Current mood:	stressed
Current music:	Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock"

Current Events

Another relatively un-creative "update" post for those of you complaining I don't update (the number is shrinking, likely out of a lack of concern as I gradually drift away with the tide of life - woe is me!)

I've been a bit distracted by the tenant that came with my new house. When the Armoire gave up her lovely downtown condo to move in and prevent me from using my lovely wainscotted dining room as an office by insisting we would eat there (we did - once!), she found herself a tenant the "correct" way - by thoroughly checking references and doing credit checks and getting post-dated cheques and so on. By the book.

Despite my love of reading, I, on the other hand, was a bit looser on the restrictions and checking. The previous owner vouched for my tenant who he used to employ, and he seemed very quiet and friendly despite a once in a while enjoying a touch of weed (while my mom was over). He is a renovator who actually helped build my basement, so I figured the tenant even came with free fixin'! (not a minor thing when one is more software inclined than hard)

Little did I know.

You know those movies where the innocent and quiet guy turns out to be the serial killer?

Well, he hasn't killed anyone. Yet. That we know of. But some people have gone missing.

It turns out my tenant has a bit of a drinking problem. And a bit of a prison problem. By that I mean he's been to prison and last month got to go back and visit for a spell after violating a restraining order. In fact, the cops have been by the house four different times now, and twice we've had an ambulance with all the lights blaring. Once, my tenant's girlfriend got taken away in restraints while screaming at the top of her lungs, the other time she got taken away in handcuffs. They found her hiding naked in the closet clutching a bottle of vodka. She has a coke problem. Notice the small "c". She also has a problem making it through rehab. Or not stealing alcohol (but leaving the empty bottles with the caps on to fool us!) She's set fires in her past. She also has restraining orders against her.

Did I mention she's 59 years old? It's quite the pretty picture.

A loanshark that has offered to "help" evict my tenant. He's shown particular interest in the flat screen TV downstairs (I exaggerate only slightly). This offer was very tempting, but I've gone with the "triple eviction notices" plan instead. But as it is the two months before the holidays, evictions are impossible to get (and very expensive). I haven't collected rent since October, and I'm not sure I ever will (though I have a far-off hope that my tenant is telling the truth that he'll cover it when he can).

As you can imagine, it's been a bit tricky to find time for posting (or reading - let me know if anything particularly exciting has been happening in your life).

I'm also trying to squeeze 300 hours of contract time into November and December, which works out to 8 hours a day since I keep taking off for Magic tournaments and the like. I realize that this sounds "normal" for most of you, but I was doing three days a week for a year starting last July, and before that it was a rare month that saw me in the office for more than 100 hours. Both my Magic and video game lives are taking a hit, not to mention the "making time for romance" department! You don't want to know what I'm passing up right now to write and proofread this!

I did, however, finally purchase a bed so that the Armoire and I can share a boudoir (though I just looked it up and realize that it technically means "a woman's bedroom or private sitting room"). It cost upwards of four thousand dollars (mostly a gift!), but after five months of searching, we finally found the king-sized memory foam mattress that promised endless nights of sleep-filled bliss. It hasn't actually done any of that, of course, as the bed just doesn't feel the same here in the house as it did in the store. And having lived alone for over a decade, every time my sleeping ears hear another person they immediately assume there's a burglar and startle awake. (Numerous amorous adventures notwithstanding, I haven't slept well when sharing a mattress since the mid-90s) But the sentiment is good, except now I have to awake early because her loveliness likes to show up to work on time. Crankiness abounds.

In Magic, I came in 10th at PTQ on Saturday. I have an article on Magic theory writing itself in my head, but I suspect my usual employer has scheduled all the available spots until late Spring, so my head is where it will stay. I'm not particulary enthused about the game these past few weeks - I suspect it relates to Magic Online being a dog since last month and crashing every night. Thus a trip to Rochester or Detroit this weekend seems unlikely, especially as it conflicts with two holiday parties with open bars!

Speaking of parties, we held our annual holiday party on Saturday evening and as usual, the 16-year old Santa was a big hit with the ladies. My apologies if you weren't invited - things were a bit hectic (and quite frankly, I didn't even think of it). We had hoped to hit our 100-person guest limit but again were frustrated in the low 70s so I would have been happy to have more people eating all the food. Being coupled up really does cost you a lot of friends as we added a 4th host who invited 150 people and still barely met last year's numbers. I would have killed for these parties when I was single!

And before you think that all is complaining and woe, my job is going well. I'm enjoying the work, the expanded responsibilities and relationships, and I'm really making up for that lost rental income. Not sure if there's a long-term future in it, but I've been saying that for eight years now and it's getting better every year. I can only hope this continues!

[EDIT: It appears that not only am I not writing scintillating prose, I'm writing it twice! It's been so long since I last updated that I didn't realize I'd already covered some of this back in October. How embarrassing. Speaking of which, I know I didn't mention how the Armoire asked me how to spell my first name last month after only 26 months of dating. I guess the drugs finally wore off!]