It's Finally Over!!

So, the Inaugural ceremonies took place yesterday. Being a ticket broker in the DC Metropolitan area, we were selling tickets for all of the events. My office was a madhouse, especially on Monday. We were tearing our hair out trying to fill some of these orders. We even had a satellite office in DC where people could pick up tickets, or drop them off if they were selling them. That place was insane. It was a condo we rented for a few days not far from the Verizon Center. There were people all over the lobby throughout the day waiting to get the orders filled and get their tickets. At one point, a Secret Service agent told our crew that they were not allowed to have that many people congregating in the lobby and they would have to take their business upstairs. Turns out he lives in the building and was probably pissed there were that many people there, but it's still kinda scary when the Secret Service shows up while you're doing something the government is trying to make illegal... So, after they moved business upstairs, there was a line of people about fifteen deep leading out of the unit. I'm sure they loved that too...

A couple of us calculated, and we determined that between Thursday and Monday, we had worked about 60 hours apiece. With no overtime pay. No lunch breaks. Absolutely no fun. This morning we were all zombies. I have no idea how I got anything done. I barely even remember the last few days. All I know is we busted our asses and we're apparently getting rewarded for it with bonuses. I do know that had McCain been elected, it wouldn't have been nearly as bad. I also know the company wouldn't have made nearly as much money, so I guess it all works out in the end.

To make things even worse, the people who were manning the "satellite office" technically don't even work for us. They are the wife of and friends of my boss. So, I felt a little bad about all of the trouble they went through, especially the people screaming at my boss' wife. She's just too nice of a person to deal with that shit. I'm also waiting for all of the angry phone calls from people who couldn't make it into their ticketed areas for the swearing-in ceremony or couldn't make it to their parade locations from the swearing-in ceremony. Oh well, it's not our fault. We told everyone to get there very early, and they most likely couldn't get to both, logistically speaking.

I have made two mental notes regarding the next Inauguration:

1. Make sure that we get a hotel room reserved well in advance where we can handle all of the ticket distributions, since people milling in and out of a hotel lobby is actually normal.
2. Make sure I have another job so I don't have to go through this again.
   

Eclectic Tastes

Okay, I'm going to cop out and take a page from Del-V's book. Plus, I have no idea what to write about. I rarely listen to my iPod on shuffle, because I keep skipping to the next song, and I tend to want to listen to one band at a time. So, here's a sample of what is on my iPod...

1. "She Builds Quick Machines", Velvet Revolver, Libertad
2. "Folsom Prison Blues", Johnny Cash, Complete Live at San Quentin
3. "Traveling Riverside Blues", Led Zeppelin, BBC Sessions
4. "We'll Meet Again", Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around
5. "Out Ta Get Me", Guns N' Roses, Live Era '87-'93
6. "Rehab", Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
7. "Sea of Sorrow", Alice in Chains, Facelift
8. "Venus De Milo", Miles Davis, The Complete Birth of the Cool
9. "Last Dead Mouse", The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Don't Know How to Party
10. "A Place in My Heart", Social Distortion, Social Distortion
11. "Born Under a Bad Sign", Jimi Hendrix, no album title
12. "End", Big Audio Dynamite, Megatop Phoenix
13. "She Talks to Angels", The Black Crowes, Shake Your Money Maker
14. "You Belong to Me (Live)", Elvis Costello, This Year's Model (Deluxe Edition)
15. "Front Porch Entertainers", The Hentchmen, Three Times Infinity
16. "Alison (Live)", Elvis Costello, My Aim is True (Deluxe Edition)
17. "Footprints on My Ceiling", Social Distortion, Sex, Love & Rock N' Roll
18. "The Rebel - Johnny Yuma", Johnny Cash, The Essential Johnny Cash
19. "I'll Work for Your Love", Bruce Springsteen, Magic
20. "Salty Dog", Flogging Molly, Swagger
21. "Night Rally", Elvis Costello, This Year's Model
22. "What Was Was Over", The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Don't Know How to Party
23. "Pinball Wizard", The Who, Greatest Hits
24. "Soft", Kings of Leon, Aha Shake Heartbreak
25. "All Women Are Bad", The Cramps", Stay Sick!
26. "Since I've Been Loving You", Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
27. "Brendan #1", Fugazi, Repeater
28. "No Way Back", Foo Fighters, In Your Honor (Disc 1)
29. "Last Exit", Pearl Jam, Vitalogy
30. "I Turned Out a Punk", Big Audio Dynamite, Planet BAD: Greatest Hits
    

Uh oh, my heart stopped... Okay, there it goes.

The Wife (heretofore known as The Flaming Redhead, in honor of Dr. Z of Sports Illustrated fame) and I came up with a joint New Year's resolution this year. I say it is a joint resolution because it's the same as everyone else; lose weight and get in better shape. To help with this, she bought us the Wii Fit for Christmas. I tried it out for the first time tonight. Nintendo needs to change its programming. When you first set up your profile, it takes your weight, height and age and calculates your BMI, as well as somehow measuring your "fitness age".

Your fitness age has something to do with your posture, weight, body mass index and balance. A little about me. I smoke. I smoke a lot. Way more than I should. I also eat a lot. Sue me, I like food. I like food as much as I hate exercising. Now, while I get measured as being overweight, somehow my "fitness age" is 26. I'm 31. I should have been way above where I was on the chart. It gives me some hope. Maybe I can get my fat ass into shape. Maybe that will help me with my other New Year's resolution.

On another note, the food so far has been pretty good. Food.com and DisccoveryHealth.com have some pretty good healty eating recipes. The problem lies in portions. Damn New Year's resolutions...