The end of 24

No, no, no...it's not the end of Kiefer Sutherland's show on FOX. Tonight marks my last as a 24 year-old. I shall be a quarter of a century old tomorrow. But enough about that....

Just some quick hits...
Had callbacks and more auditions for "Project: Nipple." They went pretty well....
My piano came in tonight from Florida. My parents shipped it over as my big birthday gift. It's not too much out of tune either!...
No date with Chris tonight...Didn't even get a call from him. Hopefully, there'll be some sort of explanation tomorrow morning...

Dis and dat..

More meetings for "Project: Nipple"...all very reassuring. With a little help from fellow game show fan and math wiz David Hammett, we've come up with some ideas that will keep the integrity of the old game while staying within the production guidelines. Geez, could I be any more vague?!? :-)

Alas...no date with Chris tonight. Both of us got done with work late. We've rescheduled for Thursday night though. Damn, this is becoming a busy week. I haven't even started getting stuff for my b-day bash this weekend!

Gird your loins...

My prediction was right...Things are moving into OVERDRIVE for "Project: Nipple." The clock ticks further...Fortunately, the staff has increased but so has the amount of work. There are meetings up the wazoo to lock things down for the pilot taping which is just weeks away. It's a bit maddening, but man, it's a blast. If you could only hear what we talk about...'tis quite cool...

So, I'll probably be seeing Chris a night earlier...tomorrow night to be exact. Not sure what we've got planned, but my guess is that it'll be low-key since both of us will most likely be having a long day at work tomorrow...

A new addition to the bunch tonight...We had a visit from R.J., a contestant coordinator "Weakest Link" that Ted befriended. R.J. came over to watch "Justice League" with 'da boys. I actually had seen R.J. a couple of times before, once at a game show party and another time at a run-through for a show we were pitching. So it was cool to see him outside the game show fold. Funny, funny guy and a game show fan too! Gonna use the patented...Methinks we'll be seeing quite a bit more of him in the future... :-)

Soggy

Started out the day early by attending a taping of "Hollywood Squares" with Ted, Larry, Tony B., and Jamie courtesy of my "Squares" compadres Justin and Brian. Kermit the Frog and Patti LaBelle were amongst the "squares" there. Miss Piggy and Diana Ross were originally scheduled to be there as well, but honestly...if there had attended, there would have too much fabulousness for Ted to handle. He would have exploded right then and there. The "Squares" tapings are always fun and quite smooth. The relative ease and smoothness is the upshot of seeing the taping of a show in its fourth season.

After the taping, we attempted to grab some lunch while slogging in my Honda through the rain. We first tried to go to Johnny Rockets but there was quite a line there. Then we decided to go the Beverly Center. Yet another lunch faux pas. The lines getting into the parking garage were long and there were no spaces. We decided to head to the Valley for lunch. The Lil' Miss Thing tried to charge us for the $1.00 at the Beverly Center parking garage despite the fact we left just minutes after we entered. I wanted to give her the dollar just to get it over with, but Larry and Ted put up a fight...so we didn't pay and we coined a new term for standing up for myself: "NOT paying the dollar."

As we headed to the Valley, we originally were going to go to Bob's Big Boy for lunch, but we then decided to go to Hometown Buffet. Keep in mind this was 3 PM as it was really pouring. We head to the Hometown Buffet. There's a line extending OUTSIDE the restaurant. Grrr...It's a "no win" situation. There's an Outback next door...I remember that Outback is open for lunch on Sundays. So we go there...It was the oasis in this soggy desert of lunchlessness. With all of us starving and some of us needing to pee, we ran into the restaurant where there was no line and sat down for a nice lunch. I was reunited with my old friend, the Blooming Onion...forgetting how filling the onion could be...but mmmm, mmm, mmmm....

All in all a nice, but soggy day and my eye is doing much better. Not even a twinge of pain left...just a little red line on the eyelid...

Drip...Drip...Drip...

Quite a day yesterday...Had some important meetings for "Project: Nipple." It was quite productive. And if this one change in thinking makes it to the top of the chain, it will be great and address one concern about I had about the show. While a lot was accomplished, there still is a lot that needs to be done and things still look like they're pointing towards a mid-February taping date. * fingers crossed *

But the big event was my cyst draining. I found out the medical term for the cyst I had on my lower eyelid. It's called a chalazion. They even had a release form all set for the procedure, so I gathered that it was quite a common thing. The procedure was more uncomfortable than painful. The most painful part was getting injected with the anesthetic. The rest was just weird...First, having my eyelids totally numb was just the oddest feeling. And there's nothing like seeing needles go straight for your eyelid and a cotton swab dab at your eyelid being all blood-soaked. Mmmm....The best part was seeing the smoke from the styptic pencil...At least, I think that's what that other gizmo was...

Fortunately, my friend Dave was able to drive me to and from the doctor's office, because I wouldn't have been able to drive home. There was a slight stinging in my eye...kinda like the feeling you have after getting soap in it. Not too much blood and guts afterwards. Just had to press my eye with some gauze for a few minutes after the procedure. The eye right now isn't looking to bad either. It's a bit red and swollen, more like a bug bite than anything else. Thank goodness it's all over and thank goodness is wasn't as serious as I thought it was...

Quickly typing...

Just a couple of tidbits before I delve into work today...Had lunch yesterday with Jamie, a former CBS page during my days as a page. He's moved back to L.A. after a little hiatus in his town of Vermont and is looking to give the game show biz another shot...The bosses were back in town yesterday from the big NATPE convention in Vegas so things should be going into overdrive over the next few days with "Project: Nipple"... Talked with Chris last night and it looks like we're going out again on Wednesday night! I must say that he leaves the most adorable voicemails on my phone in spite of his complaints of how long and rambling they are ... Today is D-day: Drain Day. I'm getting that cyst on my lower right eyelid drained. NOT looking forward to it. Fortunately, Dave is taking me to and from the doctor's office...

My roommate Ted finally has his website up. It's FANTASTIC. Check it out at: animate-ted.com. Also, be on the look-out for Ted on the daytime version of "Weakest Link" some time during the week of February 7th.

:-I

My tum-tum hurts...I think I had a 'twee bit too much cheese or garlic today. Or maybe it was that damn pasta with turkey meatballs I had for lunch...or maybe the grease from the pizza I had tonight got me...ack...

Relatively laid-back day today. Watched some of the new British game shows Brad got his hands on at his place. Some pretty cool stuff...

Ack...this belly is not treating me well...I'll have to cut this short tonight...Hopefully, I'll be in better shape tomorrow...

* SIGH *

First of all, "Project: Nipple" soldiers on. Added another member to the troops and things are shaping up nicely. It's just that the pilot deadline looms and gets closer and closer and closer. AHHHHHH!

But the other moment of truth came tonight...I went on a date with Chris...otherwise known as Bank Boy. And it was indeed a "date." We went to Dalt's Grill for dinner. It was great. We talked a lot about a lot of stuff. We eventually got around to talking about that fateful day when I was checking him out at the bank. And he did notice me checking him out and he did go up to the teller initially to try to start a conversation to get to know me. By the time he had gone up to my teller, I had left. He called me and the whole checking account thing was an excuse to talk to me and get to know me...apparently our assumptions about our intentions were quite true. :-) The parallels of our recountings of the game of phone tag to our respective friends was quite eerie...

All in all, it was a great first date. Chris is a really awesome guy. He's got a stable job, he has his own place, and he's not into the whole club scene. Just a very down-to-earth guy who happens to be around my age and cute too. And...there is definitely a physical attraction too. But you say...there's got to be a catch...

Why yes there is! There always is...Chris is still seeing somebody. He's been seeing somebody for four months, but there have been issues that have popped up with his relationship. He said that he normally doesn't check out other guys when he's with somebody else, but for some reason, he just happened to follow up on me checking him out. Who knows? At the end of the night, he said that he definitely wants to see me again. I feel the same way too. I just don't know though...I'm never been "the other man" or the wedge in another person's relationship...but geez, he definitely has a lot of things I look for in a guy and he seems to have an attraction to me. And he's NOT IN THE BIZ and I didn't meet him through the 'net! * sigh * I'm just going to play this by ear...I hope things turn out for the best....whatever that is...

Me tired...

A BUSY past few days...Friday conked me out. We had host auditions for "Project: Nipple." We brought in a dozen or so candidates to try their hand at hosting. Surprisingly ALL of them did a decent job. In fact, this was probably the most pleasant set of auditions I've sat through in my brief two-and-a-half years in the entertainment biz. These set of auditions were particularly cool for a number of reasons. First, I was basically put in charge of coordinating the auditions...walking each candidates through the audition set-up taking them step-by-step through the audition process. The other reason was one of the audtionees was somebody whom I had grown up watching for a long time and is one of my all-time favorite hosts. He did a phenomenal job in the audition. The guy hasn't lost his touch. It was like he'd never stopped hosting! After the five-and-half-hour audition session, I had three clear top choices as to whom should host this. However, I will say that I would be comfortable with any of the auditionees hosting the show.

Today I slept in...Tonight, Tony, Ted, and I went to Justin's party. When we arrived, it was still the beginning of the party so there were only a few people there. We hung out for a little bit and then decided to step out to grab some dinner. So, we went to Universal CityWalk to get some grub. We had free parking thanks to Tony and we had dinner at Pit Fire Pizza. In the midst of pushing our way through the crowd there Ted and I spotted Brian May, the guitarist from Queen! Rock royalty! We ended up staying at CityWalk for about an hour after which we went back to Justin's party. What a difference an hour made...The apartment was PACKED. PACKED with straight people...however, there was a little pocket of "team" members in the corner. Quite an interesting mix of people...saw some people from my page days, most of which I hadn't seen since I left the page job at CBS.

Human error...

D'oh...I forgot to hit publish for the Tuesday post, so if you're wondering where it went, it's up now...

Big meeting today concerning "Project: Nipple" which was both great and unnerving...Great in that things seem to be moving in the right direction to modernizing this show while staying true to the classic version. Unnerving in that I'm realizing what little time there is before the pilot taping AND what logisitics are needed to not only put together the pilot, but also the series. It makes me appreciate more the work the producers of the original version put into making the show.

And we'll be holding auditions for the big project on Friday. Should be quite interesting...There will be some new names and some familiar...one in particular is somebody whom I've been very eager to meet in person for quite some time...

Got together with David Hammett for birthday dinner, part deux over at Elephant Bar in Burbank. Love that cajun fried shrimp! Tony, Brad, Caleb (who had just finished with his "Ben Stein" taping), and his mom also joined in.

All in all, quite a busy day...and it looks like it's not letting up for a while!

Knee-jerk

All right...I overreacted...Chris ("Bank Boy") called me this afternoon. Actually, he called while I was away so I got a voicemail message. However, there was a bit of bad news attached to the call. He had a family emergency and wasn't able to meet with me tonight. So, we've rescheduled for next week.

I have decided the from now on, I will refer to this big project I'm currently working on as "Project: Nipple." As to the project itself, it's still chugging along and it seems like each day bring more stuff to add to the "to do" list to make it happen!

Watched "The Chair" tonight...wasn't bad but it wasn't the next coming of Regis. Cool sound effects, cool set, cool graphics, and the concept is neat. My big beefs were two-fold. One, the pacing of the show is dreadfully slow. As somebody pointed out here in the office, they only went through 11 questions during the whole hour. The other was John McEnroe. He didn't do terribly, but good lord...get some intonation in that voice! He had some good moments with the contestants, but that voice...eeek....In any case, it seems like ABC and FOX have gotten decent numbers for their respective new games. I wonder if they'll hold up though in the weeks to come...

Hrm...

Had a fun night tonight...Helped David Hammett celebrate his birthday with a surprise dinner at Houston's in Pasadena. I've never been to Houston's before, but damn...they've made a new fan in me with their chicken fingers. Tasty, tasty, tasty...

The saga Chris, the bank boy, may have come to an end...haven't heard from him at all today in regards to plans for tomorrow. :-/ We shall see though...

Work is getting busier and busier by the minute. So many logistics to take care of with this pilot we're doing. Lots of things to coordinate between the set designers, computer programmers, and graphics people. There's been a lot of speculation on the game show newsgroup as to what this elusive pilot is. I ain't saying yet until something official is announced, but as I said, people will be pleased and I am doing my darndest to make sure the utmost care is taken with bringing this show back...

Let the games begin...

A game show-filled day today...Went to the UCLA archives with some of the game show gang to see what nuggets they've got. Saw some old "Name That Tune" episodes from '75 and some pilots. A couple decent...a couple dreadful. The most decent being the pilot for the 1978 version of "High Rollers" with a slightly afro'ed Alex Trebek. The most dreadful being this pilot by the producer of "Press Your Luck" called "Big Spenders" hosted by Jack "King of the Failed Pilots" Clark. It was this odd take off on "The Price is Right" involving couples...too complicated and too awful to go into detail about...

Got home to label a bunch of blank tapes that have been lying unlabeled in the living room tape shelf. And watched the premiere of "The Chamber" on FOX. I'll let you look at the site to read what it's all about. It's part of the recent big game show war between ABC and FOX. It's quite interesting to observe this little game show war after being involved in the last ABC-FOX war between "Millionaire" and "Greed." It's even more interesting since I know people involved with both shows. In fact, one of my bosses works for "The Chamber." The show isn't the "sign of the apocalypse" that everybody had suggested it was. Think your basic Q&A show combined with a test of willpower. In fact, it was a bit tamer than I had expected it to be...That's not saying I'd ever want to be put in The Chamber. In fact, you couldn't PAY me enough me to put myself through that stuff! But then again...I'm a big wussy. Still...I was surprised to see the female contestant's sportbra covered during when dropped the temeprature to freezing levels in The Chamber. I mean, c'mon...it's FOX! I'm very curious to see what the public's reaction to this is and how the ratings end up being when they're released tomorrow...

From the Outback to the safari

(Quick note...Due to a technical glitch, Friday's blog showed up late...It's now up there if you missed it...)

Went out to dinner last night at the Outback Steakhouse with Walter, a guy who responded to my Planetout. Nice guy. After dinner, he coaxed me into hooking up my Colecovision up. We played a few games and I realized how I'm only good at video games that involve monkeys, namely Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr.

Today was fun...Woke up to a morning call from Chris (a.k.a. Bank Boy) who informed me that all the changes made to my account were cleared and went through. He said that he'd call me this weekend or Monday to work out the plans for Tuesday. Huzzah!

Big highlight this afternoon was watching a "Hollywood Squares" taping featuring some of the "Survivor" bunch. I went with Mike and Tony B. over to wonderful CBS Televsion City on Beverly and Fairfax. Brandon was there looking as adorable as ever. Silas was quite nice to look at too and had the whitest teeth I'd ever seen on anybody. Ethan was there too along with Lex and a bunch of others. I got to a couple of friends there namely Justin, whom I hadn't seen since before the holidays and Brian, one of the game show bunch. 'Twas a fun afternoon. Got to see three episodes taped. Two others were taped later that day but we left during the lunch break to head over to Johnny Rockets at the Farmer's Market next door.

Ended up taking a nap when I got back after the taping. Mmmmm....sleep....

Banking on it...

More meetings today concerning the big project our company is working on...Needless to say, a lot of preparation and work is needed to make the target date. 'Tis going to be a busy month for Mandel...

Went to the opthamologist today for another look at the bump under my right eye. The prognosis...it's a cyst. The doctor said that I'm going to have to go through a minor procedure to have it removed. It's a 5 - 10 minute operation in which they're going to inject an anesthetics in the eyelid and clamp my eye open while they drain the cyst from the inside of the eyelid. Fun, eh? Visions of "Clockwork Orange" dance in my head...A cool little bit of trivia my doctor filled me in on...He once treated Richard Dawson and said he was an "eccentric" guy...

But to the big story...After visit to the opthamologist in Burbank, I swung by the Bank of America in Toluca Lake to visit bank boy. I walked in the bank and looked at the wall of pictures of bank staff. Bank boy was indeed the guy I was checking out! There was nobody at the desks. So, I looked behind the teller window...There he was...He saw me and we waved at each other. We went into his office. Upon closer look, he's quite a cutie...Think a nerdier version of Shane West from "Once and Again." The first thing I notice in his office is that it's decked out in Disney knick-knacks. We proceed to talk about our fun game of phone tag and a little about Disney and how I know a few people that work there. We talk about account stuff and how I shouldn't be charged my service charges. After which, he credits me for the charges that have been made because he notices that there was an "error" in the way my accounts were linked. We chat for a while and get to know each other a bit. He mentions how At the end of it all, I muster up the nerve to say how much I appreciated all his hlep and how I'd never really been helped that way before. I then say that I feel obligated to at take him out to dinner or at least coffee...He smiles and says "sure"! So, we're going out on Tuesday night. :-)

A little post-script relating to Thursday night...Went to see the dress rehearsal of Body Snatchers: The Musical at the Odyssey Theater in West L.A. It was fun, but a tad rough...the music, while not terrible, was nothing memorable. The first few opening numbers were confusing as hell. And a few of the actors could be easily fined for overacting. Definitely a work in progress. One of the things this show has going for it is the enthusiasm of the cast. They seem to be having fun which helped through getting through some of the humps and bumps in the show. A minor celebrity spotting too in the audience...Ben Salisbury, the son from "The Nanny" was there. It looked like his hair was starting to thin, but he's still cute nevertheless. :-)

Getting closer...

Quick blog during my lunch break here...Finding out there's a hell of a lot of work that needs to be done in quite a short time if this pilot we're working is to tape on February 9th...Watched the American Music Awards last night and learned more how out of touch I am with pop music today...And what was up with Lil Romeo and Master P..."How we did that?!?"..."Oooo-yeah, I've got my gang-face on!?!?"...I think the English language should have been included in the "things in music that died in 2001" tribute near the end of the show...The Michael Jackson "Aritst of the Century" seemed very rushed through...Jacko's acceptance speech talking about how Marlon Brando is like a second father to him was a bit odd but really, should we expect less from Michael Jackson?...Speaking of which, I taped the rebroadcast of the Michael Jackson craptacular on CBS Can't wait to see the "extra" footage especially of Britney and Jacko crapping together onstage at last!...Stayed up a bit late to catch Carson Daly's new talk show. Not bad, but nothing really groundbreaking...falls somewhere in between the Costas and Kinnear "Later" shows in terms of energy...Gonna make an attempt to see bank boy after my opthamologist's appointment tomorrow afternoon...cross your fingers!

First contact...

Ah, a day filled with stuff yet again...Played a little more phone tag with bank boy today, until around 1 PM when he called while I was in the office. So, we finally talked. Now, I had a doctor's appointment later that afternoon in North Hollywood, so I told him that I might be able to drop by the bank after my appointment. Well, the doctor's appointment took longer than I thought and ended up not going to the bank. I gave bank boy a call when I got out of the appointment to tell him such and he said not to worry. I asked if bank boy would be in around lunch on Thursday or Friday and that I might be able to drop by during lunch. He said, "yes." The thing is...he works between two different banks in the Burbank/Toluca Lake area. So, he gave me his pager number to page him and find out which bank he'd be at. If all else fails, I will definitely be meeting with him Saturday morning at the latest.

Anyhoo, you read right...I had a doctor's appointment. Just a standard physical and checkup. Found out I weigh slightly more than I thought...113 lbs. Another reason I went in is because I hae this bump under my eye which I've had since the holidays. It's shrunk a little bit, but one can never be too sure. The doctor said it's probably just a cyst, but he referred me to an opthamologist for a closer look at it.

Closed out the evening by seeing the Beauty and Beast re-release on IMAX at CityWalk. Great, great film. Really confirmed why it's my favorite of the modern Disney "classics." Great music (the additional song "Human Again" fit in seamlessly), good characters, and classic storyline. The last Disney animated movie before the "let's put a superstar and make sure we have some hip-wacky sidekick" formula started to realy come into play. Hell, I almost teared up! And the thing I love about Beauty and the Beast is that it's witty without being smart-assy. "Gaston's" lyrics especially come into mind. Reminds me of how sorely missed Howard Ashman is missed...Not sure how long it's running, but my guess is that you should catch it sooner than later. Definitely worth the extra few bucks for seeing it in IMAX.

The saga continues

Boy, the big boss gets back in town and things certainly pick up. Today, a lot of work was to be done. It looks like this project we're working on is moving forward quite quickly. If all goes according to schedule, we'd be taping this pilot in early February. Won't say anything more until an official announcement is made, but boy, if this goes, it would lead to something game show fans have been wanting to see for many, many years... :-)

Even without work, today has been quite busy. This evening, I joined a bunch of the game show bunch at Dave Hammett's for a "Win Ben Stein's Money" practice session for our friend Caleb. Caleb will try take to Ben's money at a taping on Monday. Might he be yet another alt.tv.game-show-er to take a game show for its money? We shall find out when it airs in spring.... :-)

And the saga with bank boy continues...I get a call from him at the office yesterday but I wasn't there. :-/ He left a voicemail though. Now, the thing is, I explained that I wouldn't be able to come into the bank in person during the week because I work in Santa Monica. He calls telling me that he'd be at the bank on Saturday, but also that I could call since this could be taken care of over the phone. So I call back...He's not there. I joke that we're playing a game of phone tag. I leave my cell number on the message since I was going to be out of the office for the rest of the day. I end up going to a meeting at Game Show Network and don't get out until 7 PM. I turn on my cell phone and there's a voicemail message. It's from bank boy! He says that he'll be at the office until 6 and I can call him there and to ignore the two silly messages he left on my work mail. Naturally, I call up my work voicemail. He sounded so cute on them...Apparently, he thought he lost my cell number and went into some rambling, but very cute, message about how he hit the wrong button on his voicemail. He also mentioned that I'm "IT" and that he'd be at the bank on Saturday from 9 to 2. I must say...this has been the most interest a bank has taken in me. (My roommate Larry's line...not mine...he already got his cookie for it...) Needless to say, I will try again tomorrow... :-)

Working for the weekend

Well kind of...This weekend was a bit on the quiet side. Tedward and Larry drove off to Vegas for the weekend leaving me to myself at home with Nomi. For those of you that don't know, Nomi is a cat. Ted named her after Elizabeth Berkley's character in the horrible movie "Showgirls." In any case, Nomi and I have at best a professional relationship. This weekend, I tried to involve her in a retreat to expand things beyond that profesional relationship. I had it all planned out. In the morning, we would talk about the issues of the day. We'd then have a catered lunch by Costco and play get-to-know-you-games using Scruples questions. After lunch, there would have been trust exercises followed by a grand dinner cooked up by CPK and Kal-Kan concluded with a dance with music provided by Cat Stevens. But she would have no part in it...That bitch...

So, given that I had more free time than I had though this weekend, I ended up taking up a little side gig writing some questions for a brand new game show in the works. I won't really divulge too much on here, but the gig is a byproduct of my ties with "Greed," since many of the staffers on "Greed" are working on the show. As a result, I've been a bit of a hermit this weekend hunched over the computer churning out questions from home.

I did manage to break free from writing this weekend though to have some brunch with Nathan, David S., and Adam. Adam sported a more natural-looking do, getting rid of those Aquaman-bleach-blond locks he got around the holidays. Frankly, it was a wise move. His hair looks much better in its light-brown state. I also had some dinner with Mikey and Tony at Islands where I ate a Caesar Chicken Salad that didn't quite agree with me later that night. :-/

Just got done watching the season premiere of "Queer as Folk." Last year, I actually had stopped watching the show after about the seventh or eighth episode of the first season. I really, really wanted to like the show but it was just so boring, depressing, and annoying. Nevertheless, some friends had told me that it got better as the season progressed. So, I decided to give it a shot again tonight. Blech...The first half-hour reminded me of how just miserable this show is. I dunno...I guess I just can't really relate to the show. I've never met any gay guys who are like those characters...and speaking of characters, I have yet to find one that I really sympathize with. I must admit that things picked up in the last part of the episode, but I'm not sure if it's enough to get me watching the show again...

I'd like that on account please...

Oh my, oh my...Let's start this story with what seemed like the most minor of incidents on Monday. Yes, Monday...It's New Year's Eve afternoon and I head over to the Bank of America on Pass Avenue. Just a usual trip to the bank, but to a branch I don't regularly visit. As I walk through the line to get to the teller's window I notice further back behind the window at a desk this really cute guy. Upon later inspection, I realize he's the manager. So in true Mandel fashion, I check him out, but unlike other times...this guy actually looked back at me! I do my business at the window and walk towards the exit. I turn around to take one final glance and notice him looking at me again!

Flash forward to this morning...technically yesterday morning. I check my voice mail messages at work. One of them is from the manager at that Bank of America! He explains to me that I have some service charges on my checking account and that he hates to see people being charged when they don't have to be. He then says that he can discuss other account options with me so that I don't have these charges any more. After which, he says that I can come in to talk with him about them but also points out that he won't be in the office until Monday.

Just a regular business call or more? Here's what put up some flags for me...First, these charges I've had for a while. It's nothing new to me. Second, I would think that a change like this could be handled by somebody else at the bank besides him. Also, and here's the kicker...The timestamp on the voice mail...It indicated that the voicemail was left around 7:30-ish in the evening AND the number from which he called wasn't the number he left to reach him at the office.

Anyhoo, I might just be reading into this way too much...but it is what I think it is, I'm very flattered...nothing like this has ever happened to me before. And for those of you wondering...of course, I'm going to call him back. I just have to figure out how to find out what his real intentions are without seeming too forward. I must say 2002 is getting off to quite an interesting start!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrind

Yep, that's the sound of me slowly getting back into the grind of things. I went back to work today for the first time since the Friday before Christmas. That was the holiday for everybody at the office. I was a bit nervous because when I arrived because the main office doors were closed! I went through a side entrance to find (much to my relief) people there. Then, I went to my own office and the door was locked! Fortunately, I was able to find somebody with a master key and thus began the slow day at work. There was stuff to be done, but not much, so not much that I left around 5-ish.

Tonight was quite nice...Ted cooked up a great pasta dinner for us with home-made meatballs and some garlic cheese rolls. EXCELLENT culinary as always from Chef Biaselli. Ah, how nice it is to have roommates that can cook! I actually should try to make the one dish I do know how to make...cornish hen with stuffing...but that's for another day...one when the roomies are brave enough to let me loose in the kitchen.
:-)

Happy new year...Happy new year...

Ahhh...a new year begins...New Year's Eve was fun. Went to David Hammett's for the first part of the evening at his shindig. It was Chik-Fil-A-ful... :-) That's right, he brought in a party platter from Chik-Fil-A that was magnifique. I mean between that and the two trips to Wendy's this week, it's like I actually did go back to Florida for the holidays! We watched a bit of this Whammy reel I got and after which we watched ABC's New Year's coverage. There was the ABC 2002 special with Peter Jennings. In addition to some depressing stories about the tragedies of the year, there was an even bigger tragedy of Lindsey Buckingham's butchering of "Here Comes the Sun." My sweet lord, was it bad...

After dropping by David's, I went to my friend Chris's for his New Year's slumber party. Lots of food and drink and a number of cute guys in pajamas were on hand. :-) In all seriousness, I got a chance to meet some new cool people. We also watched a "Legally Blonde," a movie I had intended to see in the theaters in 2001 but never got around to watching it. Great stuff...Didn't end up getting up until around noon when Chris, Kenny, and I cooked up some breakfast which consisted of waffles and some not-quite-Sizzlean-breakfast meat. Got home around 2:30 this afternoon. Needless to say, it was a long New Year's Eve celebration...

Some New Year's resolutions for the year...
1. I'm going to gain 15 pounds. I keep saying this, but I'm going to really try to do it this year.
2. I'm going to be a bit more assertive and less of a push over.
3. I'm going to keep from trying so hard to impress people especially on first dates.
4. I'm going to be a bit more straightforward and blunt...less sugar-coaty of things...
5. I'm going to be less of annoying gimp to Ted and Larry. :-)

And the last one...probably the one that's going to be the toughest to fulfill...I'm going to tell mumsy about you know what...

All righty, place your bets..My goal is to fulfill at least one of these resolutions this year...