JohnMassie.com

Well, my Xanga is three years old. Hard to believe that I started writing on this thing when I was barely 16 years old. So much has changed. So many people have come and gone in my life. I must say that after looking across my life these three years this evening when trying to come up with a post, I’ve come a long way. I believe that I’ve grown mentally, socially and spiritually.

I sit and blankly stare out my office window. I would have never believed that I’d write my three year post on my Xanga on an iMac 20” G5 in my office at a house that I purchased with a car that I purchased in the drive way. It’s not like I want to brag, because that is arrogant. It’s just not something that I’d ever thought I would do so early on in my life.

Sure, someday I figured I’d own a house and my own car and my own stuff, but never before college was over. My goodness, there are some days that I thought college age would never come.

I will admit I gave up a lot moving this fast in life. Starting a career at 16 wasn’t the best social move I could have. It was like I was a kid that went from kid straight to adult. Sure I have my moments where my age shows through, and I also know that I’m very much the kid at heart… but I’m just not your normal college student.

I mean honestly look at me. I have friends that can transfer to any college, any where. For me to do that would be a huge ordeal now. I just can’t relocate on a whim. It was like I settled down before I ever got started, if that makes any sense. (lol).

I am blessed though, and I’m content with my life every day. I know there are people out there who don’t have a job, car, house, food, money, etc… So I consider myself very fortunate to have the things that God has trusted me with and has blessed me with.

I survived so much these past few years. I’ve come so far from where I was, and it even amazes me. So, I look forward to many more years being here on Xanga. Who knows, maybe someday my children can read their dad’s life “In Text Format” as I’ve put it for so many years. Sorry, I think of the future and about all I see is “wife and children”. Nothing else really. Well, you know what I mean. So please excuse my moment of being a little child crazy.

I wonder what this “Xanga Year” will hold? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. For those of you who have been here since the beginning, thanks for hanging in there. For the ones who’ve joined me across the years, thanks for sticking around and for the new ones, welcome. Comments, as always, are welcomed with open arms.

With Christ’s Love,
John C. Massie
Blogger Veteran (I feel I’ve earned the status, so I’m granting it to myself )

Well… Not really, but I feel like it. If you could extract the amount of drama that is currently in my life, it would make enough drama to fuel every daytime soap opera for the next twenty years. Does that give you a clue as to how things are going? Yeah… So I’m tired of it all.

In other news, I go to school at an airport. Good ol Columbus State. If you don’t believe me, go drive past the back side of Bolton Field and look for the Columbus State building. I have a rockin math teacher, who actually understands Algebra and knows how to teach it. However, he’s not too sharp with the calculator. Clearly, he was born in the era of an abacus. Once one of the other students gave the teacher a lesson in the TI-83 calculator, the class was good to go.

In other news, I’ve been attempting to plan my vacation for the past two weeks. It is amazing how busy two people can be and how you can never catch the other person when they’re free. No hard feelings, I guess I should also mention there is a two hour time difference, so his late evening calls to Ohio are more like early morning calls for me. Therefore, we have yet to finalize dates and plans, but when they are… I’ll be sure to let everyone know.

In other other news….  Hope VanAtta almost had to take her cat to the burn triage center at the local ER and then was followed by almost having to take herself. It seems to be involving a hot bunt cake  and one startled mother . I’m not sure of the full details, as I was experiencing the whole thing virtually across the telephone lines. See VanAtta’s Xanga for additional details later this evening.

In yet other news… I have some friends who will remain anonymous (unless you’re stupid enough to comment about this section and REVEAL WHO YOU ARE. HINT HINT HINT). It seems that there is some heavy flirting going on between the two of them. It’s very obvious and quite scary really. All I have to say is that for the first time in my life I saw two non-dating and nonmarried people communicate on another level beyond the English language across a table and fully understood each other. Can you say, LOVE LANGUAGE? I THINK SO!

So, that’s about it folks. There’s your update for all those readers who’ve been on edge waiting for my next post (hahaha, RIGHT).

Nighty Night,
- J -

“It’s five o clock on a Friday morning one hundred telephones shake and ring and one of them is from someone who knew you.” – Trains to Brazil (or Brasil) by Guillemots

So, the weekend was pretty good. I hung out with the family, got cable installed, hung out with friends and finished moving crap into the house. I actually have an office and place to work! Now, only to complete everything else. It’s coming along though, I’m enjoying working on the house.

So school started again today… yay. Tomorrow I have a class from 6:00 – 8:00. Yeah, just what I want, a two hour class. Then I also have the online madness, which is great.

That’s about it folks. Just wanted to let you all know I was alive.

Later,
J

So, I’m quite excited. I will finally have cable and internet access again. Then after that is installed I am going to run up home to my family’s house and have dinner with them, grab a wireless router and some tools then head down to my house. Tonight’s activities will be tearing apart my PC and rebuilding it in hops that I can fix the power button issue, installing the water line for the fridge, and relaxing for the evening. Once the DVR is in good shape I’ll spend my time setting up my recordings so I have stuff to watch next week.

I just ordered my Entertainment Book 2006. I’m all into this coupon thing. I never pay full price for anything anymore. Kudos to KG for getting me educated about coupon shopping.

So, I’m goinng to get off ehre do some more work. I GO HOME AT 3:30 WOOT WOOT!

Later,
J

So I got the kit to hookup my fridge from my friend Jim. So I need to stop by mom and grandma’s to pickup some tools to install the kit. I also need to return the other kit I purchased, so I might do that tonight and then hookup the fridge this weekend. I also have to clean the house tonight because the cable guy is coming tomorrow and he has to be able to have room to install the cable. That will be done tonight. I also have to work on the computer tonight so there is a way to test the cable.

Then I get to leave at 3:30 tomorrow to go down to the house and wait on the cable dude. After that’s done I’ll work on the computers as I will have INTERNET. Which will be SUPER nice.

Well, I gotta run. Stuff to do, placed to be and people to see.

Later,
J

It’s quite the daily adventure. I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would. I figured I’d be bored and what not, that’s not the case. Taking care of the house takes a good bit of my time. I still would like to have people over more than I do, but that’ll all come in due time.

Tonight I have to stop by BestBuy before going home. I need to return the wall mount for the TV. I’ve decided to get a stand instead. Then I have to go home and return the fridge ice maker kit to Home Depot. I might do that tomorrow… Tonight I also need to get my desktop PC at least up and running so I can watch cable when it gets installed on Friday.

I also need to clean, nothing new there.

So, I’m still alive. Maybe I’ll try and write something up tonight and either bum the wireless off of a neighbor or post it tomorrow when I get to work.

See ya,
- J-

Welcome to spring in Ohio. Yes, it’s snowing outside. What joy. People in the central Ohio area seem to forget what it is like to drive in the snow every year. I am sure that my drive home will be quite fun. I have to clean the house tonight. 

So, I got at least 3/4 of everything I own moved to the house. I just have to wait on my friend KG and JG to bring down their Nissan Titan and help me move the bed, desk and a few odds and ends furniture. As you can see, I can’t sleep as I am wide awake and I need to be at church bright and early tomorrow morning. Tonight I’m still and grandma and mom’s because of not getting my bed down to the house.

I didn’t get to finish the cabinets, but that’s ok. I can work on them as I’m living there, because I’m still up in the air about the other woodwork in the house… I do have some very little painting touchup to do this week, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m waiting until I finish moving all the crap in before I deep clean the vinyl flooring in the entry and kitchen. I did get the carpet cleaned (my family and I did it by hand and with a steam cleaner). To my surprise a lot of the dirt came up. So now I think I’m going to hire someone to professionally clean it, to remove the last bit of dirt possible.

I had a good time getting to see Amy and Joseph. Joe is a new addition to the “group” and he seems to be enjoying himself and fitting in well. So that is that… I also will be getting cable installed this week (can’t live without my broadband connection). Maybe once I get settled I will throw some pictures up.

Take care all,
- J -

So, I’m wearing green today. However in keeping with Michael Schmidt tradition, I’m wearing a green hawaiian shirt (as I wear a hawaiian shirt every Friday). There are talks of us leaving early, since we’re in Dublin, OH and traffic is quite crazy on this day. Already like half of Ashland isn’t here… so I’m hoping for an early release!

I got a good bit done on the house. I have the guest bath, half of the guest bedroom and I have to “cut in” the dining room and kitchen… THEN I AM DONE. The office is a project for a later time, I think I’m going to try my hand at Suede painting the office in a hunter green with white bead board and chair rail border. I also need to finish my cabinet project as I don’t know how much longer I can hack the ugly cabinets.

So, I also am looking for appliances this weekend. I wonder if I can sell off my current ones? I have a GE Electric Stove (black and white), GE Spacemaker Over The Range Microwave (black) and a Hotpoint Dishwasher (black and white). I’ll sell the whole set for $300.00 (which is not bad, for three appliances). If anyone is interested, let me know. I also have to pack this weekend, so I will be collecting other things to sell and throw them up on here for anyone who is interested. If I don’t hear anything, everything else will head for ebay.

I’m also looking into buying a new garage door opener and possibly installing it myself. Well, or buy one at Lowes and have them install it. Other than that, the house is pretty much done.

In other news, more drama ensues in my life. All I can do is sit and shake my head. It’s amazing how people who are considered to be your peers can be so immature. Yes, I know, rule #1 is immaturity is to call someone immature. However, maybe I just skipped the whole teenage and college age and jumped straight into adulthood, but sometimes the way things are done or said and how things get blown completely out of proportion, just makes me sick.

So, good news… I just got a phone call from mom. She found me a Kenmore $1300.00 fridge at a Sears Outlet that’s missing the box and her and grandma are going to buy it for me as a housewarming gift and they’re getting it for a steal at $500.00 (lol, and it’s only missing the box…). So that will be delivered Tuesday. I’m going tonight to look at the rest of their kitchen stuff and possibly buy a stove, microwave and dishwasher.

On another note, I just got an e-mail. MORE DRAMA. Honestly, it’s like, just gag me… Maybe I was just raised differently, but I was always raised that in life you need to learn how to help yourself and not always rely on others. Like, it’s good to get help once and a while, but if you can’t ever help yourself… then that’s setup for automatic failure. I’m a pretty giving person and I do forgive… but I guess the phrase always applies, even when you’re older, “spare the rod and spoil the child”. People screw up in life and everyone forgives them and then never holds them accountable for their actions (aka punishment) and then they screw up, again and again and again and again and every time they get forgiveness and no consequences.

I, was never raised like that, and I don’t conduct my life that way, with anyone. If you abuse grace, you pay a price. I’m not going to hand out advise and forgiveness like its free money. If you want help, go get help, professionally. I get tired of people asking for my help, telling me they’ll use my advice, and then never change. BUT when they get in a world of hurt because they didn’t follow my advise, then come SCREAMING back to me wanting to know what they can now do to dig themselves out.

I’ve known enough people now in this world to know that I don’t have to be taken advantage of, change who I am or take such childish treatment. That’s why I don’t tolerate it. In the past, sure, I was tricked into thinking that I had to deal with all this because no one else would befriend me or everyone else was just like the ones who acted this way…. WRONG. Thanks to working, church, school and just talking to people in public you find that there are other people out there who don’t have a weekly DRAMAfest.

So, now I’ll step down from my soap box. I’m sure I’ve upset and made enough people irritated, offended and upset. So I’ll monitor the comments posted.

Gotta Run,
J

So, the week begins. Here is what this week’s schedule looks like for all who are interested:
Monday:
Work
Work on house

Tuesday:
Work
Work on house

Wednesday:
Work
Work on house

Thursday:
Work
Work on house

Friday:
Work
Pack
Move

Saturday:
Move

Sunday:
Church
Finish Moving

If anyone is interested in stopping by, I’ll be home every evening. Just call before you come so I know to listen for the door bell (and to make sure I’m there). Also in this busy schedule I have to find time to go and order my dining room set to be delivered on Friday or Saturday, call to get cable installed, find appliances and setup delivery and pack all my stuff up and get it ready to move.

If I’m lucky… I can get WAY ahead of myself with the last of the painting tonight, as in FINISH. Then Tuesday I can complete the first big step of the cabinets by finish stripping the old finish off of them. Also on Tuesday I will be fixing the floor. Then Wednesday I can wash and sand the stripped cabinets. That way Thursday I can put the stain on them.

So, that’s the plans. I’d post more but I’m at work and don’t have time. I had a good weekend overall… I’ll post about it tonight.

Later,
J