Midmental

Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge that this will be my first post in my new apartment. As always, red text indicates my commentary.

"I'm crazy. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not doing anything wrong am I?" (from May 3, 2005)
This weekend was pretty dull. We got slammed at the restaurant Friday and Saturday, but Sunday wasn't even worth the effort (although I earned $30 for doing nothing...how sweet it is).

Yesterday, I crashed at Charlie's house. Chuck still has his friends Xbox. His friend (whose name is Chris, but not the same Chris that posts in this blog) called Chuck on his cell phone. [The Chris in this paragraph is Chris Hobbs, who would become a cast member of Mental Television only two years later.] Chuck told him he would see him when he got over there. About a half an hour later, he showed up, and we got ready to go out to try to rent WrestleMania 21 for the Xbox. Chris tossed Chuck the keys (which I would find out later was a huge mistake), and we were on our way to Richmond. Once Chuck got across the state line on State Rt. 121, he floored it. We zoomed down the road going 80 or 90 miles an hour. I yelled over the wind, "You better not flip it." He replied back, "I'm crazy. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not doing anything wrong am I? Chris, do you see me doing anything wrong?" We got to Family Video on the east side of Richmond, and looked for Wrestlemania 21...it was all rented out. We went to Family Video on the west side...again, all rented out. We went to the Richmond Square Mall, and went into Electronics Boutique, where we saw WrestleMania 21 on sale. I had about $70 on me, so...I bought it for Chuck. He considered it an early birthday present. By the way, the game is a bit disappointing.

Anyway, I didn't go to sleep until 7 am, and woke up around 12:45 pm. So, roughly, I got 6 hours of sleep. Whoop-dee-frickin-doo. I'm porbably gonna drop to sleep tonight. Anyway, I gotta get home. I'm missin' the Drew Carey show.

"I was filthy and stinking, and now I'm rich!" (from May 13, 2005)
Yikes! It's been 10 days since I posted here! Okay...okay...sticking to my commitment to this blog. At least someone has been posting here this week. I'm glad Chris is a team member on this blog now. Anyway...where to begin.

Last weekend, I went to the BMV in Eaton and took a written test. Passed it with an 86! I got my Driver's Permit. My picture on it ain't half bad either. I drove home that day at about 25 miles an hour. My mom said I did pretty good. We passed by Chris's house on the way. It's too bad it was 10 in the morning and Chris wasn't awake and outside. He would've seen me driving. Badly, that is.

Sunday was Mother's Day...and the Mother's Day buffet at work. I drove to work that day. It actually wasn't that bad. I even got out of there while it was light outside. [This was the last time I was behind the wheel of a car to date. My permit expired shortly after this and was never renewed.]

Monday, I got my federal tax check! Added to my paycheck, it turned out to be around $300. I was filthy and stinking, and now I'm rich! (Just kidding.) I saved $140, then when Mom got home, we went to Richmond Square Mall. I gave her $25, and she went to Bath and Body (her Mother's Day/birthday present). I went to Electronics Boutique and bought "WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain" and a WWE controller. It's blue, like the SmackDown! logo. We then went to El Rodeo, without a doubt one of the best Mexican places around. We ate, and then we went to Wal-Mart, where I ended up picking up a copy of Harvey Birdman Volume One. It's funny.

Tuesday was kinda boring...Wednesday too...

Yesterday I called Chris and afterwards I went out to mow the lawn...however, the mower wouldn't start. Mom says it needs a new spark plug.

Tonight is Karaoke night at the restaurant. It's going to be fun. Today is also my mother's birthday. She took 2 hours of personal leave from work today, so she'll be home early. Even though she doesn't read this (she probably doesn't even know what a blog is), happy birthday to her.

That's all for now.

"Arr, why is that wheel down there? Arr, it's driving me nuts." (from May 17, 2005)
Karaoke night went off without a hitch...sort of. The people who did the karaoke thing didn't show up at the restaurant until 8:45, making the karaoke start ten minutes late. However, the fact that all five songs I chose I actually sang that night made it all better. I sang:

"Fall Down" by Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Suicide Blonde" by INXS
"Better Man" by Pearl Jam
"What's This Life For?" by Creed
"Real World" by Matchbox 20

When I sang "Real World," I didn't use the TV with the words on it. I got up and sang it behind the bar. It was fun. I accidentally got in the bartender's way once, but all was forgiven. After all, I was trying to put on a show. And show I did. [Since moving to Austin, I have sang 3 of those 5 songs. I have yet to sing "Better Man" or "What's This Life For?", but since I live near a karaoke bar...]

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday was rather uneventfull.

I'm going to Chris's house tomorrow. I plan on finalizing our next 2 comedy CD's ("No Help for the Disturbed," "The Best of AR: Insanity through the Ages"), along with two wrestling CD's. [The Midmental compilation has yet to be released, in fact, and was pushed back to the tenth release. AR, by the way, stands for Altered Reality, the former name of our studio.] We are also going to shoot entrance videos, wrestling matches, and (time permitting) music videos. Fun day ahead tomorrow! Travis and I will be there, and hopefully Travis's friend Jeremy will too. I'll post here tomorrow in the midst of all the fun (part one), and I'll post here Friday about this too (part two). And now, my favorite line from Robot Chicken this week.

A sea captain has the boat's wheel attached to his privates. His first mate says, "Arr, why is that wheel down there?" The captain replies, "Arr, it's drivin' me nuts."

Up next: The summer of 2005. Stay tuned.

Tags: quarterlife

Quarterlife: April 2005

: michaelmerton; November 26th, 15:00

Location:: United States, Texas, Austin

Mood:: accomplished

Here's more quarter-century goodness. Of course, my commentary remains in red text.

"Good Lord! You taco-folded the car! And the barn doesn't even have a scratch on it!" (from April 1, 2005)
What a week this has been. I've had a cold all week. It sucks. I've been fighting it, but it won't go away. It got up to 70 degrees Wednesday. It was a great day out. I enjoyed it.

I crashed at Charlie's house on Tuesday night. He invited me over Wednesday night too, and told me he was gonna call after he got home from the card shop, but he must've got home rather late, because he never called me. Oh, well.

Last night, Jason didn't go to work, so my boss was in the kitchen cooking. If it hadn't been for that, I would've been home at 9 or 9:30, but I ended up getting home around 10:30. Tonight, there's a band at the restaurant, and they start at 9, so I'll probably be home no later than 10.

Mom told me to go to sleep early tonight, because tomorrow morning, she's taking me to get my driver's permit. Yes, I know, I'm 20 years old and don't have a license. I'm not the only one. My friends Chris and Travis don't have one either, although Chris has driven before. I was with him when he drove before. In the car. I regret it, too. Chris saw a cat and tried to hit the brake, only he missed and hit the gas. The car went forward into the barn, denting the fender majorly. He sat there for a second, while I turned the car off. We got out to inspect the damage. I remarked, "Good Lord! You taco-folded the car! And the barn doesn't even have a scratch on it!" That's weird. Usually, when wood meets metal, metal wins, but not this time. [I actually haven't seen Chris drive since this point. However, he is currently attempting to get his license.]

All I gotta do is pass my written test (again...I've had a permit before), and I'll be driving in no time. Mom also said when I turn 21, I'll get my license. She said it's because the insurance rates will be lower. I've already saved some $500 in a can at the house, so if it takes much more than that, I'll be surprised. [I'm now 25 years old, and still don't have my license. I don't even really need one. Everyplace I go is within walking distance.]

"Don't smack me with the door like you did last time." (from April 8, 2005)
Last weekend was just like every other weekend to me. Friday night we had a band at the restaurant. They played a little better than the last time they were there, but they had the audacity to cover a Beatles song, and make it sound like hard rock.

On Saturday, Chris's mom finally agreed to let me spend the night at Chris's house.

Monday was boring, so let's skip Monday.

Tuesday at about 11:45 am, Chris called from where he works (Bob Evans in Eaton, Ohio) and told me they were on the way. I waited at my house for about an hour, and then walked to the front of the park. 15 minutes later, they showed up. I hopped in the car, and we took off. Chris was still in his work uniform, complete with name tag. It said "Chris." Whoop-dee-do. He told me we were going to Hastings. I agreed and we went to Hastings. When we got there, Chris, his mother, and I all got out and walked in. His mom said, "Don't smack me with the door, like you did last time." Chris said, "Okay." He went in first, though, so I ended up holding the door for him. Once inside, Chris and I headed right for the Music section. He ended up buying "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" by My Chemical Romance, and "Make a Sound" by Autopilot Off. I bought "The Best of INXS" and "7even Year Itch" by Collective Soul (a compilation of their best hits from 1994-2001). I also bought Tekken 4 for $10, and it wasn't even the Greatest Hits version (that version cost $20...figure that one out). He bought a Coke (whoop-dee-do) and we went back to his house, where we burned "Mike's Mix, Volume 8," with the following songs:

Intro, done by us.
"Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" by Chevelle
"Blood Red Summer" by Coheed and Cambria
"Cold" by Crossfade
"Ugly" by the Exies
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day
Interlude, done by us.
"Look What You've Done" by Jet
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"Hysteria" by Muse
"Getting Away with Murder" by Papa Roach
"Little Sister" by Q.o.t.S.A.
"Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard
Outro, done by us.

Only 14 tracks, and we had to do 3 of us talking to get 14...and it's still only 40 minutes long. We worked on a comedy CD (our third, under the name Altered Reality, entitled "The Minds of Small Men"). It's 16 tracks, and an hour and 14 minutes long. We about filled up the entire CD. Later on Tuesday night, we played Mortal Kombat 3 for SNES, and he fell asleep, while I played SNES. We also played PS2 that night, before we played SNES.

Wednesday, I woke up at 9am when Chris's phone rang. I pushed him awake and he answered it. Wrong number. He told me he heard it ring in his dream. Heh. He went back to sleep, but I got up and made a couple more tracks for the comedy CD, including the Kombat Rap (which turned out hilarious), and a Sound Effects game featuring sounds from MK3 (which was also hilarious). During the recording of the SFX track, I hit a sound that sounded like an airplane. I said, "Look out for the airplane," or something like that, and he woke up and looked around, looking for the airplane. He complained that he needed one more hour. He got up at 10:30. We recorded a few more tracks, burnt the CD, and it is now in my blue CD case at home. Wheeeee. I got home that day about 3:30. I listened to our CD, and about 4:45, my mom got home from work.

Thursday was boring (even at work), so skip that.

And we are on today (Friday), which means I'm done with this large post. Have fun readin' this one, Chris.

"Only in Ohio can you find a town named for a soup brand." (from April 16, 2005)
The reason that you see Chris's name in the blog title is because he's a member of this blog. I made him an administrator. He can post to this blog now if he wishes. I would've invited my friend Travis, but I don't think he has access to the internet where he lives. You know, out in the middle of nowhere, a.k.a. Campbellstown. Only in Ohio you can find a town named for a soup brand (I don't think that's actually true, but it's my guess).

I forgot to bring "The Minds of Small Men" with me today, so I can't transcribe a track to here today, unfortunately. That's alright, though. Chris and I talked back and forth on AIM yesterday. I had written here yesterday that the song I was listening to was "anything by Breaking Benjamin." He told me he never heard of "Anything" by Breaking Benjamin. Hardy har har.

A kid I know named Billy just walked in and started asking me what I was doing. But, anyway, see ya Monday (can't post Sunday, library closed...can't wait to get my own computer back up).

"This is a collect call from 'Yo, Mama!' To accept charges, please dial '2' now." (from April 18, 2005)
What a crappy weekend. Our salad person was missing on Saturday, so I ended up doing the work of two people. That day sucked. Sunday was semi-alright. I won't go into the details, because I don't really feel like it today.

I woke up today around 11:30 am, and Travis called me with his friend Jeremy. We talked for awhile and then I had to go run some errands. When I got back, I dialed Chris's number, only to discover that he wasn't home. He had gone to go cash his check. I called Travis for a few minutes. His dad called him on the other line. I told him, "Your parents aren't the best influence." He easily got confused. Chris called him on the other line as well. I got off the phone with Travis and called Chris. When he picked up, I said, "This is a collect call from: 'Yo' mama!' To accept charges, please dial..." (he hit "1" on the phone) "...'2' now." We talked for a few minutes and then we hung up.

Chris and I are already recording tracks for a fourth comedy CD. We've even talked about getting a domain and setting up a website. I haven't bought a domain yet, but I hope to very soon. I'll post the site here if I do get it up.

"Here lies Chris. He wasn't a smart man, he wasn't a handsome man...he wasn't a man." (from April 25, 2005)
What a weekend. My mom went to Columbus Friday through Sunday, so I had the house to myself. Friday night, the cook's band performed at the restaurant, and it was incredible. I took some pictures, upon the request of someone I know, and it wasn't my camera, so I don't know if I'll have pictures to put up here so you people can see them. I saw some girls I knew from high school. They were there drinking and having fun. One of them recognized me and noticed the camera in my hand, so she wanted to be in a picture with me. I snapped it and moved along. The closest I got to the band was when I snuck up behind Jason playing guitar to get a shot of the drummer. I also showed off all night, holding the camera up above people's head and titling it so I got shots of the band (and some of the crowd).

The next day at the restaraunt, Jason told me his neck was aching. "I think I gave myself whiplash," he said. "Well," I said, "let me just say, you guys kicked ass." It was quite possibly the best metal show I've ever seen, though that's not saying too much, since I haven't really been to a concert. Yet.

Chris is getting me a ticket to X-Fest, so hopefully, I'll be going to that in September. Anyway, I called him Saturday night at 12:15am. We talked for about 45 minutes and then went to bed.

Sunday was extremely boring. Four tables in four hours at the restuarant. I got paid $23.20 for sitting back and watching television. Kick ass.

Today, Travis and Jeremy three-way called me, and we talked for a while. I tried to call Chris, but he's out risking his life with that go-kart of his neighbors. He talked about it here in the blog. I imagine the epitaph on his gravestone now...

Here lies Chris. He wasn't a smart man, he wasn't a handsome man....he wasn't a man. That didn't stop him from risking his balls to ride a go-kart at 180,000 miles an hour with his neighbor.

The entire eulogy will be, "Yep, he's dead." Heh. I also imagine Chris's last words being, "Look out for that tr--"

"It looks like lettuce on its period." (from April 29, 2005)
The library was closed Wednesday or I would've updated yesterday. It's the end of April and it's been raining. Hopefully April showers bring WARM TEMPERATURES. I mean, for God's sakes people.

At work yesterday, one of our female co-workers (out of the blue) complained that her breasts were sweating. I sarcastically thanked her for the information. The waitresses were all wearing these Budweiser Select stickers that had red lights light up on them. I joked around, "That reminds me of a Police song. 'You don't have to put on the red light!'" One of the waitresses started wearing a fake Bud Select bottle cap with a flashing red light one it. I told her, "You're liable to give someone a seizure with that thing." Then I joked around and started staring at it, pretending I was hypnotized. "Yes, master," I said monotonously, "I will do what you ask." She jokingly said, "Give me ten dollar tips." Still monotonous, I replied, "I will give you ten dollar tiiiiiiips." It was funny. I walked into the kitchen and looked at a pan of cabbage rolls (at least that's what Jason called them). They didn't look too appetizing. I told Jason, "It looks like lettuce on its period." He agreed. [Ewwww.]

I'm going to Wal-Mart after work tonight. I saved $57, so it's going toward a pack of CD-R's (down to my last one), a new CD player (so I can give the one I have back to Chris), and "WWE SmackDown!: Here Comes the Pain" (what explanation is needed here? I just want a new game. Geez.).

That's all, beautiful peoples. Um...I dunno why I said that.

Tags: quarterlife

Quarterlife: March 2005

: michaelmerton; November 25th, 22:59

Location:: United States, Pflugerville, Duke Cove

Mood:: accomplished

Well, I said I was going to post old posts, but since my last post, I've moved into an apartment. I turned 25 yesterday, and it doesn't feel much different from 24. I have a new computer and a reliable Internet connection at my apartment, so I shall be back online more often. I'm currently installing stuff on my new computer and it works smoothly. Good stuff.

So, anyway, I'm still going to reminisce. Here we go. My commentary is in red text.

"The end of the beginning, and the beginning of the middle." (from March 16, 2005)
I decided to start titling my blog posts. Anyhoo, you'll notice I deleted my old posts, because I wanted to start fresh...seems how I don't get around to this too often. I am making a commitment to update this at LEAST once a week (preferrably Wednesdays). I might start another blog for HCW results. [HCW, which stood for Hardcore Championship Wrestling, was later changed to AWA, which is what it remained until it ended in 2009.] It seems logical to me. In fact, I probably will. I'll post the link for that here when I get it up. I just want somwhere to express myself, and this seems to be the only place to do so.

Anyway...what's been happening. Hmm. Oh, yeah.

Since my friend Darren moved away and I graduated and got a job, things have been rather slow around these parts. [This post was literally written weeks after graduation and a couple days after I got my job at the restaurant from hell.] Darren moved clear to Michiwaka, Indiana. (Weird name.) He calls me darn near every day. His mother and he aren't paying the phone bill, the apt. building he lives in is, so I guess it doesn't matter. My online social life is dead, thanks to not having a computer. [Wow. I had no life.] I will have to buy my own internet access to even get back online, as my mom has already expressed her undying love for NOT getting back online. She says she doesn't need it, but she ain't the only one living there. Looks like a job for please-suck-every-penny-out-of-my-pocket man.

Not much else has been goin' on.

"White Irish guys do not dance like Michael Flatley." (from March 18, 2005)
Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. I would've posted yesterday, but the thing is, the library is closed on Thursdays. [This was between computers.] Anyway, yesterday Chris called me at about 12:30. We talked for a little while. Chris was watching Fuse. I tuned to it so we could watch it together. The other day Chris wanted me to hear Breaking Benjamin's new single, "Sooner or Later." [This makes me feel old. Remember when that song was new? Breaking Benjamin has had three albums since then.]

I told him, "I would've asked you to play it for me, but I heard it on Rockzilla last night."

"How was it?" he asked.

"I liked it," I told him. Muse's "Hysteria" came on, and I sang along with it. We talked until he had to go do some work (or something) and he got off the phone.

About 5:00, I headed to work. When I got there, in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I said, "Top o' the morning to ya."

I also noticed everyone else was wearing green, making me sad. I didn't get to pinch anyone. I made sure to wear green myself. "What? You didn't think I was coming to work without wearing...GREEN?!" I unzipped my jacket and revealed my all-green getup.

Hours passed. Around 7 o'clock, things were getting slower. I started dancing in the kitchen. The cook, Jason, looked at me weird.

"What?" I said. "White Irish guys do not dance like Michael Flatley."

"What about drunk Irish guys?"

"They kinda dance like this." I demonstrated a drunken dance, following it up with a mock punch. Jason proceeded to tell me a story about his friends getting drunk and being retarded. It was a funny story. I wish I could remember it. Anyway, around 8, people were either leaving or ordering more green beer, so my job was pretty well done. I finished up, clocked out and left for home, laughing to myself about the people drinking green beer, thinking, "These guys are gonna be sh!tting shillelaghs."

When I got home, Darren called. My mom said that this was the third time he had called. I answered the phone, "Stop calling so much."

"I thought a half-hour would do."

"When have I ever been home before 9 on a Thursday?"

We watched SmackDown!, he hung up, and I watched Whose Line & MXC, and I went to bed.

"There are several different types of asshole. Let me explain..." (from March 21, 2005)
This weekend was slow, but sure. Friday night was fun for me, thanks to the kareoke people showing up. They were pretty well set up by about 9 o'clock. I was done with my job about 9:30. I ended up singing three songs that night: "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, "Bother" by Stone Sour, and "It's Been Awhile" by Stain'd. I had two more written on my card ("Too Bad" by Nickelback and another one I can't remember right now), but I never got to sing those. [This was the second or third time ever that I did karaoke. I was hooked on it from the first time I ever did it.]

Saturday night was okay until about 7:30. At 7:30, we were slowing down so much that Jason decided to finish up by himself. The other cook went home, and we were finishing up. At about 8 o'clock, though, about 10 families came in to eat. Jason hadn't been prepared for a party of 10 that showed up without a reservation.

Now, there are several different types of a**hole. Let me explain. You have your annoying a**hole, the kind that takes a perfectly good Supertramp song and covers it (I'm talking to you, Goo Goo Dolls!), then you have your petty a**hole, who just thinks of stupid things to say to piss you off, and most of us have been accused of being one of those at one time or another. Then you have your ginormous a**holes. The party of 10 that came in at 8:00 Saturday night to the restaurant, along with anyone that came in to eat after that, are considered ginormous a**holes, because they get on your nerves, not by saying stuff, but doing stuff to piss you off. And boy, was I pissed off. I was saying "f**k" and "s**t" under my breath the entire rest of the night.

Sunday was Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is the day you stay home and befriend your palm, if you know what I mean (not really, but if that were the case, every day would be Palm Sunday). Every Sunday at the restaurant, there is a buffet from 9am to 3pm. I work from 1pm to whenever we close (usually, 8pm on Sunday), just long enough for me to be involved with the setting up and taking down of the buffet. It's always a pain in the ass, but I go along with it because it's $5.80 an hour, and it takes a half-hour to set up Sat. night, and a half-hour to take down Sun. afternoon. Fun.

I'm a regular joker at work. Everyone has told me I'm fun to be around. It's nice to have someone to entertain. Here's some examples of my wit:

(After I trip over some brooms and nearly hit a co-worker with one:)
Co-worker: You almost killed me.
Me: You? What about me? I tripped over them! Doesn't anyone care about me? (I get hit with a flying mushroom.) OW! Apparently not.

(To the tune of "White Wedding" by Billy Idol:)
Me: It's a nice day for a...white woman. Heh.

(As Jason is scraping off his sulpher oven brick into the trash:)
Me: Do you have to scrape that smelly thing in here?
Jason: Yeah, I do.
Me: Oh, yeah, I forgot. You're a professional a**hole.
(And he always comments on how good he is at it.)

Me: Back to the grind. Which is why my back hurts.

Me: (to a co-worker) I can whine and cry too! Hey, according to you, I'm becoming Linkin Park!

That's just some of my wit. Back to my weekend.

Today, I had to run a couple of errands for Mom. That's about it. I told Chris to read this thing at around 3:30. So, Chris, if you're reading this, congratulations, you followed the command of a lower life form. You must be proud. Heh.

"Sweet Ibuprofen, take my headache away." (from March 23, 2005)
I woke up this morning with a freakin' headache. Charlie had called me and left a message on my machine:

Hey, man. It's Charlie. Just wanted to talk to ya. Call me when you wake up. Bye.

Simple. I called him back. We talked for a little bit. We hung up. About 5 minutes later, Darren called me. We talked for a while, mostly just being stupid. My headache started to really bother me, so I grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, said, "Sweet Ibuprofen, take my headache away" and stuck two in my mouth, washing them down with chocolate milk. After I talked for a little bit, I told him I had to go to the library and for him to call back around 3:30. Boy, I have a boring life. [Interesting that I would say that about myself.]

On Monday evening, by the way, I took my mom to Fazoli's. I felt like Italian that night. Molto bene. Anyways, we went Dutch on the food, paying seperately. I ordered a 9" brick-oven style pizza combo. She had the baked ziti. I loved my pizza. Delicious. I noticed that I payed less for mine than she did for hers. She noticed that too. I think it's because I'm a little bit more careful when it's my money I'm spending. When it's hers, I tend to go hogwild, and she tends to want to hogtie me to the back of the car and drive down the street (not really). But dinner was good, and so were the breadsticks (the real reason I wanted to go to Fazoli's).

An enjoyable day was Monday. Tuesday was rather boring, other than Darren calling and being his normal goofy self. That's about all for this one.

Tags: quarterlife

I'm not Grandma, and it wasn't a reindeer.

: michaelmerton; October 26th, 19:41

Location:: United States, Pflugerville

Mood:: crushed

If you don't get the post title now, you will in a second when I tell you this: I got run over by a car.

Yes, that's right, I was run over by a car. I was doing parking lot duties at work today, and dreading it. It was raining off and on, and I was under this ridiculous-looking yellow poncho. So, anyway, about 20 minutes after my last break, I was pushing six carts up a hill. A Ford Explorer pulled up behind me and stopped, waiting for me to get the carts up. Suddenly, the carts went backwards. At the same time, the car went forwards. End result: the car stops right on my left foot.

The security guard saw this happen and called an MIC out. Three managers (an MIC, a CCS, and the CCM on the floor at the time) bolted out the front door as I was hobbling to the door to sit. Maria, the MIC, had me sit down and take my shoe and sock off while Alison, the CCS, grabbed me an ice pack and some paper towels. A.J., the CCM, was running the store at the time, but was constantly in and out of the cart area where I was to check on me. The paramedics were called, as were the cops, and after a checkup, I was told that there could be a break, but it's not very likely, as I'm still able to walk on it, wiggle my toes, and put pressure on it.

The driver of the Explorer (who exchanged info with me) was incredibly apologetic, and I know he sincerely didn't mean to do it, so no charges were filed. I wasn't going to hold it against the guy just because I lost control of some carts for a split second. Anywho, as a result, I got sent home early with the full days pay. I'm actually still getting paid for the next ten minutes as of this writing.

We'll see how my foot feels tomorrow, but I think I'll be just peachy.

Update on the MentalCast

: michaelmerton; October 21st, 21:31

Mood:: content

The show is back on hiatus. A short but sweet announcement. You knew it was coming, though. I won't be moving out as soon as I thought, but I will be waiting to do another show until after the move. It could be 2010 before the show returns. That's all for now.

Tags: mentalcast

My head has a "Room for Rent" sign.

: michaelmerton; October 14th, 22:35

Location:: United States, Pflugerville

Mood:: anxious

So, the moving situation is getting less and less stressful. I found a one-bedroom apartment that I could actually afford without a roommate. However, today, a potential roommate actually stepped forward, opening up the option of having a 2-bedroom apartment, which would be more expensive (not for me, of course, but in general), but may limit my mother coming down here. In fact, if I take on a roommate, my mother may not be able to come down at all. I'd still kinda rather have a one-bedroom so that my mom can visit me, but having a roommate would cut my rent nearly in half. Decisions, decisions...

We recorded a MentalCast last night, complete with Brad Jones as a special guest, but we lost all of it due to a technical error, so we'll just try again next week. Next week or the following week could be the final one in Studio C, as I'll be moving, roommate or not, into Studio IV by months' end. The show will go on hiatus only for a week or two, as it turns out, because I may have a computer after all. From there, it's just a matter of having Internet access and it's all gravy.

I was going to Hanover's tomorrow for karaoke, but it appears I'm going to Homer's instead to meet with this potential roommate. Taylor may be joining me after work tomorrow. I have to work in the morning for a grand total of four-and-a-half hours (8am to 12:30pm). I also get paid tomorrow. After this and the next paycheck, I'll be satisfied with the sufficiency of my funds enough to stand a move into an apartment without failure. Whew.

My life is about to receive a swift kick in the pants.

Tags: mentalcast

The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

: michaelmerton; October 2nd, 23:28

Location:: United States, Pflugerville, Duke Cove

Mood:: determined

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: brakelight religion, fire & ice, mental comedy, mental television, mentalcast, mike & taylor

Mental Television: Season 3, Episode 5

: michaelmerton; October 2nd, 12:09

Location:: United States, Pflugerville, Duke Cove

Mood:: awake

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Tags: mental television

Mental Television: Season 3, Episode 4

: michaelmerton; September 30th, 19:12

Location:: United States, Austin

Mood:: amused

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: mental television

Mental Television: Season 3, Episode 3

: michaelmerton; September 30th, 14:43

Location:: United States, Pflugerville

Mood:: awake

The password for this one is mentaltv303.

"Laxuphus" Travis tells the weirdest story ever. Meanwhile, Mike, Chris and Brad all enjoy some pizza. Starring Mike Riley, Chris McClain, Travis Schaeffer, Bradley Jones and Jeremy Pierce. Also starring Laura Burgess. Originally aired September 30, 2009. Production code MT-3x03.

Tags: mental television

Mental Television: Season 3, Episode 2

: michaelmerton; September 29th, 23:35

Location:: United States, Pflugerville, Duke Cove, 1000-1018

Mood:: accomplished

I don't know if I'll use MegaVideo again anytime soon, but Vimeo's pretty damn cool! This and all future videos are password protected. You can only find the password on this blog, so if you go to the Mental Television website and click "Watch Episode," you will be redirected to this blog from here on out.

By the way, the password for this one is mentaltv302. Enjoy!

"Things You Shouldn't Do To Couches" Mike, Chris and Brad have some fun in Richmond. Meanwhile, Mike also joins Travis and Chris in some dinner time fun. Starring Mike Riley, Chris McClain, Travis Schaeffer, Brad Jones and Jeremy Pierce. Also starring Charles Harter and Laura Burgess. Originally aired September 29, 2009. Production code MT-3x02.

Tags: mental television