Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Goooood Mooorrrnnning, Baby!! :P

LMAO, isn't that a funny title..... (ok, not really, but cut me some slack!) Just wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone, I've had chance to talk to Tommy just about every day, and he seems to be ok so far (we all knew he was always right :P). As of earlier this evening, he was working on a rough draft of things to post, but hasn't had time or a good enough internet connection to post it. Right now his DSL is loading at about the pace of dial-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so he's saving it til he has better access. As for myself, I'm handling this A LOT BETTER than most of you thought I would. Before we dated I was an extremely independent person, and even though I miss him like crazy, it's ok being here by myself. I'm staying busy, but even when I'm not, I'm just vegging..... I'm not sitting at home crying or being depressed. I enjoy the peace and quiet, and believe me, that's been few and far between around here with the whole gang prepping here for the trip. :) I would really like to get a "Scooby Girls" get together planned for sometime in the next month or so..... hopefully a Friday night where we can maybe go to Raleigh, and go to the Longbranch?? I've mentioned it to Marion, and Marisa, and they both say they'll go, so lets get it together. I don't care if we spend the night, as long as it's just the girls, no boys...... except Tom, cause he's like one of the girls anyway. :D I'm looking for a night, other than during Spring Break, to do this, so let me know, I want everyone's input. We have an opportunity to have a crazy night, and I'm dying to do that with my girls again...... it's been a while since any of us have done something like that, and I'm looking to add something to our "OMG, no we didn't!" memories!!! For those of you that can't talk to the guys, if you want to be able to call them, let me know, and I'll give you the number. Just remember it will be expensive to call overseas, and Clair learned the hard way that phone cards aren't always the way to go..... Tommy has sent his love with big hugs to all of you, he misses everyone, and will be glad to be home, but he's having the time of his life over there. I promise we'll both try and keep track of his anecdotes from the trip, and the pictures, so you can all see what he saw while he was gone. Baby, I love you bunches, and miss you like crazy! I am, however, getting really comfortable having the bed to myself..... :P (JUST KIDDING!!!) I guess I better go ahead and cut this short, I'm playing CoH with some of our friends, and they're pl'ing me pretty well! (That's geek speak for Tommy and I) I love you!!! Oh, and everyone in CoH misses you and hopes you're doing well! They have asked about you all night! XOXOXOXOXOXO

Monday, February 27, 2006

Greetings From Africa

Greetings all. This is my first post from Africa. I sit here waiting on equipment to arrive. It's 9:41 AM my time here on Monday, so it's 2 AM back where you guys are. Hope you're all having a good night's sleep... lol... I can't even begin to describe the hundreds of experiences I've already had since I've been here. It's been absolutely amazing. The country is beautiful. There are palm trees everywhere and sand.. LOTS and LOTS of sand. The weather is about 65-65 degrees all day and the nights are perfect. When I get to a better connection, I'll actually post a few pictures for you all to see so you can share in the experience. I'm staying at the Bab Al Bahar Hotel... and yeah, we're the only americans I've seen since we've been in the country. However, you can't even imagine the view I have from my room. I have a 12th floor room that is maybe a total of 50 feet back from a cape on the mediterranean sea. I wake up every day and drink coffee at 7 AM while sitting on the balcony looking out over the sea. It's the most beautiful sight imaginable. Throughout the day, you can hear the prayer singers at the mosque standing in their towers with their PA system, chanting the muslim prayer throughout the city. There are so many sights to see and so many things we have done already, that I can't even begin to describe them all here at this time, but I'm going to. I'm going to take the time to write it all down tonight and try to post it inthe morning from GECOL (where we are working.) We do not have wireless at the hotel yet, but the country has asked us to implement a wireless solution as well for them. So guess what, Tim and I are taking the entire country of Libya wireless!!! It's awesome! I will share one experience we had with you. We wanted to experience the culture from the local point of view while we had time, so we went out to a local fish market. Picture an older american movie depicting a Korean or Little-China fish market and you'll have a good idea of what this place was like. The road was pure dirt and clay, and it was surrounded on both sides by tiny little fish huts where the fisherman bring their catch from that day and display it on large trays for you to see. You browse through the vendors and make your selection of fresh fish and other seafood. They have Tuna, Swordfish, Shark, Calamari, the biggest shrimp you've ever seen, and hundreds of other fish that have no name in English that we can seem to translate. After you pick your fish, you go up to this little shack at the top of the hill where a man is standing out side cooking in a 1 foot wide by 10 foot long little iron grill. We were all wondering where in the world we would actually eat. The streets are running with salt wate and fish guts and the place reeks of the natural scents of dead fish. However, we are ushered inside this "little " room behind the grill. Once inside, you have entered an entire different world. As we enter this little rickety shack, and escorted through the front doors, we are greeted with a lavish restaurant that seats maybe 50 people. The entire building, and I mean ALL of it (floors, walls, etc) are made of solid marble. And I don't mean marble tile. I mean solid 8 foot sheets of polished blue marble. Oops.. the Doc is here, so I have to get back to work. Be back soon. Love you all.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

For my baby.....

Hey Scoobies! It' s me, your lonely Scooby missing her man who is lots and lots of miles away!! I'm just checking in, updating a few on my weekend so far..... (Tommy can read this easier than he can check his email) Yesterday was really rough for me. First was getting up at 3:30 (OMG, that's usually my bedtime!!) Then we had to drive the guys to Raleigh to the airport. Here's where it started sucking!! My baby left me to go to Libya for 6 weeks, but I'm sure most of you know that from him. They made it there and checked in and left fine, made it to NYC and had fun wasting time there til there flight to Libya. Clair and I rode home together, and thought since in Raleigh we should go to Crabtree, but forgot it was only 7 am!!!! LMAO! :P We came on home instead. I did ok yesterday until I laid down to take a nap, that's when I realized that I was alone..... I called Tommy just so I could hear his voice, and felt better after talking to him. The hardest part about him being gone is the inability to talk to him whenever. Later I went to dinner with Clair and a friend of hers, and then went to the OC to hang out for a bit. It was so cool meeting some of Marc's friends, they're all a bunch of fun!! If I hadn't had so little sleep and been so down about missing Tommy, I would have loved to go downtown with y'all, but had fun at the OC anyway. Today was horrible!!! I seriously thought about quitting the Grind a dozen times today. I got there at 11 am, and ran my ass off forever!!! First thing I had a party of 15 senior women, out for a birthday, and they were extremely demanding!! I could barely take care of the 2 other tables I had at the time, and couldn't take on anymore. The ladies ended up being really sweet and tipped me really well, so it was ok, but still stressful. And my fun didn't stop there..... we were slammed until 3 pm today!!! Our opener, that comes in at 7:30 am was still taking tables we were so busy! After sidework and all I left finally at 5:30. It was the craziest day there ever, and I hope I never have to work a weekend again! I had to come home and veg for a while after, so I could meet up with friends later. I missed a bunch of calls, thanks everyone for checking on me!! I even missed Tommy's call, and that pissed me off the most! By the time I got home, it was after midnight there, so I only talked to him for about 5 mins, and said I'd talk to him tomorrow. I went out about 10 pm to the OC, Trainwreck was playing and they were awesome!! They've added some horns to the group, and were really rocking! I hung with some girls there til I went to the "Booza-Palooza" party at a co-worker's (from the Grind) house. It was fun, but everyone there was 21-23, so it made me feel a little old and out of place. It was fun hanging out with the guys though, I've always had lots of fun with them and had many crazy memories of Pirate's Cove with them! :) Then I went back to the OC only to leave and get dinner at IHOP with Mary, Trish, and AJ. Baby, I think we're running out of late night spots, cause while we were there a fight broke out and almost had to call the cops on them all. Greenville is getting to be horrible!!! All in all it's been a pretty good weekend. I've had fun, and managed to do that going out by myself, just hoping to catch up with people when I get to my destination. That's how I used to go out, before I started dating Tommy, and it can be lots of fun, but it's much nicer knowing you have someone pretty awesome to hang out with together and go out! I miss you bunches baby, but I hope everything is going well there! I kinda want to call you, since it's about 10 am there, but I don't know if you're trying to sleep in or not. I'll try you around noon here though, when you told me to..... If you want to try me first, that's great!! I'll have my phone nearby. (Oh, and I would have had pics from tonight, but I guess someone must have killed the batteries in the camera, cause it wouldn't turn on when I checked it.....) :P Ok, well, that's it for me tonight..... I'm gonna go and crash in bed. I guess I'll check in again sometime tomorrow! Nighty-night! :) Tommy, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! Muah! XOXOXOXOXOXO I'm blowing you a kiss baby!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Ok.. it's official: I'm heading out.

Well, this will be my last post to the blog from the United States for awhile. Our travel plans have been confirmed and I will be leaving on Friday mornning, the 24th of February at 5 in the morning. It's been a lot of headache in preparation, but it's finally here. As much as I am excited to be going to a foreign country and being able to experience a new culture, it's going to be hard not seeing all of you guys here in the states. I'm going to miss you all. I'm sure most of you got the email I sent out. In case you need something, that email contains most every method of reaching me while I'm away. If you have any questions, comments, or things I need to know, you can always leave a message here on the blog. I'll be checking it often while I'm gone. Flight Arrangements: This info is more for me than you guys.. lol.. in case I lose my flight info. Here are the flight arrangements:
First Leg 24 FEB 06 RALEIGH/DURHAM NYC/KENNEDY Flying: DELTA Flight #:5760 Departs: 845A Lands: 1020A Second Leg 24 FEB 06 NYC/KENNEDY MILAN/MALPENSA Flying: ALITALIA Flight #:605 Departs: 600P Lands: 750A Third Leg 25 FEB 06 MILAN/MALPENSA TRIPOLI Flying: ALITALIA Flight #:880 Departs: 1040A Lands: 210P Returning Flights: 10 APR 06 TRIPOLI MILAN/MALPENSA Flying: ALITALIA Flight #:881 Departs: 600A Lands: 830A 10 APR 06 MILAN/MALPENSA NYC/KENNEDY Flying: ALITALIA Flight #:604 Departs: 1000A Lands: 100P 10 APR 06 NYC/KENNEDY RALEIGH/DURHAM Flying: DELTA Flight #:5573 Departs: 600P Lands: 800P I'll post more later this afternoon when I get back from the office. Until then.. I miss you all and will write you soon. Regards, Tommy

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

pics of logan

hey all, the first pic is one that nicole's mom took this weekend at her mima's house...the rest are done by a good friend of mine that is just getting started in photography....we took over 150 plus pics monday night ....this is a work in process at Nicole's request Logan MacKenzie Wainright Born: 01/29/06 11:50pm Weight:6lbs 7 oz Lenght: 20 1/4 inches the guy that took the pics has entered one into a contest so....go vote!!!!!!! http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photocontest/vote?entry=99494 thanks lee

Update for Ding

Hey Ding. While you're technically right in your comment, I think you're thinking it worse than it is. I'm not "leaving the states for a new job." I do have a new job (thank god... I actually make money at this one.) And, one part of this job happens to be overseas, yes. But it's only from time to time. I'm still based stateside and I'll still be here a lot. Why do you think I haven't been on COH in forever? It's not for lack of wanting to, I just haven't had the time since I started here at this new company. We have alot of catching up to do at work to get these guys ready to go and that's been consuming all my waking hours lately. Anyway, thanks for the concern.. lol.. but I'm not leaving for long. Il'l be back in about six weeks I think.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Bannag's Approval List

Ok.. I HAD to make something for the Jeep. I just installed new 3.5 inch super-tweeters in the front dash and they're HOT. I have to have something to blast in them this morning. So, here's what I have at this point. Temple of the Dog (yes, I love that song, so shut up) Tool Puddle of Mudd Nickelback Fuel Drowning Pool Alian Ant Farm Bush Depeche Mode Hoobastank Disturbed Default Of those, I pulled 17 tracks together... so it's got room for one more... lol.. What ya think?

5 AM

Well, it's 5 AM and I'm awake again. Got my coffee and cigarettes and I'm ready to start another day. I talked to Ed a little bit this morning. He sends his regards to everyone. For those who have been asking, work is going well. Today I'm trying to finish up the finalizing of all the details before we leave. If we have our Visa's ready by Wednesdsay then there is a shot we'll be leaving this week. If not it will be early next week. What else has been going on? Well, mainly, I've just been rockin the new Jeep. I'm in love with this truck. However, she needs a name. I have yet to decide on a moniker that fits. Ooh... something else I need, and this one is going out to you Bannag. I need a CD or two. We already talked about you making me one, but this is another type I'm talking about here. I need a "road rage" cd. I'm thinking something like Temple of the Dog, Tool, A Perfect Circle, etc... something that's "singable" but at the same time possesses a little "hard" to it. Can you do this? I know you're the CD queen.... hook me up your majesty.... please?

Monday, February 06, 2006

Huh? What the hell?

Don't you love his "what the hell are you doing you moron?" expression? It's 7 AM now and Tim is late.. lol.. wait.. that means the earth is still spinning.....

Dude.. I stole your hat

Hey dear. In case you can't find your hat when you get up this morning... I stole it! And oh yeah.. sorry about that grumpy dream thing I had this morning. I woke up dreaming about visio drawings that were keeping me from sleeping... they're even taunting me in my dreams now! Can I keep the hat?..... lol

Good Morning... damnit

Good morning all. Ugh. See that? Yeah.. that's me; at five in the damned morning. I feel like crap, am still sick, and haven't had anywhere near enough coffee yet to be doing anything, much less writing on here. I just wanted to say hi to everyone. I haven't gotten to see you guys lately and I'm sorry for that. We're all working super-hard to get ready for this trip. I got my passport this last week, and the CEO called last night from London. He's over there getting our Visa's ready so we can enter the country, so it looks like we might be departing this week. (uck... this coffee sucks) Umm what else? Oh yeah. Superbowl. Seems I missed most of it. I never heard from the gang so I just worked through most of it, but it appears the Steelers led most of the game so it wasn't really all that exciting from the parts I caught on TV. I am upset that I missed all the commercials though! I tried to watch them on MSN this morning but my browser kept crashing every time I tried to load the page, so I gave up. Anyway, anyone have an interesting weekend this weekend? I'd love to hear from you guys. Bannag, try posting a little ya know... I haven't seen your pretty face in 1 year, 1 month, and 3 days, so talkign to you in cyberspace would be nice ya know! Lee and Nicole: I'm sorry I haven't been by to see the baby yet. I'm sick and there's no way I want to give him this mess. I'm hoping to be over it before I leave so I can see you guys. Am I still on the charts for Godfather? Cause I know you mentioned it, and I know I keep hearing about it, but I haven't heard for sure from you guys. If I'm gonna be a godfather, I'm gonna have to come up with a nickname for this toddler right away.... that's what I do... And it's gotta be something cute that can follow him around and embarrass him for years to come. Somethign like stinker-butt or hairy-monkey..... lol. I'm not awake enough to be really creative yet.. give me time. Ok.. I need more coffee. Umm.. this cup isn't any better... maybe it's just me. Being sick has made everything taste like ass... I haven't had an apetite in days. (go ahead, insert food joke here) A New Thought: I have GOT to find some people to talk to at 5 AM. Of oourse it's not too hard to find conversation at 5 AM, but it IS hard to find something other than strange gay men from out of state who think they can have a relationship with a redneck from north carolina.. like I'm not so straight you could use me for a damned ruler. So far today I've had one gay guy and one guy who wanted me to sleep with his wife. Now, the gay guys I'm used to, but the "sleep-with-my-wife-guys" are another breed altogether. I can't even begin to describe how strange you have to be to do that. If YOU won't sleep with her, what in god's name makes you think that I want to? My profile on yahoo says NOTHING about anything even remotely related to sleeping with anyone. Get a grip people! Ok.. time for me to get a shower and get ready for work. Write me people!

Thursday, February 02, 2006

DIGITAL 3 MEDIA

Well ladies and gentlemen, it is official today. I am a legal and operating business owner now. I launched my business today through the IRS,(and man that was a bitch). I have opened Digital 3 Media and made it public. We are your one stop source for all of your home Audio/Visual needs. Wen order, sell, install, and maintain your entertainment needs. Thanks for your support and best wishes to you all in your own endeavors.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

HELP

ok folks, I have a friend that is getting married on March 4th 2006. I have been recently placed in charge of coordinating the reception. I need all the advice and help anyone can offer. I am at my wits end already and this fell in my lap today. so please help me friends. I am totally clueless here as this is my first attempt in doing anything like this at all. so please anyone who reads this if you have any ideas please call me and let me because I will not be able to log onto the blog and read it each day. 252-573-0127 cell 252-473-2140 home digital3media@gmail.com is the email thanks you all for anything you can help with. Ray

CONGRATULATIONS NICOLE & LEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOGAN MACKENZIE WAINRIGHT was born Sunday, January 29th at 11:50 pm. (for those who want to know... 6lbs 7oz, 20 1/4 ") To see pictures, use the link in the title.

I see you lurking...

Come on Shak. You CAN post here you know. I see your lurking habits.. lol

Morning all

*raising my coffee cup in salute through the haze of cigarette smoke* "Morning All! It's 4:54 AM and I'm the only Scoob awake. I'm going to have to locate a few more people online to talk to in the mornings. There's not a soul awake that I know up at this hour. I hope you're all having a good morning, or afternoon, or whatever when you read this I'm just sitting here trying to plan my day. We'll be packing up the Jeep about 7 AM to head to work but I always have these two hours first thing in the morning to kill while I get motivated and go over all the emails I have to respond to when I get to work each morning. What's on the to do list for today? That's a productive use of blog-time so I'll start with that.
  • Have Tyrhon check with Logistics to see if the Cisco equipment is all on the ground on-site.
  • Create a ring topology backup solution in case they decide they want to implement the alternate fiber plan (like I can fix that once they already have the concrete laid... but whatever)
  • Get update from the server guys and determine the move-ahead strategy for implementing Microsoft's new plan.
  • Learn Arabic (ha.. I wish)
  • Conference Call with Nizar about issues currently needing attention over there.
Oh yeah, got to order the equipment we need and have it shipped asap. Here's what I'm at so far:
  • Pelican Cases for the fiber equipment.
  • Motorola Radios for the ground-crew once we're on-site.
  • Staging Materials for the burn-in crew: markers, QA dots, labels, etc.
Oh yeah.. I have someting that I want to get off my chest. I did FINALLY get the passport issue handled. And as always, the friendly people at the Child Support office were holding things up. Ooohhh I was pissed. You know that the head of Pitt County Child Support called my daughter's mother (Michelle) and asked her if she wanted ALL my lifetime's arrears up front? If Michelle had said yes, they would have held the passport until I gave them six thousand dollars in cash! What a bitch. I'm one of the few (no, that's not fair... ) one of the many fathers who DO pay their child support every month. I get along great with my daughter, her mother, and her "other daddy".. lol. And no matter what I do, some money grubbing, man-hating, woman in the child support office gets up my ass at least once a year. Not to rant here, but man haters should be drug out in the street and shot. And I don't mean to be gender biased here, but it's ALL women in that department. In the nine years I have been dealing with Social Services, I've never ever spoken to, or seen, a man on staff. The child support section of social services is composed of a bunch of hateful women who hate all men and do their best to completely screw anyone they come across. They think that just because you're paying child support, you have to be some worthless asshole who's a deadbeat dad. Want a clue to their philosophy? Think about it? Who VOLUNTEERS to work that position? Who WANTS to be a child support enforcement officer? I'd lay dollars to donuts that every one of them there either has a man who left them, a father who wasn't a good one, or some other male role-model figure in their life who screwed them. Hey ladies. It's not the fault of EVERY man on the planet that you're a fucking bitch! Get over it! Thanks to this department, I have actually had three warrants for my arrest in my lifetime. Know why? Because they're stupid and don't think that anyone they deal with is worth anything. The second time they had a warrant out for me, they had one for over a year before I even knew about it. I was the the one who called THEM to clear it up and see what it was for. Rather than trying to explain it to me and let me get it straight, they immediately decided that since they had me on the phone, they'd try to hold me there while they sent the cops to my house. Want to know the funny part? They said that they had sent me three summons to court and that they couldn't find me. Guess what. I lived with a fucking police officer! How fucking hard am I to find? I LIVE WITH A COP, LADY! OOOOH I hate these people. And while I'm on the subject, take those fucking posters off the wall in the social services building. I dare you to go in there one day and look around on the way down the hall to the child support section of the building. EVERY one of them is a "don't be a dead-beat-dad" poster. Anyone want to stop and remind these people: Hey, you fucking idiot: Don't me a crack-whore mother! Hey, don't be a slut in front of your kids! Hey, don't leave your kids at home with your mom and dad just so you can go downtown and get laid... AGAIN... which is obviously what got you into this predicament in the first place. It's fucking ridiculous how far they go in that department to screw men as hard as they can. Can we men who pay child support get on a rating system or something? We'll wear little buttons of different colors to let them know just how far down on the eat-shit-and-die scale. Oh yeah, and here's another issue. While we're at it, this FUCKING BITCH really ruins my day some more. (ok, yeah I'm blatantly ranting now) I'm sitting there at her desk while she clears the paperwork for me to get my passport. I had to just give her $2000.00 to get a passport? THEN, she tells me, while she has me over a barrel and I can't refuse the issue, that they are upping my child support thirty dollars a month. Now, that's not thirty dollars a month that goes back to my daughter. If it was, they could have every dime I make. It's 30 dollars a month that goes towards the arrears they've been sucking out of my taxes for the last NINE years, which I've already paid off about 3 times over. First off, I'm 28 years old and I'm a working professional. Where in that statement does it say that I can just shit two-thousand dollars at the drop of a hat? This lady has no idea how much that affects my household income for the coming months. I JUST bought a new used Jeep, which means I just dropped a thousand dollars on Monday already. NOW, I have to drop two-thousand more the same week. If I hadn't just changed jobs, that would be a month and a half's income all by itself. Thankfully it's not THAT long at my current income rate, but it's still a significant portion of my income for a significant portion of time. And the woman had the audacity to smile the whole time she's holding this shit over my head? Did I say it before? BITCH! I'm sorry to say it, but Social Services is an extremely ineffective group of sorry-ass man-hating, lonely women, who couldn't get jobs anywhere else in the state doing what they wanted to do. Take your community-college-semi-educated, over-weight ass, and go ruin someone else's life you fucking bitch. Ooh.. I have an idea... how about go on a fucking DATE! Get laid! Something! Just quit feeling like it's your damned JOB to screw with people's families. You're not fucking helping. Guess what happens if my daughter gets hurt tomorrow and has to go to the doctor? I, and all the other dads you just fucked, can't afford to take their kids. Want to know why? Because YOU wanted to get a fucking bonus for getting money back to the state of north carolina that they're NOT EVEN OWED! Yes, there ARE dead-beat dads out there, but we're not ALL one of them. Where were you people when I was 9 years old wearing hand-me-downs while my mother worked 3 jobs to put me and my brother through school and to put food on our table? You sure as hell weren't out there collecting the child-support that was owed. Oh that's right, you must have been out collecting North Carolina State Arrears Payments for that entire fucking decade of my life. Where were you when my sisters needed support, but never got? The money social services DID manage to get never made its way to my families table, or theirs. It went into state arrears. Fuck-you-so-very-much too! Anyone know where the "can't-pay-rent-because-social-services-likes-to-fuck-me office is? I'd like to apply for support. Oh wait. I have a penis.. I'm ineligible. Now, I guess I could beat my wife and send her instead... that would work with our wonderful state support system. NEWS FLASH TO THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA: Why don't you get off your fucking lazy asses and do something to the abusive dads who are hurting their kids? Why don't you go track down the ten thousand baby-daddy's around Greenville with 5 kids from 5 different women, who are currently running around peddling their drugs to MY kids and arrest THEM for god's sake? Give the social services department guns and let them loose on Martin Luther King Boulevard for a few days. Hell, we could get some support for families AND fix the deficit! Why don't you people try some good advice and tell the stupid fucking crack whores with 5 kids to sew their damned thighs shut and fix the whole problem! Every single man who's not married to the mother of their child aren't necessarily to blame for whatever happened to you. We're not ALL sorry-ass individuals running around in navigators while our kids go hungry. Fuck you. Fuck your department. And fuck your twisted ass legal system that allows you to hold people over a barrel to get what you want. Yesterday, you ended whatever respect I had for you when you held my job over my head. "Mr. Jordan, we're only going to allow this passport to go through if you sign this document agreeing to increase your monthly support" YOU JUST TOOK TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS YOU DUMB ASS WHORE! WHAT IN THE HELL MORE DID YOU WANT FROM ME? Now, instead of being able to relax a LITTLE bit while I'm gone, my girlfriend has to bust her ass while I'm gone to keep the fucking lights turned on because YOU people decided that you'd like my entire check for the month of February IN ADVANCE! I'll try telling the power company, the landlord, the insurance company, and the lady at the grocery store who to call when their fucking check bounces! What if something DOES happen here? What is my girlfriend get sick and needs to go to the doctor? Guess what, I'll be 4,987 miles away in a fucking foreign country with no way home and you just took every fucking dime I will have for almost the entire time I'm gone!!! Do you have any idea how long it takes to LEAVE Lybia for an emergency? I do. I checked. About three fucking weeks. Once you're there, you're NOT coming home for shit until your pre-arranged departure date. Your mother's dying? Tough shit. Welcome to Africa! That money was all she had as a buffer in case something went wrong while I was gone. Not to mention that the bitch had the nerve to tell me that she suggested I speak with my employer and get an advance. Do you know how fucking unprofessional it is to ask ANY employer, especially a NEW one, "Hi... umm... see.. well... the state of north carolina thinks I'm a deadbeat, and they told me to ask you if you can pay me in advance for this month, so I can go give it all to them." That's something you just do NOT do, especially to an employer who's paying you to do what I'm doing. It's a permanent blemish on your record that's not easily forgotten. He's always going to remember that in the future. Thanks a lot State of NC... really appreciate it.