This weekend has kind of sucked. I have been cleaning non-stop and am looking forward to a break. Good thing is I'm making some cash. $$ Don't like to write too much about work, cause I think I need to respect people's privacy. It would be interesting though if I didn't.

A while back I wrote about how I was asked to take on some responsibility. Didn't get into details then, but here they are...

Was asked to be Young Men's Division leader for a new district in the Soka Gakkai (Buddhist Org.) After careful thought, and typical Gemini fickleness, I decided to accept the position. The entire organization in the Buffalo Area has been reorganized. All of the old districts were dissolved. This brings about both excitement and the challenge of letting go of familiar routines and comfort. My old district was amazing. In Buffalo we get tons of youth that come and go. Lots of students, who like many, decide to leave or need to leave after graduating. Since I joined the organization like 4 years ago or so, I have seen so many people come and go. Lots of Japanese youth who attend UB, but also members from China, Korea, India, Italy and one from the Sudan. It is certainly a diverse community and I'm always so happy to have such a wide range of people supporting one another and working towards the same goal.

My new district is called the Peace Bridge Group (As we are close to the Peace Bridge). Funny thing about me being the Young Men's District leader is that I am the only young man in the district! As an organization we are growing and this will definitely change. The reason for the redistricting is to make smaller groups allowing for better support of the members. We are currently working on getting a new community center to accommodate the growth.

Gotta say that I have grown quite fond of Buffalo. Sure I hate the weather most of the time, but the people here are amazing. Buffalo can once again be a thriving city. It took me a long time to come to this realization. When I got here in 2000 I didn't like it. No friends, lots of poverty, crime and a rapidly decreasing population. I would like to stay, but that all depends.

My mother wants me to move to Florida. I could live with my sister and teach, as Florida only requires that you be tested for certification. Supposedly, I can make a whopping $35,000 a year starting out. With my student debt I need to make at least this much to live. I don't really want to live in the Sun Shine state. It would be wonderful to live close to my mother, sister, Aunt, Uncle and Niece. Yet I hate suburbs, I hate the redneck mentality and I can't stand Walgreens on every corner and the monotonous track housing. Florida is facing environmental disaster much faster than we are (hard to believe). They are sucking dry their ground water, which is causing houses to sink. Meanwhile they are pouring tons of toxins into the earth mostly for pest control. Hurricanes and rising waters are only part of the problem.

This is getting excessively windy so that is all.

I'm happy with the outcome of the election. Record numbers voted in this midterm elction, in particular, young people. Sure not a lot will be done in the next two years, but at least the brakes will be applied to stop what I consider a country gone out of control. The people elected are not far left. They are a teeny bit left if not center.

What I think needs to be done in the next two years are investigations. I'm certain that there is more to be revealed besides sex scandals. Bush has always advocated accountability and that is exactly what we need. Impeachment will not occur at this time, but there is more to know about this secretive regime. I'm disgusted with the information we already have about the Bush administration, yet this isn't enough. More will be uncovered over time.

Whether or not we had great options for this election, the people are pleading for change. They asked for it from the only available alternative in our system.

Goodbye Rumsfeld. You are a disgrace to this country.

It was nice to read everyone's thoughts regarding the election. Thanks for sharing.

I found this site seems interesting because they list polling instances by state and county. I was able to look at Niagara county but not Erie which had 42 instances in 2004. It kept saying invalid state every time I did a search under Erie.

I don't want any problems with voting. That would really piss me off. I heard on the news that it is possible that certain precincts aren't prepared for the election. Something about not paying some of their contracts until last minute. Not too sure the details so don't quote me. I tried searching for a news story but couldn't find one. I'm so glad we aren't voting on some stupid computer. Who could really trust something like that? Unless of course it left a paper trail...which as you know, they don't. d:coffee led me to votergate which you can watch online. I never saw it, but I knew before that this stuff was going on. Still it was freaking scary. Would you really want your vote cast on something so insecure?

What will tomorrow bring?

Today was crazy and I'm tired. (e:jenks) I would be happy if you took the fish. Are you sure you have enough room? The plant is big and the fish are pigs.

(e:museumchick) still want to get together for Bengal Pause but not sure when.

My other ram died today so I have decided to give my fish tank away. My friend has some goldfish that need a bigger tank so she is going to get it. I do have three sunburst platys and a dwarf frog that need a home. If anyone is interested you can have them. They all have to go together and be in an appropriate environment. They also come with an amazing java fern. Good hearty plants can be hard to come by. Let me know soon if you are interested.

The Bishop accepted an offer for the house. Not sure what this means, although I'm fairly certain I have a couple of months still. They said he is an architect and is using the downstairs for an office. I guess I have to wait and see. Hopefully he will contact us asap and let us know what his intentions are. That is all.

I love The Shining!


Jack Torrance: Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was. You understand?
Wendy Torrance: Yeah.
Jack Torrance: Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing
[types]
Jack Torrance: or whether you DON'T hear me typing, or whatever the FUCK you hear me doing; when I'm in here, it means that I am working, THAT means don't come in. Now, do you think you can handle that?
Wendy Torrance: Yeah.
Jack Torrance: Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the fuck out of here? Hm?

I watch craigslist often. What is wrong with people? Here are two of the latest ads I have found.

A young woman, daughter of a friend, was cleaning my apartment for awhile. She had a toddler and was going to school,and she had a boyfriend, so there were too many demands on her time and she quit abruptly. I would like to find a reasonably nice looking young woman again to clean my apartment on a regular basis, and maybe go shopping with me for decorations and furniture which I need, or take in a movie. I am a retired 60 year old man and I am not looking for sex (I have E.D. from diabetes anyway) but I miss having an attractive young woman around here doing my housework and to chat with while I do my thing (work on computer, play guitar, whatever). Email your reply with contact info, and anything you want to mention or ask me. Maybe you can help me find a nicer place to live and help me decorate it too.

---

FREE room and board!

I have a house, it's a big house. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. I live there alone. I am looking for a guy 18-29yo to move into one of the bedrooms (furnished or unfurnished) and live with me for FREE!

I am 27 years old. I work for an airline, so I am gone from the house 4 days, 3 nights every week, and the house is a lot for me to keep up while I work that schedule. I love to ski (downhill), read, go to movies, relax at home with a glass of wine, enjoy a night watching TV, head to a bar or club sometimes.

In exchange for FREE ROOM AND BOARD you will do the normal household chores. Cleaning, laundry, dishes, some yard work. Ideally you know how to cook and prepare a few meals per week.

I am looking for a permanent live-in situation for someone living in my house with me and in return for all the chores, you get free room and board, along with MANY other benefits! You be down to earth, intelligent, and ready to become friends as well.

Get in touch with me if you're interested. Ask as many questions as you'd like, I'll answer them all.

I'm not necessarily looking for a sexual relationship also, but if one comes of it I won't mind at all.

So I'm about to place my own ad and hope no creeps respond.

This also caught my attention. The personal ads are so funny.

I am curious, and really want to watch a guy Jack Off.
Maybe let me jack you off. I will J/O with you.
Lets trade pics if you are interested.
I have a G/F so discreet please, but I can host

This one doesn't seem all that strange except he posted a pic of his face for everyone to see. Discreet? This stuff is ridiculous!

They were supposed to wait until spring to put the house I live in on the market. Now there is a 4sale sign in the front and this is the 2nd day in a row people have been parading threw my apt. I feel like my life is on display and how can I not be ashamed that I live with another person in a studio apt? There is definitely shame in living in poverty. Anyways, I think that people must respect the way we keep the place considering the situation. We have gotten many comments about how great it looks. This is so invasive. Now I know how the poor apes feel at the zoo.

At first I didn't think the house would go quickly. Now I'm getting concerned. As I was coming in to the house after doing laundry a prospective buyer was on his way out. He was asking the Realtor if a deal were made today what would happen. This is all so unsettling.

I love Halloween but this year it definitely hasn't been a priority. With no money and little time, finding a costume seemed impossible. Yesterday I still had nothing and was invited to two parties. I decided not to go to them, because I worked until 7:30 and what could I do in this short amount of time? I told (e:mike) that I wasn't going to the party of (e:timika), (e:nejiffer), and (e:decoyisryan).

As I sat by myself I decided I would at least try and find something in the house and if I couldn't find anything I would at least have given it a shot. Really I don't have much, most of my stuff is packed away and stored at my Dad's. My best option, or so I thought, would to be an Abu Ghraib torture victim. I had an old sheet, which I think was supposed to be black but is now bluish. I got some speaker wire and ran it through my sleeves so it would dangle outside the sheet. Really it looked just ridiculous so I scratched that idea.



I ended up being a Gangsta of some sort and was really proud of being able to pull something off. I think (e:metalpeter) will probably post pics. I went to (e:three)'s company party only because I didn't want to be out that late, they live super close and (e:mike) was there. I feel bad for skipping out on the other party because I really love them and they have great Halloween parties. Had a good time and (e:metalpeter) and I were terrible at beer pong. Thanks for a great party!

I found a new coffee that I am in love with. Actually, I got it at Latina's cause it was cheap. It's called Café Oquendo. It really reminds me of the Cuban coffee I so loved every morning at the convent.

Due to the storm, food stamp participants received 73% of their October benefits back on their ebt cards. Somehow this rumor got started that they would lose these benefits if not used by midnight on Monday. They fled to the stores in droves filling up carts and snatching up milk. Chaos was reported at Latina's Food Market. When announced on the intercom that it was a rumor and the benefits would remain for 270 days, some fled, leaving carts filled with food.

Here is a sampling of the rumor...

Elizabeth Feeney: "I thought I was going to lose my food."

Rob Macko: "Who did you hear this from?"

Elizabeth Feeney: "A friend told me his sister told him that she heard it too."

source

Gotta love rumors.