Walrilla's Wonderings

WALrus+goRILLA=Walrilla! What's not to love?

31 October, 2006

A Halloween Story...

That didn't happen at Halloween.

This is a true story. If you believe it, great. If you don't, that's fine, too. I know what happened to me.

This happened when I was 24. I had just started working for a large multi-national company, headquartered in Plano, TX, but I was working at Ft. Hood, TX, doing mainframe data processing for Civil Service. I didn't work for the government, I was just doing work for them. Kind of a consultant, really.

The company that employed me had sent me to Plano for some in-house education and orientation. Another employee and I were driving the company van up there, so I had my parents drop me off at the datacenter to meet him, then they would drive my car home from there.

As I had just bought a new Beretta(car, not pistol), I had hoped my dad would drive it home, but he got into the passenger side and told my mom she could drive home. They left, and the other guy and I climbed into the van and left, also. The drive up was uneventful, and so was dinner in Plano that night.

We were staying in Corporate apartments, a two bedroom near the company. That night, I was awakened by a horrible dream. In the dream, what I thought was my grandmother was lying in a hospital bed. I was speaking with her and she said that she wanted me to come home. I told her I couldn't, that I had a week of classes there in Plano and I couldn't get out of them. She then said that if I didn't come then, that I wouldn't see her anymore, meaning that she would die. I woke up with a jolt, and had to get up and get a drink of water to calm down. The dream upset me. It upset me very much, but I finally calmed down and went back to sleep.

The next morning, we went to the company education buildings and found our class. I was sitting in the classroom before class started, when I saw my cousin-in-law at the door. He worked at the same company I did, but I didn't know he was up in Plano at the same time I was. Looking back, I knew he wasn't there for class, but I was blocking the real answer from my mind. He asked the instructor if he could speak to me, and I followed him out into the hall.

He then told me that my cousin was in the car and that I needed to go talk to her. I asked him what was wrong, and if something had happened to my grandmother. The only thing he told me was that I had to go talk to my cousin, his wife. I followed him down to the parking lot and out to the car, where I found my cousin with bloodshot eyes, like she had been crying. I jumped in the car and asked her what was wrong, fearing for my grandmother. What she told me shocked the hell out of me.

She told me that my father had suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night, and that when my mother went to wake him up at 04:30, so he could get to work(he was a gravel truck driver, and started very early every day), he was laying on the floor in the living room. The Paramedics had come, but there was nothing they could do.

I'm convinced that the dream that night was my father coming to say goodbye to me, and that my brain had changed it top my grandmother because, well, because she was the next logical person to pass, not my father. You know, parents are not supposed to outlive their children, and all that. That one tore me up pretty good, much more than the time I saw a ghost at the age of five, but that's a story for a later time.

Walrilla

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone!



Walrilla

P.S. A special Howdy and a tip o' the skullcap to everybody's favorite witch, Maeve!

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30 October, 2006

Some Linky-Love

OK, everybody, I had great people help me out when I was about to turn over 5k in my sitemeter, now it's my turn.

k over at k's Quest is about to turn over 5k. She's a great person with some incredible stories and photos, so go over and tell her "Howdy!" Let's get her meter to spinning so she'll tell some more stories, OK?

Walrilla

Update: She's done it! Congratulations, k!

Fundraising Shenanigans

My daughter's school sent out some packets a few weeks ago for a fundraising project that required the kids, and their parents, to sell gift wrap, knick-knacks, and candy to raise funds for their playground. Good idea, right? Cute kids, just trying to earn money for some playground equipment, who could say no? Parents taking the sales sheet to work, dragooning their co-workers into buying stuff they didn't need. Come on, "It's for the chiiiilldrennnn!!!!" You'd buy, wouldn't you?

What a load of horse hockey! Don't buy anything. I was embarrassed when I delivered these products to the buyers. An $8.00 box of Milk Chocolate Coconut Clusters - probably worth about $1.50. A $10.00 pair of Electric Scissors - about $2.00 in a dime store. I apologized to the buyers, I was so embarrassed. I was more upset that they were, but it still made me feel bad for pushing such low-quality crap on them.

That's it. I'm not selling anymore fundraising crap for anything. I'll ask for donations, but I won't sell anything. Not gift wrap, not popcorn, not candy, discount cards, or knick-knacks. Besides, only 50% goes to the school or organization doing the selling. The other 50% goes to the selling company. I think I can get more people to donate than would buy the stuff, anyway.

I know I'm more willing to donate $10.00 to your cause, than I am to buy a $9.00 jug of popcorn that's going to net the organization only $4.50, and that I could get at the supermarket for $2.98. I'm not against people raising money, I just hate the cheap crap they sell trying to do so.

Walrilla

27 October, 2006

Outstanding Responses

Wow, y'all have been responding with some great comments. Some of them I have seen, and can see where it would creep someone out, and some I haven't seen, but am looking forward to seeing in the near future. Lot's of good movies out there!

Nancy came up with one, though, that I am in total agreement with her on the movie, except for a different reason. The ending of that movie(Crap! I'm getting verklempt sitting here writing this at the thought of it.) tears me up something fierce. It's not that it creeps me out. I just think it's one of the saddest endings I've ever seen.


CAUTION!! SPOILER ALERT!!

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When the aliens allow him to relive only one day from his memory, that scene, and thought behind it, just tears me up, especially when he chooses to relive a day with the mother that abandoned him in the woods.(I hear you out there, saying "You pussy!" I know. I don't care. I challenge you to watch it, and really think about it, and stay unaffected!) That affects me deeper than any movie ever has. It's not the whole movie, just that scene.

And I don't know why it does, it just does.

Guess I'll go sign up to teach those male sensitivity classes now, or somethin'.

Walrilla

26 October, 2006

What Creeps You Out?

Hammer and imp told us which movies gave them the heebie-jeebies in the comments of the previous post, which got me to wondering. Which movie, or scene from a movie, just creeps you out so much, you can barely stand to watch it?

Walrilla

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24 October, 2006

TV Worth Watching

Guess what I'm watching right now on the History Channel? I'll give you a hint: Eric would probably NOT be watching it with me!

That's right, it's Fear Files: Zombies! A look at cinematic and real life zombies. At this point, they're about to start discussing the genesis and the impact of Night Of The Living Dead. Now that film creeped the hell out of me when I first saw it. The nightmares stayed with me for a long time after I saw it, probably much younger than I should have. I'd say I was around 6 or 7 the first time I saw it. I don't know how many times I've seen it since then, but every time I do, I still get at least a little queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Yet, every time it comes on, I'm right there in front of the TV, watching it intently.

The only other film to affect me that way was Re-Animator, a somewhat cheesy horror flick from 1985. This is the only other film to give me nightmares. The movie itself wasn't very scary, kind of tongue-in-cheek, but the dreams inspired by it were terrifying. They caused me to wake up in the middle of the night, panting, in a cold sweat, with the feeling of needing to GET OUT! GET AWAY! And to this day, I have no idea what the dream was about. I can only tell you that, if anyone had been near me when I woke up those nights, I would probably have beat them near to death trying to GET AWAY, the terror was that real.

I still watch horror films, but they truly need to be... refined. I've seen nothing lately to live up to those old films, where what you didn't see terrified the HELL out of you!

The unknown is always more terrifying than the known.

Walrilla

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Hello, Is Anyone There?

Well, I shot my record all to hell with that last little bout of non-blogging. There I go bragging about 5,000 visitors, then I get felled by a bug, and don't touch this for 4 days. Although, I have to say, sprinting to the bathroom and sluggishly dragging yourself back to the bed doesn't leave much time or enthusiasm for blogging.

I feel much better today, though. In fact, I somehow got to work today, without having to stop on the way in, except for my beloved Double Gulp of Diet Dr. Pepper. A feat not possible for the last three days, believe me. In fact, I didn't even see my living room until last night.

I won't say I'm back in the saddle, but I can at least see the dang barn.

Walrilla

P.S. It's taking me a hell of a lot longer to drain that Double Gulp than it usually does.

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19 October, 2006

YA-HOOOOO!

We have a winner, folks! Big Number 5000 is somebody from Lebanon, Indiana at 23:18 Wednesday night. Actually, it came a lot quicker than I really expected. I thought it was going to take a couple of days to get that much traffic.

You like me, you really like me(snif)!

Now if the winning person will identify themselves, I will get busy and send them something. What, I don't know yet, but it will be at least semi-not-crap.
(I think I got some ticket stubs around here somewhere, or maybe an empty beer bottle, personally drunk by myself)

Walrilla

Update: I just found out a bunch of you were steered here from The Straight White Guy. Now there's some bloggy love for ya. Man, what a friend. Welcome to everyone who comes here from wherever you are!

Update II: Just found out this morning that The Ever-Charmin' GuyK also was helpin' me along. I just wanted to thank everybody for this incredible journey.

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18 October, 2006

A Celebration Is Soon To Be In Order

Well, I'm sneaking up on 5,000 visits. I know that's kind of piddlin', compared to some of the rest of y'all, but I'll take what I can get. After all, one needs to find whatever celebrations one can, when one has a fresh bottle of Raki in the house, doesn't one?

Let's see... 5,000 visitors? Let's get some Raki! It's raining, finally? Raki! Sun came up? Yep, that's right, some more Raki!

Walrilla

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OK, Time For A Question

With all of the problems of Blogger, and the evilness of Google in general, I have been thinking of moving to Wordpress. Now, here's where the question part comes in.

This applies to all of the Wordpress people who come through here primarily, but anybody is free to answer. Have you had any experience with Wordpress, and, if so, was it enjoyable? Were there any problems with it I haven't seen yet? Is it as easy to use as Blogger?

I'm still investigating, right now, but I would appreciate your answers.

15 October, 2006

All Right! I Confess!

I've been hiding something from all of you. I can no longer suppress this, or I may go insane. I just can't keep it under wraps any longer. Oh, the shame I felt at Austin when I couldn't let any one know my deep, dark, secret! I have lived in horror lest anyone find out. I finally decided to just tell all and let the chips fall where they may.

I know several of you may be disgusted enough to never come here again. Several others of you may start coming here more often, because you sense a... kinship of sorts... a brotherhood, if you will, or, indeed, a sisterhood(oh, God, the embarrassment!), a feeling that we share a deep bond. Be that as it may, I feel I must come clean.

All right, here goes...

Nine years ago, approximately, my dear wife forced me to do something. Something that has caused me to hang my head in regret ever since. I was young(OK, youngER, since I AM an old fart), and didn't have a good sense of right and wrong, and I was still infatuated with the idea of being married. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife and I enjoy being married, but love isn't infatuation. Infatuation leads you to do some things that, in the words of others, "just ain't right!" I have no excuse, except for the aforementioned infatuation.

Waht did I do, you may ask? I shudder in horror to think of it to this day. I... no... WE went to a disreputable area, found a dealer, sampled the goods, and brought these foul abominations into our house. A house shared by us and my stepson, and later, our daughter.


May God, and you, forgive me for what I've done.

Walrilla

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13 October, 2006

Oooookay

Because I have nothing else to talk about right now, I present this:


You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person.
However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways.
You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order.
You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.


Well, I guess that's better than being a Mer-Man. I hate for my fingers to get all pruny.

Walrilla

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12 October, 2006

The Best Pr0n in The World...

is Gun Pr0n! El Capitan and some other people have posted some things on their blogs lately. Sharp pointy things, loud bangy things, and smooth drinky things. I figured I would do my part to support them, so here's my contribution:



Clockwise, from the bottle:
Forty Creek Barrel Select Canadian Whiskey(surprisingly smooth and very good for the price)

Ruger Service-Six .357
Speedloaders
My favorite sharp pointy thing
.357 hollowpoints

And before anybody says "That'll only make 'em mad.", I guaran-damn-tee you he's gonna be a little more than mad

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Reason #5,374 Why I Love My In-Laws

Man, I love my in-laws! You talk about the greatest people in the world, that's them! They have been the nicest people ever since my wife and I started dating 15 years ago. Never a cross word from my mother-in-law. No snide remarks. My father-in-law and I play poker together in a little monthly tournament. They've welcomed me just as a son, something they NEVER did with my wife's first husband.

Which brings me to the case in point. About 2 years ago, they went on a cruise to Greece, Italy, and parts around there. When they returned, they brought everybody souvenirs, mine being a nice t-shirt and a small bottle of Ouzo, straight from Greece. Just the best stuff!

This year, when they cruised the Mediterranean, they asked me if I would like some more Ouzo when they returned. Being the connoisseur of fine liquor that I am(snrk, snrk), I enthusiastically agreed.

Well, what they returned with wasn't Ouzo, but this:



Man, talk about cool! This is Raki, a grape-based anise seed flavored liqueur from Turkey that beats all of the Ouzo I have ever tasted.

They said they thought I would like this better, since I still had some Ouzo left. I wholeheartedly agreed.

Now, are they some cool people, or what?

Walrilla

11 October, 2006

Blogger Problems

Well, here I go missing my deadlines already.I tried to post last night, but blogger was having a snit. Totally my fault, though, for waiting until late last night to post. I will do better tonight.

Walrilla

09 October, 2006

My Smartitudeness Is Measured!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things.
Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments.
You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it.
You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle.

You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.


Shamelessly stolen from the very beautiful and highly intelligent Lisa W. at Lemons and Lollipops

Okay, Here We Go!

All right, as promised, now begins the At-Least-Once-A-Day posting experiment. Let's see where this will take us, shall we?

Walrilla

06 October, 2006

What Do You Think Of This

I was reading the newspaper after I got home tonight, and saw a story about a man in a neighboring town who died in a fire. It turns out the fire was intentionally set. What a horrible thing to die in a fire. The searing pain, the agony as your limbs contract from the heat, your skin blistering and splitting. Makes you feel sorry for anyone suffering that, doesn't it?




Would it change your mind if you knew he was a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually assaulting a 20 year-old man who was ruled mentally incapable of giving consent?

It changed mine.

Walrilla

03 October, 2006

Oh, By The Way

Just wanted to let everybody know what a blast I had, guest blogging over at El Capitan's site last week.

Walrilla

This Appears To Be An Ongoing Trend

Here lately, it seems I've been putting out about five or six posts, then nothing for a while, then another post explaining where I've been. Well, I think I need to start an exercise. I'm fixin' to start posting everyday. I don't know what I'm going to post, but I will commit to posting something everyday. I will announce when I am going to start, but it will probably be next Monday.

I guarantee, a post everyday, or your money back!

Now, how many other bloggers would promise that?

Walrilla