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Tuesday, October 10th, 2006
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back from vacation. all dressed up and ready for work. with mosquito bites to prove i was on vacation. it was nice. and all i spoke was english. still got pesos in my pocket forgot to exchange at the airport.
troncones was a humid 93 degrees, i was sweating in the morning, and throughout the night, mustve lost all the weight i should have put on otherwise. she couldn't have had her wedding in a more isolated pocket. she'll probably have her 50th anniversary on mars. when the locals have trouble getting to your wedding...it was in the middle of the jungle, which opened up onto a beach. the water was warm, but that ocean's pretty secretive. you could walk 100 meters out and still have the water waist deep. then the currrent would pull you a little to the left and you'd fall into a huge pocket completely immersed under the ocean. and the waves would keep coming.
the wedding itself had a fairly huge turnout, much more than i or the coordinator expected. about 50 heads showed from as far away as hong kong and london. i only had a few margaritas, but the heat and energy drained me fast. i fell asleep on the grass by the rocks wedding night. it was the most comfortable sleep i had my four days there, and someone had to wake me up and drag me back to the party.
cuarto caballo was right on the beach, and just as the website said, it had solar powered everything. couldn't get hot water in the night, but cold felt great. hans and angie, the couple who own the place never showed up, but tony was very hospitable. and so were the three dogs. they followed me everywhere. even into the ocean. skipped surfing this time, but rode a boogie board. that was fun.
and i managed to drive in troncones! in an 05 jetta stick shift. i thought it was broken as i couldn't reverse until someone at the party informed me to push down on the stick. through the jungle, through the streets, through dirt roads by the beach, at 80 km an hour, however slow or fast that turns out to be. my last night there, i heard about a place called the drunken donkey. i wanted to go, but everyone was too tire,d. so i taxi'd out there and had a blast--2 lobsters and several drinks, wound up in a private pool with four acquiants. sometimes i surprise myself, or maybe it was in the air that night. had coffee once the whole trip, didn't look at a laptop my whole time there though its the first thing i went to coming back, and read without the cousins distra & interru.
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Monday, August 28th, 2006
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cant sleep. was going to email my friend and tell her i cant make it to her wedding. just feels like too much of a hassle without dorf...been looking at beach photos, searching for a hotel in troncones, and i was sold on one catered to a lone traveler called cuarto caballo. i wonder if ill meet any houyhnhnms. a semi-real vacation soon. if only for the weekend.
tonight i had the idea to quit my job and open up a restaurant called the mushroom hut. the building would of course have to be in the shape of a mushroom. just need a good portebello recipe. it would attract health nuts and who wouldnt want to go inside of a mushroom?
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no motorcycle yet. was convinced by last night's married with children to wait until i absolutely have to reaffirm my youth. this way ill have more options on the table when the time comes.
yes ive moved out to valencia. for the next eight days im house sitting on salinger. taking care of two dogs. a chow and my own. they dont get along. i have to walk them separately. my own went a-wall the other night. i found him a block and a half away. im glad i didnt have to drive up and down the street yelling out his name. every other male neighbor would have stuck his head out the window asking what i wanted to which id have to reply, no, not you, just looking for my dog. i should have named him houdini.
maybe i wont move out after all. not this year. though its nice having only to exit one street to get to work compared to thirty. that number is fast approaching.
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co-worker put an idea into my head. why not move to valencia and get an apt? be her roommate? i shrugged it off with 'i cant afford it.' she asked me to think seriously about it at least. and i did, which is why i cant sleep. if i moved out there, i could actually walk to work or ride a bike, and that would save me $200 dollars, at least, a month on fuel. id only have to come up with an add'l 800 a month for my share of the rent.
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and what about the dog. would i leave it with my parents? they benefit well in their old age having the collie-shepherd around. but i dont think theyd step in to do what i do for it, all the dirty work. and id feel like a traitor.
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i think the only question here is when.
how about this weekend
how about i look up pics of my future pad.
this is a wheel that has no pads for braking.
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oh nice big office all to myself. thought id get to roam around the aisles picking my nose and setting the a/c to 71, not 75, read my book and get paid holiday time for the benefit of my well being and brain, but thats pervesely not the case i oughta have left my book in at home. everyone seems to be backing into each other at the super market, eager to go home to bbqs and fireworks and so am i. the dog went nuts last night, hearing my neighbors play with pyro, somehow tried climbing over the steel fence on the concrete side of the house so violently, three of his paws went bleeding, one of them real bad we had to put bandage around the wound. and he was so nervous all through the night he barely sniffed at his bisquit and kept panting till about 2oclock. im sure he'll have a blast again tonight.
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i just spent two days in a harley davidson shop. came home with two toy replicas (for adjustment purposes) and a green long-sleeve t-shirt i wont wear till winter. if i had the energy to do so, id be at barnes and noble looking at motorcycle magazines to subscribe to, and expense. jamie mentioned there was a school in van nuys for wanna be motorcyclists. my cousin from my brother-in-law's side rides a yamaha sports bike. who knows where this will go.
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ive got the clothes on my bed, razor, toothbrush, and toothpaste ready. just need to find a travel bag to put them in. then ill be set. id bring my laptop along, but am already bringing a work one with me. still friday, adios. i expect to have much fun the next 2 days in covina, some 10 miles from home, but 45 from the office hence a hotel room, for motorcycle training in a harley shop. if only the training included learning to ride one. ive been too chicken shit to try it out but if i had to, this would be perfect timing.
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Wednesday, May 24th, 2006
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its not so bad always. today i settled a total loss in 4 hrs. i got the claim at 12 and handed out a check by 4. the guy's name is chris, too. he reminds me of someone i knew way back when. last night, he was driving down bouqet canyon road in saugus, driving his 3-inch lifted f-150, with off roading tires and 18" wheels (at least). it had a tv screen covering half the rear view mirror, a playstation2 under the front passenger seat. in other words, the truck was "cherried out," chris said. i thought he meant the truck came cherry in color and he had a custom paint job. but now i know a new slang word in the racing off road biz. the term must have expired now that ive used it in a sentence. anyway, chris' love for animals dictated he swerve his truck to the right when he saw a coyote crossing the road. then to avoid hitting the mountain side, he swerved again to the left. unfortunately, this abrupt change in direction caused him to loose control of his vehicle. the huge tires went over the protective enbankment. and down he went with his truck, rolling over three times before he hit bottom. he struck his head on the headliner and his hip landed on the driver-side door rest, breaking the area where the power window buttons are in half. the truck landed on all four wheels. but two of the rear tires were half deflated, smoke was seeping from the hood, the windshield was spider-webbed, and every last panel on that vehicle sustained major damage. strangely enough, chris drove the truck, his head outside the now non-existent driver side window so he can where he was going, up the mountain the long way, made it home without visiting a hospital and quickly called his insurance company the next morning. his dad was angry and ordered him to get that wreck off his driveway. 26 year old chris drove his totaled truck around the corner and parked it in front of his friend's house.
i got there at 1:15, took photos, and since it was an automatic total due to rolling over, i didnt have to write an estimate. chris was very satisfied with my speedy response and even called my manager to tell him how wonderful i was.
of course when he came into the office at four and realized he was only getting 10,000 dollars for his 2001 cherried out truck, he wasn't so happy. but thats something i cant change. acv is acv. his truck was worth 19000. and i had to pay his lienholder first. still, he left the office happy with a 10,000 dollar check, and advised he'd be purchasing a truck in the next hour or so.
the poor guy showed me his bruises on his hip and leg. unfortunately, his policy did not include med-pay. per his request, i took pictures of his leg bruises by his totaled truck and emailed them to him.
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manager smoothed talked his way out of a bad faith claims handling case for me which means im out of the hole. i knew he would, and i knew this 2-bit sue threat wouldn't take half a millimeter off the ground.
my mistake was identifying this claim as a collision case. i found the guy at fault for 'driver inattention.' but the accident falls under a comprehensive case. driving over a large rock in the road and getting into an accident would warrent 'driver inattention.' the rock in this instance was animate. the wild coyote, with no conception of a cross-walk, happened to be on the road crossing it. this was "not bad luck, but an 'act of god'." and unlike other acts of god like hurricanes and earthquakes, we will pay out on wild animals. i think i get it....
so i reversed my liability decision from 'driver inattention' to 'coyote failure to yield right of way.'
in other words, this could have been prevented had i used more common sense.
i miss my cafeteria job. washing dishes. going home unconcerned. dare i say that was the best job i will ever have?
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great. im being sued $5 million dollars for finding a motorcyclist at fault for an accident. basically he ran over a coyote crossing a mountain road. i found the coyote 0% at fault and the driver 100%. on top of that, the guy's lawyer is calling me a racist for "siding" with a coyote over a mexican.
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Wednesday, May 10th, 2006
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some people make voodoo dolls and stick needles into them. ill just write about the people i dislike here instead. i hope this lady falls into a vat of acid with her rear bumper cover. what a claimant from hell. she wants all new parts on her brand new vehicle, which was rear-ended by one of our insured cars. i told her we'd replace everything oem, except for the rear bumper cover, which is plastic, and can be repaired back to the condition it was before the unfortunate accident.
"what do you mean you're going to repair my bumper? you expect me to be driving around in a car with bondo? i mean, i can see how bondo might work for a honda, but we're talking about my corvette now. its an O2. its a classic."
since when is 2002 classic? actually i dont care and dont have the energy to recall all of her amusing remarks and make snide remarks about her comments. i didnt have this much fuss from a customer in beverly hills. speaking of which, this chick lives out in fuckin' lancaster and is making the rental car company drive down to the beverly hills branch to pick up a mercedes for her.
"a chrysler 300? now that is unfair. i drive a chevy corvette and you're telling me because you're guy hit me, im going to be stuck behind the wheel of a grandma's car?"
give me a break lady.
you're 47.
im 25.
ill be 47 one day. and then ill understand. ill read this entry with a new perspective and feel ridiculous for having written it.
oh well.
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it might as well be summer. lazy on the couch, and staring out the front door screen. leaves in the yard ill pick up this afternoon. parents are out of town, which means a one man bbq party in the kitchen tonight. dog can have the leftovers.
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gary came by to visit. actually he came by for food. found some in the freezer. tupperwares of dad's cooking, like he's in college. showed me some photos of france, italy, and canada on his password-protected smugmug. he doesnt like stalkers. at least im going to burbank in a few minutes. or i think ill just walk around the park and finish the getaway once and for all. its already 4:50.
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cinco de mayo was a question mark good time. the boss took the day off to prep his house and cook all sorts of good stuff. and when it was time for his poor workers to leave their cubicles, a shuttle came by and picked up three of ten, as seven flaked, and dropped us off in west hollywood, where the boss was ready for his guests. our driver "boo" was something else. yes, that is his real name. ive heard of "beau" before, but the only boo i know was in to kill a mockingbird. what a mock. he was one of those types where if you got him talking, he'd starting dishing it all out. we were all silent riding in his shuttle while he spilled the beans of an unfaithful wife in arkansas and his adventures throughout the country as a tow-truck driver. he claims to have kids in every state.
the boss' party was packed, with lawyer-types and orange rookies. he has a sweet bachelor's pad. a real house with front and back yards. 2 cats. the shy one stayed behind a closed door. and the polar opposite sat on the ottoman by the living room archway. it was one big fat white furball who didnt mind getting petted by each passer by. our boss made us his "famous 7-dollar margaritas." it had contreau, a tequila from over the border, and a squirt of limens. it took me an hour to finish one and the second one i had was because my friend showed me up. i had to water it down with ice. then my friend decided he didnt want any more and gave me his drink. someone else asked me to hold their drink and i forgot i was only to hold it. then i made some phone calls. and in a house of 50 people with 1 bathroom, a tree outside inevitably received a golden shower.
the shuttle that took me and cory back had a different driver. cory sat up front and fed the driver directions and me with such good manners, slept in the backseat. when we arrived back at the office in valencia, i tipped the driver with the first bill i could snatch out of my pocket but forgot my pair of dragons in the backseat.
im supposed to watch the horse races at the park in a few hours. i think id rather read about the horse races in a jim thompson book.
we'll see about the question mark on monday.
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| Time: | 7:59 am. |
| Music: | recycling truck. |
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o boy i cant wait until 4:31 am again. ill be getting my fix of the getaway. last night , or this early morning i couldnt sleep and read pages including the long got-to-get-out-of-here scene of the water filled, one-man-check-in coffin cave hotel with complimentary sleeping pills. sweet. makes me wanna write again. i havent been this stoked about a novel since the killer inside me. no wonder same author.
im going to Ixthapa this summer and need to learn spanish. i guess ill be watching dora the explorer in the mornings.
going to work in a bit till 11:40. going to visit an old friend kaiser afterwards. if i sound fruity after today, its only for a couple of months, just like last time.
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wash dog wash car wash clothes wash self wash pan. its a dirty world afterall.
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Thursday, April 13th, 2006
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my mentor had to say it out loud.
'chris, you're so calm all the time, even when they yell at you.'
she said it with good intentions, but i felt labeled as: most likely to go insane & shoot all.
suppose i did that a few months from now, and the handling detective comes across this post. would this rule out a plea of insanity?
i didn't have to prove her jinx, it just happened. i raised my voice on a customer's voicemail.
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| Time: | 10:10 pm. |
| Music: | blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly. |
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glass after glass i feel nothing
was i to compose a mid-winter's night of then?
glass after glass i feel only
the need to pee, for time is my friend.
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this safari browser frightens me. it remembers things ive written but haven't saved.
i cant wait to have my own place. ive got everything i want except that, i think.
tomorrow ill walk into work and have a new manager. never met the guy.
lisa i saw the other night at casa nova. i missed her.
often times i drive in lancaster. i keep my eyes peeled for the rattle snakes but never come across them. my friend kass told me a story once. perhaps ive posted it before. she ran over a rattle snake with her bicycle by accident, of course. it was a tiny rattle snake, and out from no where, this huge long rattle snake comes after her hissing and making that noise it makes with its coils, chasing kassandra down lancaster blvd, the city where all the avenues are named after a roman letter.
i finally broke down and let the dog into my car. we went to elysian park and walked the 3-mile trail i ran cross country in high school. i played the hello game of course. each time i passed by a person i said hello. im very inconsistent with this. sometimes i feel like they want to walk by without being noticed. other times i walk by like a ghost and the other guy ahems his insult. then there's the house jutted from the mountain side. all boarded up and not a clear path leading to it. ive yet to gather enough interest, or courage perhaps to see who lives there if anyone. next time i go there, i know exactly what im going to do. im gonna run those 3 miles with ipod minus the dog and obtain runner's high. ive been sober from that long enough.
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in a few hours ill be back in the grind. im awake now and enjoying these minutes. waiting for sleep. who knows where it will take me. to the kirkwood winner. to the last four lost in a fold of deep sea pink. forget about old numbers entirely and breathe in the new realm of claimsman. i find you liable for this accident. im taking you to court. if only i enjoyed basketball. sterilize my notes for the judge. guilty, innocent, guilty. lacerations are not pretty. photos of backseats squished. leather soaked in blood dry and broken tempered glass. but where was this going? i dont like my job and i dont hate it. am i covered with content? i wonder what mid-life crisis ill have and when. when sleep comes ill shake it off like rain on a dog and pick up my pen. it is my staff. everyone needs one except for the man who has us for a staff. a tool of the bigger wizard. i dont want to be held. i just want to hold the intangible, or: let me meet the vaccuum. a curtain on its rod waiting for the desert wind and sand.
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