Gilbert Days Parade Saturday 11/15 9:00 AM...ish

Hey all,
Long story short, I was an announcer in last year's Gilbert Days Parade with a buddy of mine and I'm doing it again in the morning. Last year we were at the Desert Rose Gas Station at the northeast corner of Gilbert and Warner Roads and I believe we are there again this year. I have to be at the Gilbert City Hall at 6:30 AM. If you're up early and don't have anything better to do, you can give me a shout on my cell to find out. Call between 7:30 and 9:00. My cell isn't on here on purpose. If you don't have it, send me a message.

Cheers...

8:40 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Midway to Faire Affair-After all is said and done...

I want to thank you all for coming to the 2nd Annual Midway to Affair. 

I had a blast and from what I'm hearing, everyone had fun.  I also want to especially thank all of those who RSVPd "Attending" that showed up and therefore directly or indirectly helped the RESCU foundation.  We had about 50 attendees from about 70 RSVPs including guests.

The final tally?  We raised about $1,000.00 but the tab was $1,070.00 so I pledged $100.00 and Alan (El Travelador on myspace) matched me with $100.00.  What can I say, I need to plan a little better I guess.

I've sent an email to RESCU letting them know that the check for $200.00 is on the way.  I'll let you know of any feedback I get from them and pass it on.

Again, I want to thank each and every one of you who attended!!!  You did your part by being there for me!

Peace and light to all...

7:34 AM - 7 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

The Event and Application Invites

Hey all,

First of all, thank you to my friends that invite me from time to time on fun looking applications like the mob game and another called heros.  Looks like fun.  But please excuse me if I don't accept the invitations.  I like to keep in touch with friends through myspace but I don't like to add applications to my program.  So please remember I cherish your friendship whether I accept your application or not :o)

The Event

Here is the list as it stands.  I hope to have a guest book for all to sign at the event.  Please remember:

Cover is $20 for 13 years to adult.  $8 for 6 years to 12 years.

No Weapons.  Molly's doesn't want to keep track of weaponry.

Food and most non-alcoholic beverages (like soda and tea) will be provided

Alcohol is the responsibility of each individual.  You can pay cash or you can give a credit card to keep your own tab open.

I'll be looking for feedback after the event, what's good, bad, did well, need to do better and the interest in doing another one prior to next year at this time.  Molly's is opening one up at San Tan Village and the room there may be bigger.  The list reflects that we are going to have a little bit of a tight squeeze but this really took off.  I never expected more than 40, but thank you all who have RSVPd and the RESCU foundation will thank you as well.  We'll see what we can do for them when the dust settles on Saturday.

Guest List

1. Irregular Joe
2. Kelly Kay
3. Jacob
4. Kadeena
5. Kadeena guest
6. Judy
7. Judy guest
8. Becky/Tane
9. Branwen/Sara
10. Floofie
11. Loraina
12. Loraina guest
13. El Travelador/Alan
14. Salty Sunset/Denise
15. Salty Sunset/Denise guest
16. Samurai Panda
17. Samurai Panda guest
18. Elizabeth
19. Elizabeth guest
20. Cassandra/Joanne
21. Cassandra guest
22. Cassie
23. Lady Christine/Dodie
24. Gallardo/Greg
25. Gallardo guest
26. Pat the Wench
27. LaDeah
28. LaDeah guest
29. Lady K
30. Lady K guest
31. Raven
32. Raven Guest
33. Aggie
34. Glen
35. Mario
36. Mario guest
37. Lady Tina
38. Lady Madelyn
39. Delena
40. Chris
41. Paulina
42. Delena Kids
43. Delena Kids
44. Deborah
45. Ravena
46. Damon
47. Ivan Beowulf Huntsman
48. Catherine
49. Catherine Guest
50. Ronn
51. Ronn Guest
52. L'Beau Sabreur
53. L'Beau Sabreur Guest
54. Morgan Dreadlocke
55. Morgan Dreadlocke Guest
56. Outlander
57. Leah
58. Cerarienh
59. Arctos Horribilis
60. SCM Melisa
61. SCM Melisa Guest
62. Aiden Wolfe
63. Anna Brown
64. Anna Brown Guest
65. Kristy
66. Kristy's Mom
67. Casey

10:20 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

The last weekend and travels to others...

Oh, I hate this time of year when our Faire comes to close.  It will be sad.  But it seems so, so long ago that the Horde was here.  When I think back to that alone I realize just how long I have been celebrating Faire and how much fun I have had.  If only I could work a three day work week during Faire, that would be fantastic.

But it’s also bitter sweet.  For some reason I can’t seem to do Faire without potent potables and this old body just doesn’t recover from them like I used to.  I started running more a few weeks ago and have stayed on the treadmill.  But for some reason, 60 straight hours a week of drunken debauchery isn’t just washed away with 8 hours on the treadmill.  So as sad as the close is, I’m going to really enjoy next Saturday.  In the meantime, one more grand HUZZAH to go!!!  And I’m going to party like it’s 1599!!!

Anyway, some of you may know my plans for travel to other Faires and some of you may not.  For those that don’t, here are my plans.  And by all means, send me a message if you are interested in either.

Colorado: We are flying out Friday morning, 6/13 at 6:00 AM and flying back on 6/16 at 3:30 PM.  I was able to get a slight bargain at a hotel that is usually $99 a night.  For our group it will be $85 a night.  That’s just in 11 weeks!

Flagstaff: The very following weekend I’ll be attending the Flagstaff Faire.  This one is small but enormous with friendship.  I’ll be driving up Saturday morning and staying Saturday and Sunday night and driving back on Monday.  Wow, I have to take three days off in June.  I better get that on the vacation calendar.

Michigan: We’re adding an extra day to this trip.  Owain usually plays Thursday night somewhere like he has been in Chandler, AZ.  Hopefully he will be this year as well.  And then we’ll have a day to explore a little more of the Grand Blanc area of Michigan.  I leave at 6:00 AM on Thursday morning, August 28^th for the three day weekend of Festival celebration in Holly, Michigan.  I fly back on Tuesday.  Again, if anyone is interested, please let me know.  We stay at a very quaint motel on Saginaw road about five miles from the festival.

To all of my friends, this has been by far the best year I have ever had at festival.  Between myspace and renaissancefestival.com, we have managed to all come together and become a wonderful, huge group of friends.  I’ll miss not seeing you every weekend.  Hopefully we will see each other often, or at least often enough, during the off season.  I still love to party on the weekends to drop me a line if you want to join.

And for those of you I may not get to see, until next year my friends.  Thank you for your friendship and the wonderful memories you have given me.

Joe

6:56 AM - 4 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Owain Phyfe Phans-Open Mic 2/28

Greetings Owain Phyfe Phans!
Owain will be playing open mic night at Down Under Wines at the Chandler Fashion Center. 
Thursday night, 2/28 from ~6:30 PM to ~8:30 PM
Down Under is located on the Chandler Blvd side of the mall and is in the little strip mall directly south of PF Changs.  Owain called me and said he would love to see some of us there.

4:20 PM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

My Friends!

The Horde.  These are the most beautiful people I have ever met.  Don't be fooled by their rough exterior or their brash demeanor.  It pales in comparison to the way they make you feel as a person.  They are the most wonderful, kind and thankful people I have ever met.  Here is to you Donk, Ronin, Kelly, Tori, Lana, Elrik, Jennifer.  I miss you now; I'll miss you until I meet you again.  And I will not forget our friendship.  I love you guys!!!  And you make me feel loved...

7:29 PM - 7 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Skyding was fun :o)

Skydiving was fun yesterday.  I hadn't jumped in 17 months and so I thought I would be a little more nervous that I was and in actuality it was very fun and I was very energetic about it.  Oh, for those that don't know, I started in 1992 and have over a thousand jumps so it's not new to me, I just don't jump as much as I used to.  Anymore, I think what makes me most nervous is traffic in the air.  When your jumping, regardless of the size of your group, you're eventually in the air with 22 other skydivers if the plane is full.  What was so fun about yesterday is that we were doing hop and pops, you get out at 4,000 feet while the plane continues to 13,000.  But when it's just you and one other person, 13,000 feet can get pretty boring.  So we were exiting at 4 grand, turning a few formations, breaking off at 3 grand and opening at 2 grand (or the neighborhood there of).  That way, no traffic, I get to set the landing pattern/direction, it was all good.  Didn't even wear my jumpsuit, I was totally ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Jersey, jeans and fleece top.  The second jump, I had issues getting my hand on the pilot chute.  This happened to me in 1997 and was one of my two reserve pulls.  I changed gear shortly after to the deployment system I have now, but I guess I should have stretched a little more.  Got open around 1,800.  Anyhoo, someone took a couple of pictures while I was up in the air on my first jump.  Take a peak.  I think you might see the wind tunnel they have out there in the back ground.  I think I'm going back after festival for some formation stuff and stay current.  I say that all the time, last time I said that was August of 06 :o)

9:15 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

A Must Read:Festival Tips for First Timers and Newbies

Or, "Is that a Turkey Leg in your pants or are you just glad to see me..." by Joseph the Merchant of The Great Ship Blackwidow


First and foremost (hithertofore in roman numerals), if you have never been to a festival, you're either going to love it or hate it. If you hate it, just leave, don't stick around and be a jackass, there's a tractor pull or yard sale very close by I'm sure. If you're not sure right away, slam two beers and a glass of mead. It will enhance the rest of your experience and may just loosen your arse up enough to enjoy the rest of it. If you do enjoy it or just plain fall in love with it, my condolences to you and your Visa Gold Card. Both of you will be spent by the end of the day (and you have to come back tomorrow).

IInd, this is a Renaissance Festival. So don't get all butt hurt if mud gets flung on you at the Wild Men show or a falcon craps on your head. And it's not church so please; don't get the red ass (or scarlet arse) when Mike at Vegetable Justice tells you why there are tomato seeds in your sister's bed or that with your baseball hat on backwards you look like Darth Vader's wiener.

IIIrd, it's a Renaissance Festival, not a costume party. I've watched a few Renaissance and Medieval era movies in my time and I don't recall seeing Spock, a storm trooper, Austin Powers or Marilyn Manson in any of them. So George Takei, if you are reading this, please leave the Enterprise standard issue uniform at home.

IVth, some of these folks make a decent living. But many of them do not. If you can afford a couple of beers, then you can afford a buck, one lousy stinking dollar, at the end of a show. If not, look for me, I'll give ya one (dollar, not beer).

Vth, as soon as it starts to sprinkle, even a little, run like hell to your car and get away as fast as you can! It will flood and you will be up to your knees in Arizona quick sand! Ok, that's a bold faced lie and absolutely for my own benefit. But usually when all of you mundanes leave, it leaves the rest of the Festival day just for us in garb and that's pretty cool.

VIth, buy some garb.  Would you go to the Oscars in jeans or would you wear a tux?  Well then, dress appropriately! I have some really fantastic pictures I've taken of some really great people at the festival. But sir, you in the Raiders shirt, khaki shorts, flip-flops, Oakley sunglasses with zinc cream on your nose and the other fifty people just like you in the shot are ruining the Kodak moment.

VIIth, now that you just bought some garb, lose the sunglasses.

VIIIth, I know that we are technically outside. But do you mind not burning a weed while sitting right next to others at a show? The world is your ashtray here. Just step away from the show a few yards. I appreciate it. And we all appreciate it if you put your smoke completely out and then put it in the trash. I don't step on what's left of my Fysh n Chyps and leave it on the ground, it goes in the trash. And so should your roach.

IXth, The gates open at 10:00 so if you get stuck on the 60 at 1:00, start earlier next time (I can give you a wake up call when I get to the parking lot at 9:30).

Xth and lastly, If reading this does indeed give you the scarlet arse, stay away from Vegetable Justice :o)  It's not for the easily offended or tomato lovers :o)

I hope this doesn't make me sound like a Renaissnob...

I'll be writing a section called "How to do the Arizona Renaissance Festival for Under $100.00 a Day", that is, just as soon as I can figure out how to do it myself…

HUZZAH!!!

3:22 PM - 13 Comments - 17 Kudos - Add Comment

The PMP Exam

This is kind of funny.  Not the funny that makes you laugh, but the funny in a Rita Rudner sort of way.  I was a sheet metal worker for 13 years.  And by that, I don't mean I held sheet metal snips in my hand because if that were the case, put a golf club in my hand and I'm a golfer, put a squeegee in my hand and I'm a window wather.  What I mean is that from the time I was 18 to the time I was 20, I pursued getting into the Union.  At 20, I got in.  For the next five years I did my apprenticeship.  Two nights a week, three hours a night, five years.  I could take a flat piece of sheet metal and make it look like an Air Jordan Nike…..yeah, with laces…  At 26, I got politically involved and won a position on the Executive Board of Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 359.  We had some corrupt assholes in our local at the time and the platform I won on?  Shit, I'm kind of lucky I didn't wind up tits up.   I…..was a sheet metal worker.  But who the fuck wants to work when it is115 degrees and you're on a hot roof doing general sheet metal, flashing, gutters, scuppers and shit like that?  So at 33, I put a résumé into Intel for a project manager position.  I got it.  I love my job.  I hate the machine, but I love my job.  But lately I started to think, "What makes me a project manager?".  Is it the cubical I sit in?  Is it because that's the job this company hired me for?  Well shit, you might as well put a golf club in my hand and call me a golfer.  When I heard that upper management wanted us to take the PMP Exam, the first thing I thought was, "Well, I guess they're looking for another reason to fire us, and failing will put something else in their back pocket".  Then I realized, most to none of my management doesn't have it.  Then it came to me, "Hey, here it is.  Here's what I've been looking for.  Here's what will prove to me, myself and I that it's not just the cube I'm in, it's not just the job they hired me for.  This is the "golf club" I've been looking for".  The PMP exam is very exclusive.  It's internationally recognized as and indicator of what makes a project manager and the experience they have.  And truly, it is one hell of a test.  The course I took for the exam in Tempe had one guy in it from a Kuwaiti oil company, a guy from a Switzerland manufacturing company and a slew of software people.  The instructor was fantastic.  This was by far the most motivational program I have ever taken.  It was a five day course.  I learned a lot that week, about project management, about myself, about project managers.  The course states that after it, you should only have to study for 40 hours.  I studied about 100.  I set a bracket up on my treadmill so that I could read and walk.  I read at every little break at work and when I didn't have a meeting.  I've been listening to Rita Mulcahey on two CD's to and from work.  Shit, I take it back, it's more like 140 hours.  Anyway, imagine studying to fly a helicopter, hearing and reading all you can and then walking into the test room and getting set in front of a 747 simulator.  This exam is fucked up!!!!  I was so pissed off by question 20, I wanted to walk out.  Hey, how about this?  Cindy is collecting data from a recent project to share with other coworkers.  She is showing examples of? (and mind you, I know this).  This is either lessons learned, post mortem or Organizational Process Assets.  Piece of cake.  Then, your answers to select from are; She's needs a pedicure, her car is broken, her company has a building that sits diagonal to the world or 7.  What the fuck??????????  Ok, the answers weren't that stupid.  But imagine looking at these answers after all that studying.  Truly.  Imagine this.  I was so pissed off.  I got the four hour exam done in 3:46.  I spent 13 minutes looking at my answers, reviewing them.  I didn't change many, maybe two.  I looked at them and said, "What the fuck, I didn't know it a few hours ago, I don't know it now, they all look just as retarded".  I watch nearly the last full minute count down from 58 seconds to zero.  I figured, "Hey, I failed, but at least I was here the full four hours".  I guess that was the old John Maddon, "They never gave up" thing.  You know, when a team is down by 30 points in the fourth with one minute to go.  He used to say, "They never gave up, but what does that mean, are they just going to walk off of the field, they can't give up".  I sat there.  Time is up. [OK]  Click.  The screen went white.  For one minute after that I sat there with my face in my hands wondering what my next strategy would be.  Wondering what I could do to answer these stupid questions.  I was sure I had a 30 percent.  Then it popped up; "Congratulations, you have passed the PMP exam".  I started shaking, almost to tears.  Yeah I know, that sounds homo.  But seriously, I had to compose myself before I could get up and at least stop shaking.  I got to the front and asked the guy, "That IS a pass right?"  I had a little breakdown at my car.  It was a lot of pressure that came out all at once.  But I have to tell you, now that it has had a chance to settle in, I don't feel like I accomplished anything of great worth.  No, I feel more like a guy that just rolled 10 sevens in a row at the table.  What did I really do?  Really, how good am I?  What have I really accomplished when all I feel is very lucky?  When all I feel is like someone who has endured a four hour spanking at the frat house.  Ok, I passed.  Yes, I am thankful.  I made a little promise, a prayer if you will, that I would read the PMP exam prep book one more time if I passed.  I will keep that promise.  The book is good.  It is damn good.  It, to me, is like a project manager's bible.  I have learned so much from that book and Rita Mulcahey.  I can't begin to tell you.  And my company will reap the benefits from it.  But the test?  I thought I would feel better, different.  It's a title.  It's an indicator of what I have done.  But all I feel is lucky.  It's something you have to experience.  This wasn't like a final, it was one test, pass or fail.  And I was lucky enough to pass.  But it just doesn't feel like I got the answers from my training and expertise.  I will continue my training.  I will read the book again… and again.  I have to tell you, it's not over.  In fact, it's just beginning.   But now, I am PMP certified.

4:04 AM - 12 Comments - 15 Kudos - Add Comment

Phony spammers and vicious hackers (do not read if your are offended easily or harshly)

To you piece of shit hackers: Get a fucking life.  I don't need your fucking macy's card, your fucking starbucks card, your porn videos (if people can't find it elsewhere without your help then they're too stupid to have a computer), I don't need those stupid fucking bitches Sincerity, Mercedes and Shaniqua to invite me to some other stupid ass fucking site!!!  I hope whatever fucking sweat shop web den you're working in gets hit with ebola.  The only reason I don't set my preferences any more stringent is so that normal people, not like you retarded fucking assholes, can mingle.  Do us all a favor, go drink a bottle of Draino and shove a stick of dynamite up your ass, preferably lit.

8:00 PM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment