slovenia for World Cup play to decide who goes through to the next round.

Good night.

A Break

Finally some prolonged well deserved down time. I've been working my ass off since February with Union business and then my temp assignment on a special project. On the temp assignment I busted my ass working overtime. Paid off sweetly.

The overtime is going into one pot for the house down payment. Even my lease isn't up until fall, I plan on start looking at houses, condos and maybe a place outside of Houston. My first choice is a house with a yard. I need the space for my junk. What I mean by junk is I want a home office/studio. I figure a three bedroom house would fit my needs. Obviously the master bedroom for me, a guestroom and the third form my office/studio. Or ideal three bedrooms with a study. As for the studio and why I'm leaning to a house is I want to be able to play my music, guitar and TV loud. If I go the condo/townhouse route then loud guitar playing isn't allowed. I don't like plugging headphones into my amp.

I finally, after one year, turned my car over to my friend that does body work and painting. Her engine is finally restored and running like a colon on Exlax. Now it's time to fix her up and have her looking sexy again. Brand new high end gloss black paint job with new dashboard cover to hide the sunburned cracks. I really look forward to have her ready to go.

As for my break, I was supposed to start my vacation next week. Yesterday I saw we had extra people on schedule for the rest of this shift. So I walked into my supervisor's office and asked for the rest of this week off. I'm off for a total of two weeks. This first week I think I'm just going to pitter around the apartment, clean up some. Also probably head out to a lake or river for some morning or afternoon fishing. Maybe hit Galveston seawall for a good bike ride. I'm also going to get more exercise at the gym. Also a few days out at the pool reading and getting some sun.

Then next weekend I have a wedding out of town that I really don't want to attend. However it's family and I will be fulfilling the one obligatory function I attend once a year.

I called that girl Rebecca's ex-husband introduced me to. Haven't heard back from her so whatever.

I have a bunch of little projects at home I want to work on too but hobby stuff not chore stuff. So I think I'm headed to a nice relaxing two weeks.

The Set Up

A couple of weeks ago, Rebecca told me a her ex-husband wanted me to meet a woman. This woman is looking for a relationship and Rebecca recommended me. I know, I know. My ex-girlfriend's ex-husband trying to set me up doesn't sound kosher. Of course I said,"What the hell? I'll meet her."

I hadn't heard anything since. My work schedule eased up and I had a four day weekend. So I called Rebecca to see if she wanted to go out. Mid conversation she said,"Oh you have the weekend off? Good, let me find out if my ex-husband can set you up to meet the woman."

"Uh, okay." Whatever. Doesn't hurt to meet her.

So I met the ex-husband and the woman yesterday at a coffee place. Rebecca said the woman was pretty good looking girl. She wasn't kidding. The woman is stunning. Tall, leggy red head with a killer body. I thinking she's way out of my league.

Now here's the deal. This girl is way to young for me and is still in the party stage. She just turned 21. I'm old enough to be her father. I'm 20 years older than her. That can't be a good thing. I'm 41, I don't party anymore, I don't go to clubs. This girl does. My social life revolves around my few friends, football and some alumni events. That's it.

We had a nice little conversation, exchanged numbers and I'll see where it goes. Not far I'm assuming but you never know.

More updates as the story develops...or doesn't.

The Pope Dodges A Bullet

Seriously. My crazy coworker,Lonely Girl, that sent me the texts painted me into a corner. She asked me to go with her to the casino and stay the night. I said we'll figure something out when I finished up my temp assignment.

My assignment is up next week and I feared going back. Then my supervisor called me and asked if I mind changing crews. I said hell no. When do I change? As soon as the temp assignment is up. All right! Let me change my vacation days and I'll show up on the new shift.

I sent a text to a another coworker and told her all that transpired. She said, Oh boy other Lonely Girl is going to be upset. Yeah well, she'll have to deal with it.

I talked to another coworker and she said I made the right move. She said Lonely Girl is probably out of her mind and dangerous. She thinks Lonely Girl would probably get possessive, imagine a relationship that didn't exist or go crying to HR with false accusations if rebuffed.

I didn't think twice about the move. I did it out of a sense of self preservation. I really don't feel to sorry for Lonely Girl. She created her own mess and chaos at home. I told her how to get out of it but she didn't listen. She's using a weak excuse to stay at home when things are beyond repair according to her. There are ways to fix those things. She won't. I want no part of it.

Layter!

No Rest for the Wicked

Burning the Candle

I looked at my calendar and realized that I only had four days off in the month of May. I basically worked the entire month. No wonder I'm so tired. I need to slow it down. My temp assignment is drawing to and end soon. Then I go back to my regular job...which I'm not looking forward to. I'd rather stay where I'm at.

At least I've got some vacation time in June and July. I need it. I still don't know what I'm going to do but I'm leaning heavily toward Vegas.

Disturbing Texts

Last night I received a disturbing text from a coworker. She broke up with her boyfriend. It's a really weird situation she created for herself. Basically she doesn't have the balls to throw him out. She claims that she can't afford the house without him and he won't sign off on a sell so she has to stay with him. I told her in Texas she's already in a common law marriage. I told her to go see a divorce lawyer and start divorce proceedings. She won't.

She's my friend but I purposely keep my distance. She's chaos, a drama queen and loves misery. I figure such a friendship would be draining on me. I don't have time for that.

So she texts me to come hang out with her to cheer her up. I can't because I'm working. She then asked me to call in sick this week and go hang with her. I told her no cause I may need those sick day when I'm actually sick. She then told me that she's going to just pop pills and sleep the rest of her time off. She said a few more things. I told her if she's looking for sympathy I'm not sympathetic to her situation.

I don't feel sorry for her. I don't want her moods to bring me down. She needs to get her shit together and move on from this relationship. She needs to learn to have friends and not wear them down. She created her own mess and she needs to clean it up.

Once I get back to my regular job, where she works, I'm going to have to be on pins and needles with her. I also don't want her to mistake my friendship and anything more. Let's face it, she disgusts me on several levels. Physically she won't take care of herself. She binge eats when she's depressed. Mentally she's off her rocker sometimes. We all are. Unlike others, she knows it but she won't take action about it. I gave her the number to my shrink several months ago. I don't think she's been. She thrives on chaos at work and home. I can't deal with that drama.

I hope she can get her shit together. Unfortunately for her but fortunately for me, I won't put up with it. It's going to reach a point where I'm going to say grow up, grow a set and straighten your shit cause I can't, I won't and I will not be your friend under these circumstances.