Yeah, I've been lazy about writing in this thing, but honestly, there's been nothing to report or nothing that I feel like getting off my chest. There probably still isn't, but I like unloading the contents of my brains every so often. Its therapeutic.

So its the last week in October and I'm very happy about that. November has always been a personal favorite month of mine. Mostly because my birthday is in November, and my birthday always falls on or around Thanksgiving, so I get to celebrate it with my family, and they always give me cash as a present, so its always good. And of course I'm looking forward to my birthday even more this year because I'm going to London to see Elena over Thanksgiving, and I'll be spending my birthday with her.

We've never shared birthday's together. When we first started chatting, it was like 2 days before her birthday, so I wished her a happy birthday, but that was about it. She was all worried about what to get me, since I'm impossible to shop for. Everything I really want or need in this world I usually get it for myself because I'm impatient. But she said she has something picked out for me and I hope I like it. Honestly, I don't need anything from her. Just spending my birthday with her is present enough.

Same thing goes for Christmas. She'll be home 2 weeks after I leave her, and I told her I don't want anything for Christmas except for her to come home, which thankfully she agreed to. Of course I have something all picked out for her, something very very nice and very platinum and very much so wrapped in those blue boxes that women love receiving so much. I haven't gotten it yet, but I will, soon enough.

So that's where we're at on the Elena front. I'll be leaving to see her in 30 days, which can't go by soon enough. She told me not to ask her if she promises everytime we say "I love you" and I've been good about that. I usually say, good, at least now I do.

On the job and other fronts all is well. Got my housekey back from the ex and I sent her the book she wanted. We chatted last night and it was all civil. I used every chance I had to say how great things were, referred to Elena as Elena and not just "my girlfriend" and mentioned and tried not to run in too much my weight loss. Even though she was a deuce before she left (read = 200 lbs.), she said she lost 15, but has been slowly gaining it back. I didn't feel bad at all mentioning my 75 pound loss and that I unfortunately gained 4 back after London. Oh no!

The only other big news is that in about a week or two I will be going ahead with my purchase of my new laptop. I figured I just got that American Airlines credit card, I'm just going to kill the small balance I've run on it since I got it and buy the laptop and earn a crap load of miles. My mom offered to help pay a little, which will help and I've almost balance transferred my Amex onto my Discover card. One more big payment to Discover should do it. The three paychecks in October are a big help too. I can't wait to get it, thats for sure. I've been wanting a new Mac for over a year now. Its nice to finally have that dream realized.

Alright, I've typed enough and my hands and arms are getting sore. Peace out, adios and all that other junk!

I must say that things are going pretty good for me right now, and thats a scary things, because things don't usually go well for me. I'm not used to it, I'm really not so I'm just waiting for things to start going bad. I hope they won't, my brain just has trouble sometimes accepting reality. Me and my brain will have to work on that one.

So I went into work yesterday, on a Saturday, to start my big project I've been researching pretty much since I started my job. I started the process of upgrading our e-mail server from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000, even though Exchange 2003 was just released. It went well, I must say, and I'm shocked. I guess all my careful planning and research paid off, big time. There's still a kink or two to be worked out, but I'm sure we'll get those worked out this week. And thats all I have to say about work.

On the personal front, things are great with Elena and I, despite the fact that she's on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I got the sweetest, most heartfelt card in the world on Friday when I got home from work. It made me feel so good, I can't even being to tell you. She basically thanked me for an amazing weekend and just reinforced how she feels for me. It was really good to hear, because like I said, I have trouble when things are good, and I didn't exactly have doubts, but there were concerns. No more now though, and thats a good thing.

My parents are up in Oswego for the weekend visiting Mark for parents weekend. They should be back later tonight, so as a result its been a pretty quiet weekend. Just Randy, Keyser and myself. Not the most interesting trio. What you gonna do? You can't spend every weekend in London, you know? They'd probably stop letting you into the country after awhile.

Thats all folks, I'm out.

Current music - Third Eye Blind "Blinded" (When I See You)

So, I've been back from London for a few days now and I think I'm pretty much back to normal. I'm over the jet lag, which was pretty bad.

I think I'll start by saying that London was AWESOME!!! Exhausting, yes, but awesome anyway and so worth the exhaustion. Let's go with a rundown.

Friday night - Got to the airport way early because I was just way to excited to sit around. This will come in handy next time because I need to get to the airport way early to get a decent seat on the plane. Once I finally boarded the plane I found out that my seat that was supposed to be an exit row (read: more leg room) really wasn't. So, I was uncomfortable and cramped for most of the flight over there. As a result, I couldn't sleep. I got maybe an hour and a half of sleep sporadically over the 6-7 hour flight.

Saturday - At some point on the plane on Saturday morning it dawned on me that I'd be seeing Elena up close and in person and I couldn't wait. The plane finally landed, and early no less. So early in fact that they made us circle and wait because the airport wasn't ready for us, or so says the pilot. So, I got off the plane and basically ran to get my bags, not knowing I had to go through immigration first. No one told me I needed to fill out a little landing card and I didn't even have a pen on me. I got kicked out of the line until I had my card filled out and I had to bum a pen. Anyway, got through immigration and then waiting for my bags. Once I had the 140 pounds of stuff for Elena loaded on a cart I tore off like a bat out of hell to await the nightmare experience I thought customs would be. Turns out, if you have nothing to declare, they take your word for it and just let you pass through.

So, I got through customs and got to the point where you can meet the people waiting for you, and there was Elena. You have no idea how fast I pushed that cart, let it go, hugged her and kissed her. Then I realized my luggage cart would probably crash into someone so I had to grab it and stop it. We found the car service guy, got to the car, loaded it up and set off for her apartment. And let me just tell you, London is one hell of a confusing city to try to get around. I'm not even going to try to explain, but it is.

We get back to Elena's apartment and I meet her roommate. A 40 something German punk woman with red hair, a nose ring and tattoo's. Nice as hell though, so don't judge a book by its cover. I just wish that Elena had told me so I knew what to expect. So we lug all her stuff up to her flat and relax for awhile. Her mom calls, then my mom calls, to make sure I got there alright. Took a shower because I felt nasty, then we set off for the Hard Rock Cafe, since it was the original one. It was cool going through the city, riding the Underground, all that. Had a nice meal, then we took off for some sight seeing before this parrty we were supposed to go to.

After the sight seeing we realize we're both way too tired to party, so we head home, watch a movie and go to bed.

Sunday - Woke up at like 9:30, watched a movie, showered and headed out for another day of sightseeing. Rode the London Eye, saw David Blaine, and toured Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Took a shit load of pictures that are up at my .Mac website (link to the right) and just walked up and down the River Thames a handful of times. Got some pizza for dinner, headed back to her flat to relax after a day of walking. Watched some TV showes I taped for her and went to bed.

Monday - Went to class with Elena in the morning. Got to see her and her scene partner practice a little scene and song they had to do, which was really cool. Then we headed for the airport, ate some lunch there and generally walked around to kill time before I had to leave. Said our tearful goodbyes and I hopped on a plane to sit for another 7-8 hours before getting to NY. Finally got home at like 11:15 PM EST, which was like 4:15 AM the next morning, London time, which my body was operating on.

I was jetlagged to all hell Tuesday and Wednesday was just starting to feel better. I'm OK today, finally and even though flying sucked more than anything has sucked before, it was all well worth it. I can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving, and I'm counting the days (41 days).

Peace.

Today's the day!!! Oh yeah, I can't wait. London baby! In just a few short, well, actually like 11 or so, I'll be on a plane headed to London, England. Can't wait. CAN'T WAIT!!! Ok, must calm down. Still have plenty of hours that need to be thoroughly killed. But I can't hide the fact that I'm psyched beyond all belief. I just hope everything goes smoothly, from getting to the airport, checkin, the flight, customs, getting my bags, finding Elena at the airport. All that stuff. There's only one way to find out though, wait and see.

Not much else to report. Did some good work related things yesterday and nothing blew up, so thats a good feeling. It looks like today is going to be mad slow, since it is a holiday weekend and I'm sure a lot of people go the jump on it by taking today off as well. I wish I could've, that means I'd be in London right now, but oh well. What can you do.

Anyway, I can't think of anything else to say except that I'm excited beyond belief and hopefully everything will go nicely. I'll let you know. Peace!

Alright, one more day to go and I'm off to jolly ole England. I so cannot wait. You have no idea. I keep thinking its Friday already, but then I have to remind myself that I didn't bring my suitcase today, so it can't be Friday!

So, I went to Elena's house yesterday to pick up the duffel bag and suitcase I'll be taking with my to London. They're all full of her stuff. Well, not all of the suitcase, because there was just enough room for me to fit in all my clothes that I'm taking (and its not that much, since I'm only going for a few days). Its mostly full of stuff for Elena, and its mostly feminie hygiene products. I'm just praying I'm not randomly stopped at customs and have my bag searched. That would suck and be majorly embarassing.

I need to run out to Target at lunch today and do some last minute item getting. Mostly I need a new thing of deodorant, and gum for Elena. She said there is no decent gum in England. Sounds like there isn't a lot of decent anything there, considering the suitcase full of tried and true American products I'm schlepping over there. No good gum, no good tampons. What kind of a country is it? I don't know, but I'm sure I'm about to find out.

So, the plan for tonight is to finish packing up the things like deodorant, razor, shaving cream, toothbrush and hairbrush and the like. Throw in any hangers I can for Elena, because thats another thing that is ridiculously expensive in London, clothes hangers. Crazy country, I tell you. Then I need to tape Must See TV on my computer, burn the episodes to CD and throw them in my carry on to give to Elena to watch. I'm such a sucker, but I know I'm just being a good boyfriend. I'm sure if the roles were reversed she'd do the same for me.

On a weirder note, my ex IM'd me yesterday. I was going to get pissed, but all she did was ask for a book she left behind at my house. Turns out one of her professors gave it to her and now he's dying, so there's sentimental value in it, so she wants it. I said I'd mail it to her if she gives me my house key back. She said she would. So I e-mailed her this morning and said I found the book and I'll mail it as soon as I get my housekey. We chatted a little and it was all very nice and cordial. I couldn't resist the urge to drop hints of how happy I am now with Elena and my new job. Couldn't help it, hopefully she got the point. And hopefully I'll get my key back.

That's all for now. I'll be on a plane to London soon and I can't wait!!!

Tuesday went by nicely I must say, but unfortunately, so far, Wednesday is dragging a bit. It probably has something to do with the fact that I don't have much to do today. Hopefully things will pick up and the day will fly by.

Had a bit of a scare this morning. I donated blood yesterday and this morning I get a phone call at work from LI Blood Services. I almost had a heart attack, thinking to myself, what disease did they find in my blood? Turns out, the guy on the phone, who barely spoke english, just wanted to make sure that my Social Security number was correct on the form. Way to scare someone half to death.

On other news, even though its not really news. I can't wait for Friday night to get here so I can leave already! I spoke to Elena last night and she's feeling better and she can't wait for me to come either. Gives me a good feeling when the girl you love more than anything in the world says pretty much the same thing and can't wait for you to visit her. Great feeling actually.

It should be a fun weekend, although short, but I can deal with that. I'll be back for a little longer over Thanksgiving, and then she'll be back two weeks later for Christmas, and she'll be home for four weeks.

Other than that, not much to report. I want a new laptop and I'm tempted to just buy it and worry about paying it off later when I get my new American Airlines credit card. Plus, my dad said that my grandmas computer is really slow and on the verge of death, and asked if we had anything around the house we could give her. I said yeah, my PC when I get my new laptop. He asked when that would be and I said hopefully in a month. Hopefully.

I really just need to make a dent in my Amex/Discover bills, since I did the whole balance transfer thing. I get three paychecks in October, so that should help me kill the balance transfer I did to Discover, so I can just do it again and save on the interest charges. I hate credit cards. So then why do I have more now than I've had in two and a half years? Who knows, who cares. I'm a working man now, need to build up my credit I guess. Whatever, I'm out.

So, thankfully yesterday passed by without too much incident or slowdown, hopefully today will be the same. So far it is, its 11:30 already and the time has flown by today.

I decided not to go to my parents friends house last night. Instead, I went home and had a nice quiet evening with the dog. Even though I didn't let the dog out for awhile. He had been out with my parents all day, so when I came home I took my time, relaxed, soaked in the jacuzzi, then let him out.

Today I did a good deed and donated blood. I figured not only was it a good thing to do, but also, it would help break up the morning, and it has. I feel ok, just a little dizzy, but I'm drinking plenty of water and I'm sure I will be just fine.

I'm still psyched about this weekend, but unfortunately Elena is starting to feel a little under the weather. It sucks, but honestly, what are you going to do? I went out on Sunday and bought all kinds of over the counter drugs that she takes when she gets sick, like NyQuil, DayQuil, Sudafed, Advil, cough drops, etc, since they don't seem to be available, or have decent equivalents in London. Also, since my mom works for a doctor I have her getting me some antibiotics, allergy medication, decongestants and whatnot to bring as well. I told Elena yesterday to get plenty of rest, and hopefully to hold out until I get there on Saturday with all the drugs. Hopefully I won't have a problem with customs, I doubt it.

So thats about it. I continue to wait patiently for the week to go by. Tonight I'll go home and talk to Elena if she's not asleep. Tomorrow night I need to go to her house after work and pick up all the luggage and stuff I'm bringing her, which is a duffel bag and half a suitcase full of her stuff. I get the other half! I need to keep reminding myself that I'm only there for three days, so I really only need to pack three days worth of clothes. Usually, I pack for like a week, which is just crazy. I need to discipline myself this time.

And with that, I'm done for now.

Today hopefully won't be so painful to get through. I'm expecting it to be kind of dead at work, but the commute home shouldn't be so bad. It's Yom Kippur, probably the most important Jewish holiday of the year and I'm at work. I know, I'm a bad little Jewish boy, but I have my reasons.

First of all, I'm not that religious. If I did take the day off, and it would probably be without pay since I don't have any personal days yet, all I would do is sit at home with my dog and watch movies. Honestly, I'm not going to fast or really reflect on any wrong I've done, because there really isn't that much, so I figured I might as well go to work and make some money.

Second, I'm taking next Monday, Columbus Day and an optional holiday at work, off and without pay. So, I really can't afford to take two days off without pay and I would feel really bad about taking two Mondays off in a row. Plus, I did already say to my co-workers and boss that I'm not religious at all, so I would look kind of stupid asking for a Jewish holiday off when I've already stated that I don't really observe the holiday traditions.

Whats even worse is that I'm so tempted to skip out on going to my parent's friends house after work for the break-fast meal. I really hate going there on Yom Kippur, which is basically the one time of year that we do go, because the people that my parent's friends invite are so weird. They're your typical and then somewhat over the top Jewish couples and kids, but I just find some of them creepy and it kind of cements my whole not being religious and not wanting to marry a Jewish girl beliefs. If you marry a Jewish girl, she's eventually going to turn into a Jewish wife and a Jewish mother, and who wants that? I don't. I know I'm sounding horrible, stereotyping my own religion and whatnot, but hey, I'm allowed. And, after the last couple of people my older brother has gone out with on JDate.com, I can stand firmly behind my beliefs, because they were psychos.

One of them, after only dating my brother for a month was already planning their future together. They were already married in her eyes, and for that matter, so were Elena and I. This girl said to my brother that she, him and their kids could come over to Elena's and my house to celebrate Christmas with our family. Needless to say, Randy dumped her ass to the curb. She was a weirdo, and had a really annoying voice. End of story.

So, I'm hoping the week goes by nicely so I can hop on a plane Friday night and see my Elena. I can't wait!!!

Ok, so back to work, or at least making it look like I'm working. We'll see. Adios for now, I'm sure I'll be writing more to help kill the time later.

Its the title of a really catchy Barenaked Ladies song, but more importantly, in exactly one week of this writing I will be on a plane bound for London, England and the woman I love. Hoe romantic is that? You can't write more cliched stories if you tried, but I don't care. I can't wait. Can't wait to see her, touch her, hug her, hold her, kiss her, everything. I know its only like two and a half days, but I have no complaints. I'll get three and a half days for Thanksgiving and then a whole 4 weeks over the Holidays and New Years, so its all good. We both can't wait to see each other and I think its going to be really good.

So, I'm going to try not to dwell on it all and try to stay busy in the next week so the time doesn't drag on, so we'll see. I mean, I'll be working a full week and my nights are pretty booked during the week. The key is passing this weekend in a timely manner. I have to get my oil changed tomorrow and take Keyser to the vet for his yearly checkup, but thats about it. Hopefully Seth and Brett will be able to hang out too. Brett's going to get engaged very soon, probably by the time in the air he'll be betrothed to someone, or maybe its the other way around. Either way its scary, but inevitable that my friends will start to get married and all that. I wish him the best, and if he's happy I'm happy for him. She seems like a great girl, so good for him.

Sunday is the real key day in which time needs to be killed. Monday is Yom Kippur, but I'm working anyway, Tuesday is my only real night to myself, because Wednesday I have to stop by Elena's to pick up all her stuff that I'm taking with me, Thursday night I need to pack and I'm leaving Friday night. So thats the week in a nutshell. I bet it will fly by. I hope so.

So I'm watching Dashboard Confessional Unplugged. The whole DVD of the MTV unplugged performance came with the CD and this is the first time I've watched a DVD that came with a CD. Its good. I was only going to pop it in and watch a few select songs, but the guy puts so much emotion in his songs and in his singing, I'm compelled to watch. I could've sworn it looked like he was about to cry during one song. A lot of songs about pain and things that are bad, a few upbeat ones about the joys of life. Good mix of emotions to run through, great songs, phenomenal band/singer/songwriter.

Alright, enough for now. Adios.

Current music - Dashboard Confessional "So Impossible" (Unplugged)

Thankfully its come and gone. So that makes tomorrow Thursday, which is good. And, its officially October, which is another good thing. 9 days or so from now and I'll be leaving for London and I so can't wait. I need to see Elena in the worst way and it may be a short weekend, but it'll be well worth the 12 hours I spend on a plane. I'm sure I won't be able to see too much of the place in one weekend, but as long as I get to spend it with Elena, its all good. We have plans to go to a party Saturday night and probably go see Finding Nemo on Sunday, and then I'll go with her to school on Monday and head to the airport to head home that evening. Short, but sweet. Of course I'll get an extra day over Thanksgiving and hopefully in the spring when I get vacation I'll be able to see more of the city, country and continent in general. And of course she'll be home for practically a month in December/January. All good.

Work is good, nothing much else to report there. Other than that, anxiously awaiting the season premieres of Smallville and Angel tonight on the WB. I know, I have the TV viewing habits of your average teenage girl, but I don't care, so ha. Hopefully it'll be some good TV to make up for the anxious wait for the new TV season to start. Enough about that. Time to go.