Ask Madden

yo yo...took karen to the gun range yesterday...she did pretty well, though scared me when she'd turn around to ask questions while still holding the gun and moving it around...loaded...she also wanted me to take a picture of her, i was bout to but then she proceeded to make one of those faces that girls make in pics that makes you hate them, so i immediately shut off her camera and refused...everyone should have someone to filter stuff like that
in other news taht no one cares about it looks imminent that fedor will be coming to the UFC...if they do manage to sign him i am going to be super excited...to those (probably all) who don't know fedor is an emotionless russian mma fighter who is pretty much unbeaten(only lost came because he got a cut and doctors stopped the fight)and is the scariest man on the planet that is essentially ivan drago personified
working for the government has started to annoy me only because it really shows how much waste there is with jobs...frankly i think too many people out there have jobs...unemployment really should be higher, SO many useless jobs or several people doing the jobs that no one even needs to do
so i just saw on the news mayor Bloomberg started a plan to give one way plane tickets to homeless people if a fam member takes them in, since the city legally has to provide shelter if they want it. Aren't you not homeless anymore if shelter is provided? Also, news said it costs the city 35,000 a yr to house one. HOW is that possible??? Thats 3000 a month! Is the city renting them studio apartments on central park west???

yo yo...been a while so i'm gonna quickly catch up...last tuesday karen came in...i couldn't get off saturday because coverage was too light sowe altered plans a little...wednesday right after work we went to vegas..there was some traffic going up cuz in a 3 mile stretch of road several cars overheated...apparently thats common in the desert...vegas is perfect for 1-2 days...if they want to make the city more attractive they really need to get rid of scum...how those guys that try to give out those cards for "babes to your door" don't get killed in the street i dont know...also don't think I am ever more excited than driving to vegas knowing im going to eat a buffet
left vegas and got home late to get up very early to go to catalina island the next morning. catalina island is a small island about 30 miles off the coast of Long beach, just south of LA. It has one small city, very small, mountains, hills, very very few cars, you need speical permits for them. Most people drive golf carts, when you see houses most have golf carts in driveways. Its very weird though, we felt like we were in another country, you essentially are. I didn't get to see the high school but i really was curious what it was like. A guy that ran ther golf cart rental place graduated from there in thr 70's and had 30 kids in his class. Its also funny cuz there's basically one of every profession. Its really beautiful though and pretty neat, tho it'd def get boring living there. Most of the houses are owned by well to do people who rent them, and they are very small but very expensive. went snorkeling, parasailing, drove around the island in a golf cart...was nice
Came back and I worked during the day/night the next two days so karen kept herself busy. yesterady she rented a bike and we bike rode up to La Jolla coves and i tried to find a seashell. Theres a lot of marine life in the cove and it was hard to find a shell because they all had animals inside of them! Lots of crabs too. Then a sea lion came over to a rock and just sat making noise for everyone while the other laid on his back, he was very cute.

misc.

-it rained in vegas, for about 30 seconds...weird
-i almost got soup at buffet but couldn't break my no soup/no bread rule
-my best friend at work is retiring thursday :(
-I really need to get a wetsuit this week...i wore one in catalina and they feel so good!
-I think my next san diego move has to be to La Jolla
- i hate when its super hot, you go through way more laundry, theres been a heat wave lately in san diego and its about 80 and it feels so hot to me...i like 68 every day
- i LOVE garlic...anything super garlicy i can eat all day
- i had this kind of pasta at the paris buffet that looked like little shells, and they were very thick/dense...anyone know what they are?

-fin

Hey Guys! Long time, no post... so here we go! It's getting around that time for me to go back to school and I need a new computer (Hooray!!!) but I'm looking for opinions, bc I'm not sure what type of computer (mainly mac or pc ) to get. The only thing that I know about macs is that the cool kids have them and they cost a lot of $. Money being the only thing that is holding me back (but popularity does have its price) I need to have a laptop for school, so I want to know everyone's opinion and any certain suggestions...GO!

yo yo...does anyone have a role model? not like you HAVE to answer kinda question,so you all dont have to say your parents, but do any of you have any actual real role models?

yo yo...so this past weekendi went to phoenix to visit Elana. She was in phoenix for the NSA(national stuttering association) convention. I got there evening on thursday and left friday evening to get home for work saturday. 6 hr drive, not bad. I'm kind of thankful i drove cross country by myself, now no drive seems bad. Honestly, as long as i have a new o and a episode i can drive any distance. Plus on the way back i ate cookies and snacks the whole way. There really is no better circumstance then driving to o and a in the dessert nite with snacks. Like opie said there is no better feeling then dessert nite, it really is unique.
Anyhow , the convention was pretty cool. Everyone was really friendly. I think friendlier than normal people, probably because they're used to havign speech impediments impede social life so they arent douches. But its interesting, cuz the variation in their speeches is very large. Some have small stutters, others extremely bad stutters. Its also interesting cuz people from all ages and walks of life were there. Like in the 20 something crowd there were people who looked like jocks, wiggers, preps, all sorts of people, it was very interesting.
I was talking with a guy at work about new york, he used to live there, and he knows about Hells Hole! he said he used to go there all the time!
In other news, Karen is coming out next week! She actually made on excel an itinerary, i'm at work but i'll post it later cuz its absoultely ridiculous. I hate people that use excel recreatioanlly.
I also got a library card...AND a book! books in stores are expensive, idk why anyone buys books
I'm not home, but i imagine if i went home it'd probably be pretty interesting since i haven't been for a little while and i'd probably blog about it.

**EDIT**

entourage came back, caught me by surprise. But this is def the best time of year. Season premiere was great. Everything is going well, which makes me glad. Its one of the few shows where i like no conflicts and everything to just go well. Also, did anyone notice Ari has a new house?

Also, at work there is a section outside on the way to the gym for smokers. First, I hate taht anyplace has to cater to those scum. But it is very sad seeing them in this outside area having little solitary lives, reading, eating, doing watever it is people do, but alone, because they smoke. So that at least makes me semi glad

yo yo...i hear vincent went home......that must be interesting...a good thing to blog about

yo yo...so in the LA arrival area we have 4 sectors(radars)...the two finals(LAX has 2 landing runways, each radar takes one side), and two sectors that feed planes into them...normally trainees start on one of the feeding sectors to work in, but with 4 or 5 people to train on it there may be a bottleneck soon....the really cool/loud/surfer controller, who is actually well respected for his ability, prolly one of the best controllers, always tells me he thinks im real sharp and said he would have me start on the finals, since what you do in the other sectors has to do with it anyway...there are some suits who dont want that, and he has actually been talking to people convincing them, its really nice of him
so today at the end of the day there was a "team brief", where several controllers sat with the supervisor and the asst. air traffic manager of the facility came in and the controllers basically expressed problems, concerns, things that needed to be addressed. Then the cool controller expressed concern about having all the trainees start on that one sector, he said we need to think outside the box and give it a shot if we have someone capable...he went on to say taht he's been here a long time, and can sense when someone is going to make it, and then he pointed to me and said "that's the guy, if i was still going to be here(he moving to australia next month) I would train him, i know he can do it...he's sharp, works hard and has a great attitude, he's the guy you want...give him Dan Boyle(another controller who the surfer said is the best instructor) and he'll make it"...it was so nice of him to do that in front of the big wig and it made me felt really good...i thanked him afterwards for sticking up for me, and after the meeting he even went on to talk to the operations manager of the area and he's starting to turn him around on it too, so im excited...it will be a lot of hard work to jump in that hardest sector, but i think knowing that he stuck his neck out for me would make me work even harder should they let me do that...so today was pretty good

yo yo...round 3

Tempura Burger
(actually sounds like it MAY work)




Donut Fries
(i feel like i may have had something similar, but they just look so good)

Donut french fries with raspberry jelly and Bavarian cream dipping sauce.





Cheeseburger Waffles
( i can see this working)





Deep Fried Cheesesteak
(tasty)





Deep Fried White Castle Burgers

(winner)

yo yo...so im having a kind of internal struggle i need help with...i think i may want to adopt a dog. I'm still not ok with simbas death, i even was crying at work today looking at ads of dogs on petfinder, but i would really like to give a dog a good home, and have a companion and i think i have a lot of love i can give a dog. I don't think i could ever get another lab, at least a yellow lab. I do think they're wonderful, probably the most beautiful things god has ever created, but none should try to compare with simba.
I know apartment living isn't the best scenario for a dog, but i think the layout of my apt makes it slighlty better than it could be.



as you can see based on my schematic(and u can reference facebook pics) i have a small patio. Since im on the second floor i alwyas leave just the screen door closed, which is nice. So if i got a dog i can leave that door open if im not home and the dog can walk in and out. Also if i want to leave the dog out for short periods I have an area thats outside of my front door that i could put a little fence in.



this is my neighbors dog, cooper. If they are out for short periods they leave him like that sometimes. Or if they home they leave that fence up and leave front door open and he walks in and out. He's a good boy.

So that is part of my concern. Also, my complex is dog friendly, thats why i guess a lot of people here have dogs...there's even a dog park on our grounds! There is also the ocean beach dog park literally 1 block away(its a very big and popular dog park) AND Dog beach(one of only beaches in country for dogs) is a 5 min walk. But, my complex doesnt allow a few breeds...namely pit bulls, german shepherds, rotweillers, akitas and huskies. Now, i have a couple options. Since my complex isnt an expensive place or high end im thinking i probably shouldn't even bother saying anything if i DID get a dog since i didn't move in with one. You're supposed to pay a deposit and pay 35 dollars extra a month, but i could just play dumb, i cant honestly see them actually looking into something like that. Also, if i did get one of those breeds, especially german shepherd(theres a german shepherd rescure an hr north of here) im trying to find another obscure breed that looks similar that i could lie and say its actually one of those and use a technicality to get that approved, IF i told them first or they some how said something, which i cant see happening.
I just was at the san diego humane society, and it was such a beautiful place. It was a mini college campus, with places for bringing found animals, finding lost pets, a REALLY nice kennel/adoption place, nicest ive ever seen. There were also medical services, behavoir services, nutrition services, a store ,a doggie cafe, an agility training yard, all of that on the grounds. It really made me very happy that a place like this existed.
I was thinking today how what if bernie madoff had done wat he did, but turns out he did wonderful things with all of the money he stole? wat would the reaction be? then i thought about creating my own ponzie scheme and using the money to create really nice rescue centers all over.
I thnk some of the saddest things i read, that make me have emotions equal part sadness and anger is when i see people giving away dogs on craigslist. People that give up dogs for adoption make me very angry.
While i was inside looking and playing with dogs it was a whirlwind of emotions. One minute i was i'd be crying out of sadness, then out of happiness, all of the dogs were so sweet, this one pit bull i put my hand in his cell and he walked over to it, but his body against it and lied down and i sat for about 5 minutes just scratching him. There was a beautiful yellow lab there, but she was so pretty i knew she'd be adopted very quickly. I saw a german shepherd that was very pretty but he looked so very afraid, wouldnt come over to me. Im gonna go back and get him to come over.
So anyway, i understand me being single and living in an apt isnt ideal for a dog, believe me i wish i had someone that could help or a house with a giant yard , but for now i dont. Im gonna find out if i can bring a dog to work, obv not inside but can leave him outside somewhere, not expecting yes but worth a try. Then i could play with him on breaks that are relatively frequent. Actually a lot of the controllers in my area have dogs. Most have families, but one doesnt and has two labs. He has a house with a small yard tho, so he keeps the back door open and they go in and out while he's not home. At the same time, is the dog better in a kennel? i really dont know what to do.

p.s. there were cats at the adoption center. Who on earth would adopt a cat??/