No idea what to title this blog.I like this song

I registered for all my fall classes after having to sit through a 4 hour orientation. I'm 100% sure that I went through it already, but they didn't have it on file, and I found out 0 new information. All I needed was for the advisor to approve a couple of my classes which took 2 minutes. It's amazing how tilting some of the 18yo kids were coming out of high school. The teachers were also tilting, but I expected that. The fact we had a 15 minute snack time, and played ice breaker games made me feel like I was in 8th grade again.... I'm pretty sure in high school they didn't make me feel like that much of a child.

At any rate I'm going to be a busy mofo come August 19th. I'm taking 17 credit hours, which is like 4-5 classes each quarter. I have to take a stupid MCC101 course (MCC is my college), which is a required course on how to be a good student. I was like "yo I've got all A and B's here, and I'm fn 27yo I don't got time for that". Also, work is likely to be slammed through the summer. As it is we could work for a month solid with what we have, and it looks like we're getting a massive job down in the city that'll take a few months at least. I plan on getting a box of 5 hr energys .

I went on another date with the lady. I guess we're just friends, she doesn't seem to want to talk about anything yet, so whatevs. We went to a festival that I thought would be cool... it was not. It only had like 5 food stands selling similar foods, bud light only, small area, and one stage w/ not the ideal band to take a date to (see picture below)



If I was with my guy friends it probably would've been bearable, but it was still music I listened to 10 yrs ago (classic heavy rock/metal) and super overly loud. So we bounced after 30 minutes or so and went to eat. Before that we went to Willis (formely Sears) tower which was the tallest building in the world for 25 yrs or so.... now it's like #8 or something, but still quite tall.

this is me enjoying the view


and here's a couple more views




The lady will be busy the next two weekends, but I'm guessing we will do something next month. There is a ton of stuff coming up that I want to check out. Taste of Chicago is always good, and Fun (the band) is headlining this year whom I enjoy. Blues festival is coming up which should be cool, and I also found a free House music festival. There's only a couple touristy things left I want to do, but probably 50+ restaurants I'd like to try.

The dieting has been going well. Monday-Thursday I generally don't have any soda or eat out, except for when someone decides to buy me lunch/dinner. Friday-Sunday I'm still eating out, but it's been toned down the last couple weeks. I think I've shaved off a few pounds, but nothing to brag about. I've been too exhausted to work out, or even play bball, but I've had some good exercise at work. pz Leggoland

This is one of the few country songs I like... nice summer song too

I've had quite a bit going on the last couple weeks. I've been meaning to blog, just haven't really had the time to kill. I've also thought about blogging advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand it helps me sort through things by writing them out, but I could also do that without publishing it. However, I've received solid feedback on a number of occasions. I'd say overall blogging is a good thing as long as you're not sharing every detail of your life with the internet.... keep some privacy etc, and also nobody cares that much unless you're famous ....jk I'd actually say this community cares quite a bit, I've seen some pretty emo blogs (written a few myself) and other members reaching out to help. So kudos to all of you.

Anyways, like I was saying I've had a big couple weeks. I had a company call me up for an interview that I applied for 2 months prior. It kind of caught me off guard, but after some googling it seemed like a pretty sick gig. It starts at nearly $2 more/hour, 401k match up to 10%, high end health benefits, and steady 40 hour weeks. I also found out they had an onsite gym w/ an indoor basketball court which is huge for me, since I have nowhere to play in the winter w/o paying a butt load of cash. So anyways, I ended up nailing the interview and the lol test they gave me (lol because it was easy). Had a second interview which I thought went well, but I did have one or two questions that caught me off guard, and they went with someone else (pretty sure it was down to two of us). I will probably google a little more next time about interview questions.

So after reading my rejection email 2 days after the 2nd interview, I was sad for a total of nearly 60 seconds. Then I read an email from the Financial Aid office granting me more than enough money to go to school full time in Fall/Spring this upcoming year. With the other company I would have tuition reimbursement, but not a whole lot of time for school. Working with my bro I can pretty much make my own schedule and get my degree in 2 years or less. I've decided to take the max allowed w/o overloading since it's all going to be free, and not sure how much (if any) money they will give me next year. I'm pretty excited for it, even though it's going to be a ton of work.

On top of all that I've had a couple of successful dates. I'm not going to jinx it by posting pics or talking in depth about it, but I'm really hoping it works out. She's new to Chicago, and I enjoy going downtown (no pun intended), so we've just met there via train. It's been fun exploring the city, there's a ton to do, and I don't have many ppl to do it with. My knowledge of getting around the city is growing too, and that's something I've always wanted in case ppl decide to visit.

Here's some Dimsum we crushed in a highly rated restaurant in Chinatown


So far we've done Shedd Aquariam, Alder Planetarium, Millenium Park, Chinatown, Michigan ave, deep dish pizza, and a few walks in between. I have to plan something for the 18th, we're both busy next weekend w/ mother's day, and it's also my Dad's bday Saturday. She wants to do Willis tower (formerly Sears), but that's about all I have so far. Might meet up with some friends or something for a bit, that way she doesn't get too bored of me .

My Chicago Bull's pulled off a miracle win in game 7 while I was out on my date. I was a little annoyed I planned my date at the same time, but it's only basketball, and only the 1st round in which I already predicted they would win and then lose to the Heat.... they might have like 5% equity in the 2nd round, maybe 10% if everyone is healthy (which seems unlikely. There is a lot of talk about Derrick Rose and whether he should play or not. I don't even see how it's a debate, the guy hasn't played a game all season, will be extremely rusty, and if he re-injures himself there goes the next 5 years of the franchise or more (probably more based on how long it's taken to rebuild from the last time). Not to mention the Bull's chemistry right now is super high, and Rose hasn't played with probably half the team.

That's about it for now. Seems like I'll have a lot of work this summer, hoping to get close to 40hrs+ every week, but we'll see. I don't really have any summer plans, other than work, study another language, and have as much fun as I can around here.

Also a final thought about NBA playoffs... wtf at Will.i.am song/dance or whatever that is.... really irritating. I disliked that guy to begin with, but now my dislike is festering into hatred. I'm sure the guy works hard and maybe even a nice dude, but every time I hear a song from him now I just have this inner rage perkulating

The NBA playoffs start today which I'm super stoked about obv. The Bull's don't have much of a chance, but there's still that little ounce of hope looming that will keep me rooting til they lose. I'll still enjoy watching Lebron dominate and all the great match-ups that make basketball so exciting. I really wish the Lakers would've been better this year, I don't know how they suck so much. I was really looking forward to a Lakers-Heat battle at the beginning of the year, but now the Lakers are not that good.

With D'antoni calling the shots, they just have no chance, he was the worst possible coach I could think of for the Lakers. They're all old and have 2 of the best big men in the game along w/ arguably the best PG in the history of the game. So they hire a coach who loves to play super fast tempo, run the floor, puts Kobe at PG essentially, and rarely feeds the post. Basically he's just exploiting all his team's weaknesses. I didn't watch a ton of their games, so maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't take much to figure out that a team w/ that much talent clinging to an 8 seed wasn't coached properly. I could go on and on about how terrible D'antoni is, but I won't.

I'm a little sad Derrick Rose never came back this year, but I guess it's better that he's 100%. I'm still pretty skeptical as to how good he will be from now on, and now I have to wait another 6-7 months (assuming he plays opener next year). The Bull's are solid without him, but even with him I'm not sure they could de-throne the Heat. In another 4-5 years when the Heat are super old, I think the Bull's will finally make that leap (if Rose is still good, and the Bull's didn't lose him to free agency).

I don't think anyone in the East can beat the Heat, and I'm not sure anyone in the West has much of a chance either. As good as OKC is, they still have problems beating Lebron. San Antonio may have a chance if they get that far, but I don't think they will. I don't have any bets going right now, and I'm not sure I've watched enough to feel confident enough to bet. These are all just ramblings of a guy who enjoys the sport, but really isn't educated enough on the NBA this year to be credible

Heat win it all, Bull's lose in 2nd round... these are the only predictions I have.

I was really busy with work the last couple weeks, and was hoping to keep that going, but I've been off yesterday and today. I'm kind of in a "save every penny" state of mind right now, so I haven't been out much. I did however go out for my bday, and it was the least eventful bday I've had in a long time. I just went out to my favorite mexican place in town, then had some drinks at my buddies house. Most people (only like 8 ppl total) left before 10pm, so it was a little tilting since I felt like having an epic party night.

I'm currently putting my travel plans on hold until the end of the year. That could all change obviously, but after looking at how much money I make each month, it's best I don't spend too much unless I really want to go somewhere. I still don't have a car either, so I need to make that purchase. Looking at finances and my job makes me depressed so I'll talk about something else.

Time for a rant: My parents tell everyone they don't watch much TV, but it's a bunch of lies. If i'm not already parked in front of the Tv before they get home, then I have to either watch NCIS/Psych/White Collar with them (not happening) or nothing. Basically any show on USA is their favorite. Many nights I want to watch something, but I can't really say anything b/c it's their house. Then I hear them leave the room (to watch tv until they fall asleep upstairs) and get all excited, turn on the tv and they are recording 6 shows at once so I can't change the channel. I haven't watched basketball for 3 weeks because of this routine.

I also don't understand how some shows get popular. Duck Dynasty? seriously? That's not even the worst I've seen, but still, people just watch the stupidest things. NCIS is probably my least favorite, since it's the same damn show every time and there's gotta be 3 million of them. I'm guilty of watching terrible Tv as well (jersey shore), so I guess all it takes is getting hooked in. :end rant

Not too much new going on. It's starting to warm up, so I think I'll pump up my bike tires today. I was in a really good mood Monday, and been kind of sour last couple days. Mostly just because I was super tired from work, then stopped working and money is running low. The dieting is going so-so, I'm going to cook up a pork tenderloin later today, so that will be 4-5 delicious, nutritious meals.

I dropped back down to 195 lbs after hitting 200 last week which is encouraging. I haven't had a soda since Thursday (4 days), and I've worked out everyday. I also have had very little to no junk food. It's been pretty tough, my mom keeps a lot of candy and cookies in the house. Right now there's a bowl of chocolate egg things just sitting out in the dining room, which is right on the way from my room to the kitchen. I've reached for them several times already, but been able to restrain from eating any thus far.

All this started me thinking about will power, and how I've never really had any. Of course when I was younger I never really needed it, I just ate whatever and it was hard to weigh more than 165 lbs. There's other areas of life I've displayed it (budgeting, sticking at a job i hated for 4 years etc), but overall it's something I've been pretty bad at. I think like anything else, it can be developed and trained. I'm no psychologist, but I'm guessing when you have no willpower it's a bad thing. I've tried looking at some youtube vids b/c the subject mildly interests me, but so far I've just found a couple boring lectures that I turned off. This isn't really news, but tilt is a from of willpower. So I'd imagine if you can control your eating habits and other life choices, you'd have an easier time dealing with tilt.

I've also been thinking of other reasons I can't stop eating garbage. This is not me blaming my parents for my problems, but growing up we hardly ever ate out. It was always a big deal if we ordered pizza. So once I had money I just went to town ordering pizzas, and maybe there's still some trigger of joy from young robbyd on pizza night.... or pizza is just really delicious.

I have one final thought on why it's so difficult to diet. I've worked a lot of crap jobs the last 10 years. The one thing I looked forward to the most other than quitting time, was break/lunch time. It's the best part of the day where you can just relax and not think about work.... even though a lot of weirdos like to talk about work during lunch, i nvr understood that. So, this is another way I associate food with happiness. I know when I'm eating, I'm not working. Also, most family get togethers and meetings always revolve around food. So it's really hard to not love food.

Anyways, those are my random dieting thoughts of the day. I'm hoping to keep this diet up for a while, at least the no soda thing. I just have to keep telling myself that i don't need junk food/soda, and food is just fuel to keep me alive. This worked in Thailand, but there were also a lot of delicious cheap options there so it was easier. So far I've just been snacking on fruit to fight the cravings, and it seems to be working for now.

Here's a solid tune I've listened to this last week

I'd say the main reason for this blog is to prevent myself from going to bed before 8pm on a Friday night. I did some demolition today and took about 30-40 trips up/down stairs with piles of trash (main reason i'm pooped). The house actually belongs to the radio announcer for the Blackhawks which is kind of cool I guess. I don't really listen to the radio, or know anyone who does, but it's been a while since I met a mild local celebrity so it's all good. Seems like a decent fella, and has a nice place so I guess radio announcers do ok.

Somehow my ebay account was hacked into. I haven't used it in a long time, but I received an email confirming that I changed my email on my ebay account. Obv i was all "wtf?". Someone bid for a $2700 Apple computer on my account, but I'm not sure how they were going to get me to pay for it. My credit cards are maxed, my paypal is empty, my bank accounts are near empty.... and as far as I could tell no other suspicious activity was happening with any other accounts. I called ebay and they said they'd have it handled, but I keep getting emails telling me to pay for this thing I never bid for. As a precaution I've changed all my passwords, I'm really not sure how they got it tho which is worrisome. To be safe don't send me any money on skype/email w/o veryifying that it's me..... i don't think I've asked for a transfer in over 6 mos nor will i need to for a while... so it's probably a hacker bastard.

I weighed in at 200 lbs yesterday which pissed me off. I've decided to be more stict with my diet and workout more. I kind of fell off the wagon when I started working again, but hoping to get back on track. I'm going to super try and quit pop/soda, maybe only have like 2/week or something.... i just like it too much to quit altogether, but I'd like to try. I do think my arms are getting bigger/more muscular, but my tummy looks 7 months pregnant. It can't be colder for much longer in this crap state, so biking/bball will help.

Really not much else going on in Robbyd land. I didn't go to the dells w/ the fam, cuz i had work for my brother which was awesome (for money, not awesome b/c it was fun to work). I can now pay bills for another month which is always a plus. My buddies bday is tomorrow, I'm thinking I might not drink unless I can find something that won't make me gain weight (maybe a fruity something w/ cranberry juice?). Of course w/ that i run the risk of being made fun of, but whatevs. Pz

I'm working tomorrow which will make for a 3 day work week. That's pretty much the dream, like 3.5 gives me enough money and plenty of time off to clown around. Next week I'll get two at the most as I will likely be accompanying my bro, roommates (parents), and friends to an indoor water park near the Wisconsin dells. They go every year and I've never been. My roommates said they'd foot the bill, and my bro said he won't have work since he'll be there too. We somehow managed to get upgraded to a suite which normally costs 1k+ per night, and we got it for 240. Family vacations stopped being fun when I was about 15, but I got nothing to do at home anyway so we'll see how it goes.

I got a lot of plans starting to formulate in my head, which I suppose is a good thing. For now I'm going with the school route unless something changes. Over the 3 week winter break I'm leaning heavily toward returning to Thailand, however I might save it for next summer when I could go for 2 months. New Orleans has pretty much run it's course, I had fun, but I'm pretty well done with that girl for now (insert long girl drama story here). This summer is pretty up in the air still, I'm guessing I'll get talked into going to Vegas (which won't take much convincing), but I should probably save some money since I'll only be working part time once school starts. San Francisco/Alameda also on my mind. Those are kind of my tentative plans, which is better than the last 6 months when I had no plan whatsoever.

This weekend I'll be heading up to Milwaukee to see some friends. It's usually a good time up there so I'm looking forward to it. Staying overnight though, which I'm not a fan of, but I guess I'll just drink a good amount so I pass out. I haven't really drank much since Thailand, probably less than 5 times... which was like my weekly average there. I've actually been mixing Disaronno and Coke lately, which basically tastes like a cherry/vanilla coke. I've tried ordering several times at a bar and get weird looks every time, so I guess it's not a normal drink.... or a gay drink? I don't really care either way, it's delicious.

The reason for this ramble blog is that I'm wide awake when I should be sleeping. I didn't work today and like a dummy decided to take a 3 hour nap at 2pm. This was after a 11 hour sleep the night before . Now it's 9:30pm and I have to be up at 4am.... if you're not good at math that's 6.5hrs away. If I fell asleep right now I'd be fine, but since I'm wide awake it will probably take me til about 12am which gives me a solid 4hrs.

I'll end with a few pics I grabbed of a kitchen remodel that's nearly finished. I basically just helped hold stuff and clean up, but it's a pretty sick/big kitchen so figured I'd share some photos. My bro built the table himself out of wenge wood, which is an African naturally dark wood. Cabinets were factory made but we installed them (my bro does better quality, but higher price). I wish I would've grabbed a close up of the dome thing above the island, it's pretty cool and has lights around the inside of the rim that make it look bad ass.



This wasn't a great photo, but you can at least see half the other side of the kitchen. Off to the right is a bathroom, and then a giant living room which connects to an indoor pool room.... which also has a big ass bar. You can see on the left side where the shamrock is hanging, there is an electric fireplace there. That still needs to be tiled, but the owner is still debating on what to go with. Other than that I think just the chairs need to be ordered, and a couple small details to finish up.



As far as poker goes I still haven't played. I'm guessing I'll have to work for my birthday since I need/want money, which means no casino trip. It will be the 2nd time in history that I've had to work or go to school on my bday. I've always managed to get it off, but I'll see how much money I have this year. I doubt I'll be able to do anything exciting anyways.

Really digging this tune lately

My dad bought a Jeep which is sadly the best car my family has owned. Starting with 2 station wagons, a purple chrysler concorde, pt cruiser, and a slew of Dodge trucks, I suppose the Jeep is the "coolest" we've had. Obviously my shark car was best. I'm not a big Jeep fan, but my dad loves them. They seem impractical to me, but I guess it's fun for the 3-4 months/yr it's warm enough to take the top and doors off here.

here's a pic of a family camping trip in one of the old shaggin' wagons. I just realized the dog is eating my snack


The Blackhawks were defeated last night, which flooded my FB newsfeed with pics similar to this


I would consider myself a bandwagon fan, since I probably only watch 3-4 games/year unless they're crushing I'll watch 15-20. However, I think hockey is my 2nd favorite sport to watch after basketball, just edging out Football. I further convinced myself why baseball is terrible. In the 3 aforementioned sports, there's usually a few plays/game that excite you. Whether it be a cool dunk/impossible shot, a fight in hockey/cool goal, or a crazy catch/run in football. In baseball the most exciting thing that happens is a home run.... so it's kind of like "omg did you see the way he swung that bat in an upward motion and hit the ball with force? it was so cool". Granted their can be cool catches i suppose, but I just like ripping on baseball. b/c i think it's incredibly boring.

I checked out some more class offerings at my community college, and they do have a computer information systems degree. So that's something I would be interested in and will likely do if I don't figure out anything else by the time classes start in the fall. All 12 credits I have can be used towards it, and I only have to take like 1-2 more gen ed classes. I think school might be good for me right now for a few reasons. One being that it opens up a lot of options. Two, i'm good at it. Three, I can still travel during the summers. I can also still work for my brother since he's good and flexible with work schedules.

That's all I can think of that's on my mind right now. I feel like I've had a lot to rant about recently, but no one around.... really annoying, but probably good for other ppl . I didn't work at all last week, and was told "probably have some work next week". So we'll see how that goes.

Here's a funny video

I haven't worked yet this week and it's hard to resist posting every thought I have on Facebook out of boredom. I now understand those people, however I know how annoying it is on the other side so I've resisted for the most part. I am deciding to blog though, because I think we need more random blogs here on Leggo just like the good old days (when salfi and probability blogged 1-2x/day).

I tried playing poker the other day and it just wasn't working for me. Between PLO and holdem I'm down 10 buy ins on the year which is just awful. I can't seem to take it seriously, and it bothers me that I can't win at 4nl without paying attention anymore. Back in the day (2 years ago?), I could mass table 4nl while watching TV and chatting with hot babes online all day.... and still profit (would do this occasionally when I needed a break from the 25nl or 50nl grind). So I probably won't play much unless I decide to take it more seriously. I would like to crush some limit holdem casino donks more, seems like that game hasn't changed a bit since I played it 5 years ago. Probably take a trip to Potowatomi in Milwaukee for my bday if I get some extra coin.

The healthy thing is going decent. A couple times I ate some frozen pizza when I didn't feel like cooking, but other than that I've been good. I've exercised everyday, but I don't really do intense workouts so that only takes 10-15 min. It's definitely helped my overall attitude, otherwise I would be exactly like George here, and just sit around being lazy. Now I feel semi-motivated at least to get things done.

I've applied for maybe 10 jobs this week, only heard back from 1 that turned out to be a sham. I also filled out my FASFA form, which is financial aid for college (university). I'm assuming I can get a free ride in the fall since I made so little last year. I'm looking into doing journalism, or continuing my business degree (all 12 credits of it so far). I'm not having much luck finding a new passion in life, so if I can get a free education while I wait, I might as well take it.

That's really about all I have. Sorry there's no pics, but there's a couple fun links I suppose. I'm supposed to work (drive around) tomorrow, and then work in Indiana for 2 days next week. That should at least help pay some bills and stupid taxes.

I worked 18 hours this week. Of those 18 hours I probably only did about 2 hours of physical work, so that was nice. I'm not certain how much longer my brother will have work, or even if I'll get paid, but I'm trying not to dwell on that too much. In preparation I haven't gone out the entire week (including eating out, even fast food). Since I've been home, I've decided it'd be good to save money and eat better, so I've started to cook. I've never liked cooking, nor been good at it, but i can follow a recipe and it usually turns out decent.

This is actually super easy if you do it the lazy way and buy frozen stir fry veggies and pre-cut chicken. Once in a while I'll do it fresh, tastes only slightly better tbh.


I won't post all cooking since I don't want to make people hungry, but in general I'm trying to eat healthy stuff like this (lots of veggies, rice etc). I'm not eating too much bread (if any), and mainly trying to give up soda (pop as i call it). I don't intend to give up soda all together since it's delicious, but since the holidays I started drinking 2-3 per day again which is awful. One every other day is the tentative goal, and so far I've been soda free for 3 days, and only had 2 all of last week. Sunday will likely be a cheat day when I can eat whatever (but not binge obv).

Since I have limited monthly funds and no car, joining a gym isn't a great idea. So I bought some of these tension band things that seem to work really good.


I only have the long ones right now which is fine for me. As far as cardio I can't really run on pavement (last time i did that my knees hurt), it's just really hard on the body. So I'm going old school with jumping jacks and going for walks. Once it warms up (hopefully by the end of this month) I'll be back to riding my bike and playing basketball. My dad's gym has family day every Saturday and Sunday, so I'm going swimming there as well as other workout stuff.

I expect to continue this lifestyle until I get a full time job and have money again. I would like to think I could continue this for a long stretch of time, but if history is any indicator that just won't happen. Hopefully I can shed a few pounds before I fall off the wagon this time . Weighed in at 195 lbs which isn't horrible, but I'd like to get back down to 185 again, or even 180. I still can't fret too much though, since I used to be 225 and couldn't imagine being under 200 ever again.

I haven't played poker since New Orleans, but if work continues to be slow, that will become more of a priority. Last few days I've been looking for work and relaxing. It's really hard applying for jobs, after the first 1-2 it just becomes so draining. Typing the same thing over and over again makes me tired. I guess that's why I wanted to put a resume together and drop it off.