Damn, it's been so long.

Okay, I haven't posted here for a very long time. Why? Because apparently Google isn't picking up my fucking blog site. Is there a point to writing if no one sees? Maybe. I guess that's why I'm writing now. I have a link on my caissa.com profile page, so at least those guys can see it (caissa.com is a chess site).

So things have really started rolling for me since I last wrote. First, my son and I visited my family in West Virginia. It was nice, the first time in over two years. He was sooo excited to get to see these people for the second time in his short life. Of course they've been in love with him since they first laid eyes on him. We went on the Cass Mountain Scenic Railroad, my son and parents and I. I honestly would never spend the money on that again. It wasn't very scenic, was expensive and boring, and the train billowed smoke all over you like a mofo. I took the boy to an amusement park called Camden Park that I went to once during most summers growing up. Crazy thing is, many of the rides are the same fucking equipment they had when I was a kid. Their wooden rollercoaster, "The Big Dipper", was scariest in the sense that you didn't know when the cart was going to fly off the track or the structure just completely fall apart from underneath you. They had a ferriswheel I wish I'd never gotten onto. The entire thing creaked and swayed from side-to-side like it was about to go any minute. I asked the guy to please stop and let us off after only one trip around. The water on the logrides was murky and black. My son asked me why it looked like toilet water, to which I said I wasn't sure but I wouldn't let any get in your eyes or mouth. I asked one of the workers there what's the best food in the house, and he said that he'd recommend the corn dogs because they're three for a dollar. Besides the fact that I don't eat processed meat or feed it to my kid, and that the corn shell is basically an hydrogenated sponge, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind. So I asked him what was the best food, and he pointed me towards The West Virginia Grill or some shit, and said "But that place is really expensive". I went in and the most expensive item on the menu was some iceberg-ridden salad thing replete with processed cheese and Bacon Bits, for three dollars. But it was fun.

I bought two electric guitars and amps, one for myself and one for the boy. I got myself a Schecter Omen-6 and him a Washburn X-5 Mini. I spent waaay more time on picking out his guitar than I did mine. It was hard finding a quality 3/4-size guitar, and apparently nobody in the state carries one in-stock. I ended up buying it from a guitar vendor somewhere the hell in Wisconsin, http://www.kashmirmusic.com/. I made my purchase over the phone, and I must say the guys at the store were kind and understanding, and I have no complaints about the product. I bought my Schecter at the local Guitar Center, and so far have nothing but fret buzz and tuning headaches from it. Oh well, we're starting lessons soon, maybe the instructor can shed some light. At forty bucks an hour, he better!

My boss got transferred to another office out-of-state, leaving an open position. My best friend in this world got the job, which he deserved. He had been there at least two years longer than me, and had been doing stuff more closely related to the management position anyway. I put in a personal recommendation for him. So once he got promoted, cough, a new position was open in the chain. The company decided to open that job up for grabs, mostly to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interests and special treatment by the hiring manager aka my best friend. I think there was more to it as well, maybe like making me feel lucky just to get the job and so largely crushing my hopes of a raise. In the end I won the job fair and square, and plus I was already in-place and it was a very natural promotion to make. It would've been strange indeed if someone else got the job and I was sitting there still in my old position. But, no need to dwell on that now. The company is not filling my old job, so it's been busy as hell with only the two of us there.

Okay, so the boy is almost five (in two months). Over the last two years, he's picked up the name of chess pieces from watching me setting up a board for study and asking me what they were. I've never taught him how to play, never asked him if he'd like to learn. Yesterday, he was bored and went and grabbed the chess board and told me he wanted me to teach him. So I put only the pawns on the board and teach him how they can move and capture, and tell him the goal is to get his pawns to my end of the board and to stop me from getting mine to his end. He grasped that concept pretty easily, and after a few "games", I added the bishops and taught him their movements. After that game, we put the board away. This morning, he tells me he wants to play some more chess. So I say okay and put the pawns and the bishops back on. This time, after he gets a pawn down the board on me, I put the queen on and teach him her movements. So we're playing and he goes to move his h-pawn up one, and I say yeah but if you do that I'll just take your pawn...and he says, yeah but then my pawn will turn into a queen before yours and I'll win. A BLOODY SACRIFICE. Damn, I'm pretty proud of him. His first sacrifice!

Peace.

-Ox.