Geno's Sanctuary

2nd Day of Filming

2007-05-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

So on the first day the guy in charge of cars tells me that he wants me to come early on day 2. So I'm thinking that if I'm coming earlier then most people I've got a better chance of being used.

So I get down to the State Fair Grounds around 1:30, and get changed into my winter attire again. They were just setting up lunch and some of the crew was going through. So I got ready to read some more and wait around. But I wasn't going to be waiting around there. They got 50 or so of us out to our cars and lined them up. He then created two smaller groups of 10 to 15 cars and released the rest. I was in the first group. They had us pull around to where they were filming and they had me parked right up front. Great location to be in the scene. They then had the props department put fake licence plates on the cars. But they got all the extras and put them in an empty room away from the filming. They didn't need extras, just cars. They would then come back and forth asking for certain cars to move around. Unfortunately they asked that the three Corvettes all move out of the frame. Damn it.

So there we sat in this empty building for what felt like hours. Actually it had been, because my uncle was just getting down there (his call time was 4:30) This would have been boring, but there were a couple guys that were real comedians. Jared , this guy I met down there with a Riviera, and I just sat back and enjoyed the show.

Some how it was brought up that none of us had ate yet. So they radioed to the caterer to bring some snacks, since lunch had long been gone. He came over with one little bag of snacks, and like ravenous wolves it was gone in a couple minutes. So he called in for back up and brought us all the chips and crackers we could eat. It was no stuffed chicken like the night before I can tell you that.

So they filmed this scene with Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) going to the American Basketball Association building for what ever reason. I snuck a few peeks and got to see him from a distance, but over all it was a bust again.

I think it was about 7 PM we drove back to the parking lot and then went and had a taco dinner. Again not quite like the food the day before, but at least wasn't chips and crackers.

They then had us change into spring attire and return to our cars. They were positioning us around the coliseum. The next scene was going to be a crowd exiting the game. They told me to drive down to the coliseum and a guy would tell me where to go. He parked me right in front of the camera. I was so excited. Jared was the last car and he was parked on the other side. The 2 best parking spots to get into the scene.

So then they round us all up and get us into the coliseum. Hand out props of pom poms and signs and stuff. We're waiting to film and they come in and ask for Jared to move his car. I'm like that sucks, but when he came back in he told me they had moved mine too. What a disappointment.

We film us exiting the coliseum a few times. A woman few down in a take and the director tells us how safety is important. Film a few more times. Another woman falls. They ask if she is alright. And she replies, "yea I'm fine, again." I thought that was funny. My uncle is one of the first people out the doors in this scene and I'm sure you'll be able to see him. I'm kinda at the end of people so I don't know if I'll get cut out.

This was a long day and still not over. I'll finish up day two in another post.

1st Day of Filming

2007-05-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

So a couple people asked me for a little more detailed story about my experience, so here it goes.
The first day I had to be down there at 10:30, so I hopped into my dad's car and drove down to the State Fair Ground in Detroit. We were a little worried about driving down that far, but it didn't overheat and drove well.

So once I was down there I parked with the other 70 extras that had committed their cars for all 5 day of filming. They had me change into my clothes and went into the extras holding area. I started to read 'Bringing down the house' until they started lunch. I looked up from my book and there was no line and some of the people around me had some plates, so I went up to get my food. Well turns out not everyone on the crew had ate yet, so I got a gentle scolding from one of the extra's assistant directors. Oops. Cast and crew go first. But when I did get to eat it was amazing. Chicken stuffed with something is what I had. Ciao did a great job of catering. So at lunch I got to see a bunch of the basketball players, and Andre Benjamin (Andrea 3000 from Outkast).

So after lunch they used a few cars for some street scenes. They kept us away from seeing anything. So I went out to the parking lot and looked at the other old cars. And read some more. My uncle introduced me to Andre Benjamin's stand in. Just a normal guy, but I think he could go places. Very spiritual individual, very interesting. He came over from Africa, I think his wife made his pursue his dreams. If nothing else, it was a fun experience just for the people I met.

I think it was around 8pm when they finally rounded up the cars and had us park in a line up. They selected some sedans and I basically sat around and watched them film a few scenes of cars and pedestrians in front of the "Flint Coliseum".

It was a pretty boring first day, left at 10:30 pm, but basically got paid to read a book.

A few of the cars:

Flint Coliseum?

2007-05-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

I didn't know there was a Flint Coliseum?

Anyways, didn't do anything exciting yesterday. Read 1/2 of 'Bringing down the house' and got paid $155 on top of my paid vacation from Numatics. They didn't use the car because they ran out of bicentennial licence plate props. And I was the 6th extra when they asked for 5. But today they are having me come down earlier then most people, so we'll see if I get to do anything fun.

Hollywood here I come

2007-04-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I head down to Detroit for the filming of 'Semi-Pro'. I shaved my beard and this is my 70's facial hair look that I'm going with.

White Trash of Fenton

2007-04-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

My family is white trash. It was okay when we just had a summer cottage. But now that we live on Lake Fenton permanently, we have to make some changes. My dad bought 2 seadoos this week (my consumerism has effected him, he's thinking about buying a pontoon too), so the number of trailers in our front yard has grown to 3. There wouldn't be room for a pontoon trailer.

And that stand up jet ski doesn't have an engine in it.

It's official

2007-04-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

It's official. I am an extra in Will Ferrell's new movie "Semi-pro" that is being filmed in Flint and Detroit. I'm not sure if it was my dad's car that I will be standing next to....

or the suit Mike gave me back in college....

But they wanted me. I'm excited, maybe I'll meet Will Ferrell, or even get to be in the background of a scene.

Itch phase

2007-04-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've entered into the itching phase of beard growing. It's rough, but I get the old Dale Wolfgram beard stroke going and I feel better.

It's coming in pretty good, but if I don't hear back from the casting director in the next week, it's coming off.

The Evolution

2007-04-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

My car has come a long way since I bought it last year. Here is a picture of what it started like. I loved the lines on the RX-8, but I always knew that I want to put a body kit on it.

Unfortunately my car was in a bit of an accident. Although it gave me a reason to make the changes to the car that I wanted to.

Below you can see the new Mazdaspeed front end compared to the original. It sits a little lower to the ground and has larger openings giving it a little more aggressive look.

Although with the new front, the middle of the car looked a little off. So I decided I needed to put side skirts on to give a more uniform look. They basically make the car look a lot lower to the ground without having to change the suspension with different shocks and springs or coil overs.

Well I got the side skirts in on Friday. So Saturday I woke, a little hungover, but ready to install them. Online I was reading that they aren't very hard to put on, but to take your time and spend 2 hours per side. Well I had a hell of a time taking off the existing side aero flares that were part of the appearance package. Before I knew it I had been working on them for 6+ hours. And the clips weren't holding them on correctly. There was a gap. My dad went out this morning, bought some different clips and we tried again. I think we got it pretty good this time.

I think I'm satisfied now. Maybe some chrome wheels in the future, but for now I love how she turned out.

2 Days

2007-04-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

"You see that mustache coming in Rat? You could almost press it out." - Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High

I don't understand what he means by you could almost press it out. Is it some 80's lingo I'm not aware of?

Anyways, I'm amazed that in only 2 days how much thicker my beard has come in.

'Semi-Pro'

2007-04-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard yet, Will Ferrell has a movie coming out called 'Semi-pro'. Its about a semi-professional basketball team out of Flint set in the 1970's. They've finished filming most of the movie in Cali. and Denver, but are on their way to Michigan to film some outside scenes.

Well they are looking for 500 extras for the remaining parts of the movie, so Sunday I sent in a head shot. Hopefully I hear back from them.

I also included a picture of what I could look like. (Halloween '05) The mustache probably took me a month to grow out.

They start filming at the end of April - early May. I've never had to grow facial hair this quickly. I'm expending a lot of energy and it is quite exhausting, but I think I could have bigger side burns and a mustache in time. Here's my progress so far. 4 days growth.

"I like your beard at that length, it makes you look rugged and kinda dangerous." Thanks mom.

Money, A whole lot of spending money

2007-04-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

"I got my mind set on you

But its gonna take money
A whole lotta spending money
Its gonna take plenty of money
To do it right child"

George Harrison was probably talking about a relationship in this song, but I thought about it while reflecting on how much I've spent over the last month and a half.

Gene Sr. has taught me to be pretty frugal with my money. And especially with living at home I don't have to spend a lot. But when it rains it pours. Starting with my trip to Ann Arbor for St. Patrick's Day, I dropped a couple hundred on bar tabs. Then a car payment. Then I bought a wii for $450 (I know this doesn't count it's for entertainment). Then my dad told me it's my month to pay car insurance, that's another $725. I needed new tires on my car for $850, and it's about time for the next car payment.

I'm just lucky that insurance covered the $3000-4000 on my car. I'm buying side skirts for it to match the new front bumper. But hopefully I can avoid any more major purchases for a little while.

Snow in April makes me want to cry

2007-04-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

So after a week of 60-70 degree weather, Michigan goes back into the cold for a few.

Two weeks ago the ice started to melt off the lake, and our cove was fairly ice free. Saturday morning was really nice as well and the ice melted further. My dad thought, hey we should put the dock in now so we can enjoy the most out of the summer. Well Sunday the weather started to change. By mid-afternoon the wind was blowing hard and all the remaining ice on the lake was moving toward our dock. My family went out and used 2x4's and shovels to break up the ice before it crumpled our dock into a ball. For an hour and a half we fought the ice, and in the end we succeeded with minimal damage to the dock.

Last weekend my dad decided to put the boat in the water to get it out of the driveway. We went for our first joy ride around the lake. It was nice. But then this cold wave came and we had to winterize the boat on the boat hoist. Don't want the engine block to crack.

The snow on the boat is kinda disappointing. But the summer will be here before I know it. Fun, sun, drinking, wake boarding. I can't wait.

Miata Update

2007-02-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple pictures of the Miata gutted with the roll bar in. Next job is to take out the air conditioning components and convert the power steering to manual. Also put the dash board back in the car. The red is a picture I took of the door. The picture doesn't do the color justice, just a tease of what the car will be.

Mazda Miata

2007-02-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

So I've been helping my neighbor in his garage in my spare time. Installing software on his computers, helping on his dynomometer.

A few weeks ago he asks me if I ever have raced go carts. I say sure. He then asks if I have any interest in getting my race car driving licence. I'm thinking hell yea. He's building a Miata to race and if I help him out I can drive it. Well at least just to get my licence. But he says that he isn't really interested in driving it all that much, so maybe I'll get to go fast.

I'm going to update the progress here in case anyone is interested. We gutted the interrior and striped down the rest of the car over the last couple weeks and sent it out to have a roll cage installed.

We've got it back since then with the roll cage, and it looks good. Next step is to re-install the dash and send out the rest of the car for painting.

I need to make more money

2006-12-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

This weekend I've been helping my neighbor do some computer stuff cause he is computer illiterate. My payment for helping him was I got to take his 2006 Z06 Corvette out for a test drive. Fucking amazing piece of machinery. It is a rocket ship. I need to be able to afford one.

Must be documented

2006-12-16T21:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went down to the Christmas party at 1019 Church. We played a game of survivor flip cup and it was guys versus girls. Guys were off to a good start and took the first two games. Then we lost two and then took the next two. It's Andy, me and some other guy vs bobby's girlfriend Betsy. She did the 5 cups by herself before our team of three could. Then she took down 5 cups before Andy and I could do our five. Then I won a coin flip against Andy and had to take Betsy head on. She beat me and did 5 cups before I finished my first 3. It was an amazing display of flip cup athleticism.

Then I went to the brown jug and played fingers until I browned out.

Another really weird thing happened that night. I had some panchero's with Gretta, and she wanted to go back to the BOX house. This is the point I started to brown out. She hailed a car, but it wasn't a cab. It was some guy. I don't think Gretta knew him. But he gave us a ride back to BOX. What a nice guy. But it was weird. How do you hail a car that isn't a taxi?

Come on ladies

2006-12-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to B Dubs with a friend to throw some darts. While there I witnessed two attractive ladies getting hit on by a guy. I later found out that these ladies were excessively intoxicated. The guy is a younger man, a dentist, and a good looking dude. Then the girls were gone and I was like, wow he must have struck out, cause he was off talking to some other guys about politics or some shit. But they must have just gone to the bathroom because they came back. He gave one his cell number and picked up their tab. I thought that they actually left together, but when I was leaving they were outside talking to a couple trashy punks. The guy should have drove them home at least, cause they were in no shape to.

But come on, what's with hot girls and their attraction to the lower level of society.

Ann Arbor, how I miss thee Part II

2006-09-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

So I awake Saturday morning at a more reasonable hour in my car. (10:00 lets say) It wasn't a very comfortable sleep, but I couldn't take more drinking that early. There was already people out on their porches drinking, and I knew I was going to look funny to them getting out of my car. Maybe I just have a tendancy to always think that people are looking at me and judging me. But anyways, I go to get out of the car and I quickly realize that you can't get out of a car that you locked with the remote key unless you unlock it with the remote key. So the alarms going off and I struggle to figure out how to make it stop. If anyone wasn't looking at me they were now.

Someone from the nearest porch says something. I don't even know what it was, I don't even know how I responded. I think it was something along the lines. "A man can't even pass out in his own car without getting hassled.

I stopped by BOX for a little while. Same craziness, with less people I recognize. So I headed over to 1019 Church. On the way Andrew calls me and tells me I need to come over, but I'm way ahead of him. Everyone is there. Andrew, Bobby, Betsy, Andy, Kumar, Romo, sisters, parents, I felt back in my element. They had a keg of Oberon, and I didn't need to leave for the wedding until 2, so I had a few. (4) It was good to see everyone again. Hopefully the girls won't mind me coming down a few more times.

Everyone went to the game, and I met back up with Brent and we watched the first half over at Zach's. Also a double Cottage Inn family feast was in play.

Not a bad football Saturday.

Ann Arbor, how I miss thee

2006-09-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

I miss Ann Arbor. Sure it's only an hour drive for me, but I miss what it once was. Friends around every corner, 408 Thompson Parties, BOX parties/tailgates, Browning out at the JUG, homecoming at 1019, so many other things come to mind that it makes it hard to recount anything specifically. I just don't think that I've moved on yet.

I went down to Ann Arbor this past weekend, because it was the first home game and Brent was in from Houston for a wedding and I was his driver for the weekend. A few friends in town just like me, but a lot more new faces then ever before. Kinda made me miss the good old times. It was a different experience, but still fun.

Nate and I started the night by buying 4 Mad Dogs, but Brent wasn't content with just that and brought back a Blue & Blue (Blue UV Vodka and Blue Gatorade) I avoid that seeing as how bad I got last time I did it. Nate and I schooled the youngsters in corn-hole, with a flawless 4-0 record. Then we headed for the JUG. We bought a lot of beer, probably more then a pitcher for every person at our table. I played slam cup with this girl a few times. I took it easy on her and then she kicked my ass. I think we called it an early night, and headed back to the BOX house. On the way, someone decided it would be fun if everyone got mohawks. I couldn't partake, because of the wedding the next day. But I enjoyed watching everyone else.

I passed out on the couch soon after that was all done. But the sleep didn't last long. I awoke a few hours later (5:30), still drunk, to the BOX guys blaring Mortal Kombat theme music. That is their alarm clock to wake up and start drinking on game day. Being an old BOX Alumni, I walked over to Arch St. and passed out in my car for a few more hours.

More to come.

Fun Times

2006-08-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

Mike celebrating as I drive his remote control car through a pyrimid of cans. (Freshman year)

It would have been far more fun driving it through the beer-amid. 385 cans. (Sophomore year)

More Quotes

2006-08-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

I don't want it to look like I'm picking on Imran, so here is another for starters.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, D" - Mike (he was very serious and repeated himeself a couple of times)

and now a classic

"Who is that big bear?" - Imran (Talking about Donkey Kong from Super Smash Brothers)

On a seperate occassion....

"He looks more like a bear then a donkey. [He is an ape or gorilla Imran.] Then they should call him Ape Kong!" - Imran

Random picture time

2006-08-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

I love this picture for 2 reasons.
1. Nate was all over this girl, and I caught him in the moment.
2. Gusto is in the back ground with his shirt up for some reason.

I love the Brown Jug, it leads to pictures like this.

Colby Jack Cheese

2006-08-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

I've determined that I really like Colby Jack Cheese. However once the Colby Jack becomes warm it's all over. Actually I hate any cheese that is not chilled. But a cold piece of cheese is a great snack.

A Quote

2006-08-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a quote from my Friend Imran from back in sophomore year. Maybe I can forget about last night's episode with great memories from the past.

"I hate cell phones.
I hate how the sorority girls put little stickers on them, like little frogs and things.
I hate how you can put on different face plates, some clear some sparkly.
I hate how they have small speakers and it confuses you where to talk into.
I hate how they have little antennas, like the size of that parcel on the brush. And it looks
like something I could shit out my ass.
I hate the belt clips that you attach to your belt and like camouflage it. Like a cop and his
holstered gun.
I’m never going to get one.
But my wife will probably make me get one." - Imran

A Nightmare of a Week

2006-08-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

My last few posts have been about the adventures that I've had over the last week. Partying into all hours of the night. However Wednesday night I was up late for another reason.

I turned into bed around midnight, after watching Futurama and Family Guy on Adult Swim. I rolled around in bed for awhile restlessly before entering a dream state. But in a short 40 minutes I would be sitting up in my bed scared shitless. I don't know if it was the binge I've been on, the lack of sleep, or a combination of the two, but it was a rough one. I definitely think that I've been missing out on REM, because this has happened before, that I can just close my eyes and I'd have vivid visual images run through my head.

So that's how it started, the images were so crazy and clear that it was hard to get to sleep. I'd really say that I never really got to sleep, cause in Psych they said it takes a while to enter into that deep sleep. But anyways here is what happened.

I was in a room and 3 beautiful girls came in. It very well could have been the VIP strip club in Chicago cause there were other people around. One of the girls seems to be getting naked but entertaining someone else. The other two girls are on the other side of the room and wave me to come over. The dreams going pretty good at this point. I go to kiss the one girl but she pulls away. When I turn to the other girl, she grabs me and begins to aggressively make out with me. However she has a really long tongue and shoves it way down my throat. I start to panic, and try to push away, but I can't. My arm won't move.

Here's where I start to not know what's going on.

I open my eyes and I can't move my arm. I kind of start to panic again and then my head starts to shake violently. I can only compare it to what I'd imagine getting electrocuted, or having a seizure is like, but it was just my head shaking. Actually, Billy Madison shaking that fat kids head, telling him to stay in middle school as long as he can. Anyways, as this is happening I first let out a moan, but it sounds like I still have the girl's tongue down my throat. It is muffled and not very loud. Then I can hear myself thinking "Calm down, take a few breathes and this will subside." So I calm myself down and I stop shaking.

That's when I sat up in bed.

I have no idea if this was a dream within a dream or if I was actually shaking, but I was definitely freaked out by this. I told my parents about it just in case it was a seizure, but my mom says it probably wouldn't have just been my head, it would have been my whole body. And that people that have seizures are drained of energy, but I was wide awake. It took me awhile to get back to sleep. I watched some Fresh Prince.

I don't know, I was still pretty freaked out about this at work today, hard to get anything done. Shit I'm still kinda wondering what the hell went on.

Wednesday's Tigers game

2006-08-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

So I went down to my 3rd Tigers game in a week. I've noticed that there are a lot of beautiful girls going to the Tigers games now. They aren't just tagging along with their boyfriends, they are going I groups of beautiful girls. I'm loving it. So we were sitting out in the bleachers, and a good looking girl sits down in front of us. As we are watching the game I notice that she keeps looking over her shoulder. There was no score board or anything else of importance behind me. For the rest of the game she was sitting weird, leaning over, pushing her ass out and her boobs up. I locked eyes with her a few times.

Side note: While in Chicago I've decided that I need to let go more, and just not give a shit, not care what other people might think. Stop being shy, talk to the girls I find attractive. I'm going to let my personality shine from the beginning instead of waiting until people get to know me. I've said this before, but I mean it this time.

So the new Geno would have been ready to go talk to this girl, but there was a problem. She was there with a guy friend who was looking over his shoulder and trying to make eye contact with me. My cousin agreed that there was something weird with the way these two were looking my way. In hindsight, I should have just talked to the girl. But the guy just weirded me out a little.

I was telling my Uncle this story on the way home and he also had a story about this girl. His friend was eating some peanuts and when he cracked one open he shot one down the back of her skirt. I guess that could have been why she was sitting weird. She was inviting another nut down her skirt.

So if you are out there girl. Leave the dude at home next time and I might talk with you.

Crazy Week

2006-08-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I'd get my blog on again for a little while until I lose interest again.

Starting last Thursday I've had a pretty eventful week. Drove down with my uncle, cousin, and sister to the Tigers game. Saw Kenny Rogers for the 4th time this year pick up another victory.

Then Friday I took the day off, which was nice. Went down and saw Martha. Had a little bit of a pool party. I really enjoyed revisiting Camp Potere. I drank a whole lot and stayed up late.

Saturday I woke up and drove home, showered, and headed off to Chicago for my friend Nick's bachelor party. It was a tough drive. We then went out to dinner at an Italian place. Then we got into our hummer limo and hit up the bars. We went to The Apartment which was a chill bar. Then we got really drunk in the limo, cause it was free and it was pretty good stuff too. Then off to V.I.P to drop some money on strippers. I actually got away without spending much. Then we went back to the hotel room. Everyone seemed like they were passing out, but Mike Cook, Christian (Nick's brothers friend), and I went back out to the bars. We found this nice little bar and sat down to talk with some ladies. They were a lot of fun and Elizabeth was smoking. She seemed interested in me until they found out we weren't from Chicago. I think it was my Michael Jackson dancing that did it. So then we finally called it a night around 6am.

Saturday was a rough day, and the drive home sucked even more. There was more traffic and I was more hung-over. I took Monday off knowing full well how shitty I would feel. My dad and I headed down to Greek Town Casino for a poker tournament. I was almost out and my dad had a nice chip stack. Then I went all in on 3 consecutive hands and was right back in it. Then my dad had a turn of luck and lost in 17th place. I ended up taking 8th out of 60, which was just out of the money. I was kinda disappointed.

Tuesday I was still not feeling great but had to go to work. My uncle calls me towards the end of the night and asks if I want to goto the Tigers game. I didn't want to go, but we sat 14th row behind the catcher. Of course Kenny Rogers was pitching. Best seats I've ever had.

Then Wednesday night we went back down to the Tigers game. We had already had these Tickets. I really thought we were going to come back in that game. I've got a story from this game. It will deserve its own post.

So yea, it's been a really long and exciting week, but I'm running on one rotor. Work has been tough. This weekend is going to be welcomed.

Building a deck

2006-05-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

So we started to build the deck on my parents house. Last week we put in the holes and set the posts. Saturday my uncle and cousins came over and we built the whole frame. It went pretty well except the wood isn't the straightest. So we've spent the last couple days laying the decking and it's going rediculously slow. Yesterday I think we put down 5 rows. But I do have to say it is some of the best Kovacs' craftmanship I've seen in a long time.

I've also come down with something, so the working at day and then building the deck at night is really taking it's toll on me. But we are in for like a week long rain, so I'll have a break to get better.

House is coming along nicely

2006-05-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

The house is almost done. We spent the last 3 weeks putting down cement board, tile, and grout. 800 sq ft I think including the bathrooms. It was a lot of work and my knees and fingers killed afterwards. But it looks good. I'll have to get some pictures up.

Last night we had the holes drilled in the back for a deck. That will be this weekend's project. Setting the poles, building a frame, laying the decking and railing. Probably won't finish this weekend.

The appliances are in, the finish electric is done, I think really all that is left is carpet, finish plumbing and a shit load of moving. Should be in the house in 2 or 3 weeks.

Don't be teasing

2006-03-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

Alright, so the weekend wasn't bad. Spent some time with the extended family and watched the Pistons. One full of excitement and one of disappointment. I also won $100 online playing poker.

Back to work; to reality. All you kids that had a week off and are now complaining that you have to go back, too damn bad.

Later this week the temperature is supposed to be around 60. I hope it stays warm. Spring is just around the corner and that means daydreaming about wakeboarding starts to fill my head.

My dad mentioned that when he is done building his house and if I help him ceramic the floor he will consider trading in our boat for a new one. So I've been spending my free time researching boats. Two of the top contenders are Air Natique and Mastercraft. He better not be teasing me.

Air Natique 210 and Mastercraft X-Star

Boy do I need a weekend

2006-03-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

I'm in severe need of a weekend.

This week has been pretty boring at work. The boss has been on vacation, so I'm envious of that. People aren't doing what I need done so I can move along with my project. And now that we are partners with a company in France, my entire project might have to be modified. And I won't know anything for sure until next week.

Man the real world sure does suck. I don't know why MTV makes it look so fun. Liars!

Thank goodness it is lunch time on Friday.

Burning Sensation

2006-02-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

Not the bad kind when you urinate, but the kind when your muscles act like they want to jump out of your body.

Sunday afternoon I came out of retirement to sell nuts once again. The kid I used to work with was on vacation, so I filled in for him. It wasn’t bad, made some money to pay for the bar tabs I collected during the weekend. Got home early in the afternoon, just in time to sit in a recliner and proceed to do nothing all day long.

So anyways, I realized today that you can’t sit at your desk for 6 months and do nothing, and expect to be able to sell nuts like you were in your prime. I’d say it was like doing a stair climber for 2 hours straight. I hurt a lot and have very little control over my legs.

I’d say it was a wake up call. I need to start getting ready for the wakeboarding season. Get on a more regular strength training and aerobic workout plan. That's the idea, now can I just do it.

Good week so far

2006-02-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, so the week has gone by fairly fast so far. Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when I got a quarterly bonus. I thought I heard the bonus was going to be once a year, but I guess not. Tomorrow is a payday too. Not too shaby.

But people in school are coming to their spring breaks. So I'm a little envious of people going on vaction. My friend here at work is down in Flordia right now too. Oh well, I'll jsut have to make this weekend a good one.

This weekend was a bore

2006-02-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

I kind of feel like I wasted this weekend. Friday night I stayed in, because I wanted to be rested and not hung over for a poker game on Saturday. So I played in a poker tournament online. It was alright, chatted with some friends while I played fairly well. Even though there are nothing but idiots playing poker online. Online probably hurts your poker playing ability. But I finished 54th out of 2500. Not bad, but only the top 25 advance onto the next round. I then spent the rest of the night hooking my buddy Ben up with a facebook account. Since he graduated in 2003 and doesn't have a umich name anymore, I hooked him up.

Saturday I played in the $100 buy in tournament. I felt good, and I was getting the cards. I raised the ranks and had a pretty good chip stack. I started to push people around knocking out people left and right. I made it to the final table with the 2nd most chips. I was poised, ready to take one of the top prizes. $1800, $1000, $600, $450. Out of 45 contestants, 2 out of the 4 Kovacs' were at the final table. We were looking good, although Uncle Matt didn't have too many chips left. However I made the mistake of bumping heads with the chip leader.

I was dealt pocket Jacks, and the flop was 5, 5, 3. I bet 1500 of my ~9000 in chips, the guy raises me 1500 so I call. The next card is a 7. I check and the guy bets 2000. Right now is when I make the mistake and didn't re-raise all in. If I shouldn't have done that after he raised me the 1500 the first time. I call and a 7 comes on the river. He bets another 2000. I call and this fucking stupid ass was playing a 73. Which means he raised me with 5's and 3's. I can only blame myself for not raising him earlier and letting him make a full house. I end up losing the rest of my chips not long after and take 7th and win my money back. It was a long poker tournament and disappointing to only win my money back when I had such a good chance at winning $1800. My uncle coasted his way to 4th and $450.

I thought I had Earl's Karma on my side, cause I was going to give my Uncle's and Dad's entry fee back to them had I won. I was also planning on taking all my friends out to the bar. It would have been a fun celebration. I guess we'll have to wait until I win the world series. By the way, I decided this weekend that I'll work for another few years and then become a professional poker player.

I went back to my uncle Greg’s and watched some of the all star stuff. My uncle Matt, whose plan was to get the final table drunk by suggesting to take shots after a person got knocked out, was in pretty bad shape, so we took him home. He would definitely be a friend of my Ann Arbor friends had he gone to school the same time as us. Getting bad at 33 years old and still going strong.

Sunday has been a loss so far. Although I did watch Back to the Future part II. Maybe I'll work out and check the oil on my car.

Wish I would have gotten one of these yesterday

2006-02-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=3574

make sure to click next, the last one on the 5th page is worth.... "Well, more wealth then you can imagine."

Onward and looking straight ahead

2006-02-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

The week is half over, the month is half over, and Valentine's Day has come and gone. On our way toward March 17th. A non-excluding holiday that everyone can enjoy. Well I guess if you are a recovering alcoholic, but you can still enjoy the food.

I'm sitting at work here, working on multiple projects, a little of each so I don't get bored. Waiting for someone to update a blog, or send me a message. Pretty uneventful week so far. I could play in a poker tournament this weekend, but I don't know if I want to wager $125. Maybe I'll find something fun to do this weekend.

Reason why I enjoy Olympic Ice Skating:

It Must Have Been A Sign

2006-02-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Alright here's a question. How many times have you seen a nun on the road? Well I'd have to say today was my first.

This morning the roads were horrible from the snow we got through the night. I took my mothers car(she just got an '06 Grand Prix GXP), because she felt better if I had a front wheel drive car. All the way to work I was listening to 103.9 The Fox tell me about all the accidents. And I was passing a bunch of cars in the ditch, tow trucks, police, and firemen. So I was taking my time, figuring I was already going to be late. When I got to M-59 the roads were better and I was cruising along. It was unbeknown to me that there was actually a lot of ice on the road. Well I kinda realized it when the car ahead of me did a 180 spin. I slowly applied the brake and came to a stop after a little skidding myself. I was looking at a nun. Embarrassed she pulled her car in the right direction and drove away.

I made it to work safe. It's crazy, we didn't even get much snow last night.

Good Tv

2006-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight was another great night of my favorite shows. Four Kings, My Name is Earl, and The Office. Oh how I love Thursday night tv.

Jim, I know how you feel buddy. Valentines Day is a bitch.

And Victoria's Secret, I would get her what she wants if the opportunity existed. Thanks for reminding me that I will not be with a gorgeous scantily clad girl.

Pistons get a little love

2006-02-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Alright so 4 of the starting Pistons were named to the All Star bench, and that's not too shabby. And we've had a rough shedule and we are getting tired. Better to lose a few now and win the championship. However I still think the Refs aren't giving us our fair shake. And with the Gretzky scandle going on, I think it is just a matter of time before all professional sports are shown to be fixed. No dubt in my mind that Refs keep the games close in the first half to keep the food and beer sales up. My dad has been saying it for years, its all about the "hotdog revenue"

Also some potentially awesome news. Tayshaun Prince might be a candidate for injured Jermaine O'Neal's position on the All Star team. Commissioner David Stern gets to pick his replacement. Could it be the first time a whole starting line up gets on the All Star team? Exciting.

Good Sleep

2006-02-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it was because I beat Call of Duty 2 last night or just because I was tired, but I had a really good sleep last night. I woke feeling refreshed and happy. I had just had a great night of dreaming. One of those nights where you don't remember what you were dreaming about, but you just feel good about it. It was just a good way to start the day.

Where's the love???

2006-02-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

Alright, I didn't take the time this weekend to talk about it at all, so I will now.

In the NBA if you are deemed a great you get a little preferential treatment. Like Shaq not getting called for 3 seconds, or fouling with his off hand. Jordan or Kobe for traveling. Great teams always get the calls at home and less against them on the road. That's just the way it is.

But when are the Pistons going to get any part of this. The entire starting line up could start in the All-Star game. Chauncy is awesome, he can shoot the ball, and when he has an off night, he can get the ball to the people that can get it done. When are people going to start giving him his much deserved respect.

Statistically we are killing everyone in the leage, but the fan polls (which i realize is a biased stat) we are #7. That's because the public and the NBA does not want the Pistons to be good.

Did you all see the game on saturday against the Pacers. If the game wasn't fucking fixed the the refs should lose their jobs. It was the most biased game I've seen in some time. The Refs set the tone early with calling two patty cake fouls on Chauncy in the first 3 minutes. Our team is great and true we should have been able to get along without him, but it didn't end there. There were 8-10 more poor calls against the Pistons or obvious no calls against the Pacers. My mom stated it well, "You know the refs are shitty when I can see it is a foul."

Fuck you very much refs. But we'll have the last laugh

Boring

2006-02-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

Besides the 6" of snow and cutting my hair just for something to do, this was one of the more boring weekends of my life.

I'm walking down to Bob Hook's house to watch the Super Bowl, a game I don't care about, because I'm too lazy to drive down to Ann Arbor or over to Jason Makidon's place. I am a bum.

On another note, My neighbor wants to hire me to teach him AutoCad and Inventor, and asked me what I thought was fair pay. I think it would be best just to tell him that whatever he feels is deserving. So I guess I'm going to help him design a SCCA GT3 Chasis for his race car in my spare time.

If Manu can do it

2006-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Well after seeing that Manu Ginobili cut his hair, I'm beginning to feel it is time to cut mine as well. My side burns are like 2" long and almost to my jaw line. I also have quite a bit of a party going on in the back.

But even though I know I need to cut it, a part of me just doesn't want to. I've worked hard on this mop. Maybe I'll just trim my sideburns and be done with it.

Big decision of the weekend.

EDIT:

Chickened out count:1

I was almost going to cut it, but then opted to just trim the sideburns. I'm so close to a Mark Hamill hair style I've wanted to sport for awhile. But my hair might be too greasy to successfully pull that off.

I find this interesting

2006-02-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

Just a little nugget of trivia for everyone today.

http://blogs.foxsports.com/mustangj17/2006/1/31/The_Bus_and_Saddam_Hussein_Have_What_in_Common

I'm feeling better

2006-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well most of my last post was a joke. (At least until it is actually Valentines Day.)

I had a burger at the moose lodge, had a few beers, and watched Groundhog Day today. So it hasn't been to bad of a day. Also Martha reminded me, "I've got two balls and straight teeth", so I'm doing better then some.

Ben got a job, why to go, and I'm kind of envious of it. I already game like it's my JOB, it would be nice to get paid for it.

Tomorrow is friday and I can't wait to have a few days off. I haven't had much drive this week.

But this February is going to be different. I can feel it.

February Woes

2006-02-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

They say the January is the most depressing month, but I disagree. I don't have credit card debt from the holidays. I haven't broken my New Years' resolution, because I never made one. I got my first raise and bought my first car. So January was a pretty good month.

But February is a different story. I knew the payment I was getting myself into when I got my car, but I'm going to have to pay 6% sales tax, the first paymant, and insurance all at one. So I'm basically working the whole month, 160 hours, just to pay that off.

Then there is Valentines Day. A painful reminder that I will enevitably die alone. I haven't had a good Valentines Day since Nick Smith gave me a Star Wars theme valentine back in high school.

Although tomorrow is Groundhog Day, and with that brings my favorite thing about February. I guarantee that the movie Groundhog Day will be on tv tonight and tomorrow. Punxsutawney and Bill Murray. I love it.

"Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on its smiling face a dream... of spring."

But don't worry, lucky for me February is the shortest month.

(*EDIT) I just noticed that I had an automatic withdrawl for paying off my student loans. Add that too my list.

Planned Obsolescence

2006-01-31T09:03:00.000-08:00

My camera broke. I haven't even dropped it in over a year. (At least not that I remember) And all of the sudden, without warning, the zoom stops working. As an engineer I realize the use of plastic gears has its benefits, but I also know that they are under designed. Even though we aren't in the 50's anymore, when planned obsolescence was a common business idea, I still think they do it purposefully.

I've got a camera with a zoom that doesn't work. Sony sells parts, but they are expensive. Spend $150 to fix my camera? I can almost buy a new one that is just as good for that. But here's where they got me by the balls. I spent $100 for a 512 mb memory stick, which I'm pretty sure, for the most part, is only compatible with Sony. So now I'm invested in Sony products.

Damn you Sony, damn you plastic gears, and damn you torque induced shear force.

#20 Is Sweet

2006-01-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

After some great athleticism and a little preferential treatment from home court, Michigan has broken into the top 25. Sitting at #20 we look good to being included in the Tourney for the first time in a long time. Don’t get in our way or you might find yourself on the ground. That’s what happened to Kammron Taylor when he got knocked out by Gram Brown. Or Should I say Chris Rock.

I still swear they look identical. Maybe I wasn’t the first to notice the similarity, but I made quite a fuss about it 3 years ago. I still remember screaming that Chris Rock doesn’t play basketball, which led to the Chris Rock chant.

Anyways, keep it up Michigan.

Dedication

2006-01-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

So I went out shoe shopping with my girl today. That's how dedicated I am to my relationships.
But she likes really expensive fancy shoes. I told her I'd buy some in the spring when she'll actually wear them, and she didn't mind.

She's the best. And she encourages threesomes. Any ladies interested?

http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65717

Things I learned today....

2006-01-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

1. I've worked for two weeks and almost the entire paycheck is going to go towards michigan's 6% sales tax on my car. More like thing I calculated today, I guess I learned taxes suck.

2. Coach purses/handbags are ~$400 a pop.

3. The correct ANSI drafting technique of feature control frames and the differences between metric and english versions.

4. I can start putting money in my 401k. Damn.

That is all.

On a side note, I met the president of Numatics today, I think that he thought I was doing a good job.

3rd Gen. Gene Gets 2nd Gen. Rotary

2006-01-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Just like my father had an RX-7, 20 years ago, I now have an RX-8. Saturday I spent the whole day getting a loan, driving down to Toledo, and picking up this car....

2005 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring (Zoom Zoom)
1.3 liter double rotor engine, 238 hp, 159 ft lp torque
Velocity Red
-Appearance Package
-Accent Package
-Rear Spoiler
-GPS Navigation
-Leather Seats
-Power Seats
-Heated Seats
-Sun Roof

Modifications
-Crome Tipped Exhaust
-Tinted Windows
-Mazda Center Caps for the Wheels

I'm very excited about this car.

I also went out with Mellisa and her friends for her boyfriends Bday. It was a good day.

So at work today....

2006-01-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

So work started out just like most Fridays. Well I was a little hung over because of the charity bar night I went to at Touchdown's where there was a plethora of beautiful girls. But anyways I was slowly getting into my work, you know, just taking my time and working my up the productivity ladder. So it was 10:30 and I was maybe up to 50% efficiency when I noticed my computer monitor was looking like a mirage in the desert. Also the fluorescent light on my desk that had not worked in like 4 months flicked on. Then out of nowhere, with a thunderous boom and flash of light, the whole place loses power. I didn't really see what happened, but there was a man outside the window and he was running fast. Then it happened again. By this time everyone in the office was outside or at the window watching. A third time a 3 ft fireball fills the sky. About 30 yards across the parking lot the power lines were surging with electricity. The fireball (which was as blinding as a welding arch) lights the pole on fire and you can see the electricity traveling down the pole and blowing open an electrical box. It goes off one final time before the breakers stop trying to reset. It was pretty exciting to watch.

I figured that this was going to be the closest thing to a snow day that I’m ever going to get again. But nay. They decided to use this as time for spring cleaning. So I did not get to go home, enjoy Friday afternoon, or pass go and collect a free 6 hours of pay.

Actually it was the fastest response to a power outage I've ever seen. Really surprising, I mean they are unionized. They even worked through lunch. Maybe they knew they need to fix it fast before the 1o inches of snow comes. 2 and 1/2 hours later we're back to business as usual.

Oh well, I guess I didn't really do shit today and got paid for it. Victory enough.

As Per Ben's Request

2005-12-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Since I've noticed I've been neglecting my blog and since Ben threatened me, I will make an entry about what I've been up to.

Not a whole hell of a lot.

My normal week is going to work from 8:00 - 4:30. Get home at 5:00 and sit in my recliner. Watch That 70's Show (5:30) Seinfeld (6:00-7:00) Wheel of Fortune (7:00 with my Mom) Seinfeld (7:30) and then various shows based on the day. Some that are at the top of my list are My Name is Earl, The Office, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother (Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious), and 2 1/2 Men. Then I surf the web for awhile, trying to hear the latest xbox360 rumors.

On the weekend I either sit at home and not do much. Or I go down to Ann Arbor where I.... Well I have fun, but don't always remember everything. Escaping the reality of the real world which I've come to loathe.

This week has been a little different though. Starting with Thursday the 8th. I went and had a little party with my relatives. My cousin and I have the same B-Day. Friday took the day off as a gift to myself. Went down to Ann Arbor and played some beer pong with Vinod.

Saturday was a lot of fun. I went to Windsor with my uncle Matt and his company to go curling. The first 30 minutes was instruction and then they let us loose to play. I wasn't too good at first. But luckily I had some talent juice. Molson and Blue on tap, and since we were on the ice the air temp at 40 deg kept the beer nice and cold. It was a good thing I was drinking a lot because I slipped on the ice and hit my head hard. (I would compare it to Michael J Fox in Back to the Future I) Anyways, I started to get pretty good at throwing stones, and by the end of the night I dare say I could take on Jennifer Guzwell.

After curling all the fun people went out to the bar. Peppers. It was fun. My uncles' friend wanted to dance and wanted me to be his wing man. I was ok this could be fun watching him hit on girls. Well he had an alterative motive. He would go up to girls introduce himself and then say this is my friend Geno, he wants to dance with you. I was too drunk to be embarrassed, so I just danced. with some pretty beautiful girls at that. One was a hot Asian that said her name was Honey.

On the way home we got hassled at the boarder. Uncle Matt might have slurred his words a little, but the guy thought that we came to Canada to go caroling. He was a little skeptical.

Monday night Nick Knauss was in town and I went down to have a beer with him and watch the Pistons. The bar was dead until a few guys came in and they were funny. The best line of the night though was, "I wouldn't fuck her with Don's dick and you pushing." Piston's lose though.

Wednesday my uncle asks if I want to go to the Piston's game. My cousin won a high school cheerleading comp. so she was performing at half time. I was like sure I'll sit in the nose bleeds for free. Well 2 awesome things happened that night.

1. I got to see this. http://www.nba.com/pistons/photogallery/wallpaper_051214_1278.html

2. My uncle's friend calls and wants to go to the game with someone. But she doesn't have tickets with us. She has seats in a box. The owner's box. Some of the best seats in the house.

It was a lot of fun.

Thursday = Payday.

It's been a good week

Shit!

2005-12-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

I spent my 15 minute break at work this morning writing a novel of my last weeks events. But when I tried to save the draft I lost all my work. Now I'll use my lunch break.

Do good things and good things happen to you.

2005-11-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

"Do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and it will come back and bite you in the ass." That’s what my friend Earl always says.

This weekend I played in a card tournament hosted by my uncle. You know how it goes, 24 people started, and 3 Kovacs' ended up at the final table. I realized that the rules of the tournament had some holes in them. 2nd place could theoretically win less then 3rd place. Well people were drunk by this time and ready to argue. The chip leader, my uncles "friend", who I get the feeling really doesn't care for any of the Kovacs', figured that it wasn't in his best interest to modify the rules and give 2nd place a share of the kitty. I mean he dominated all night, and had a majority of the chips; he wanted all the money to himself.

He was quite cocky, talking shit all night, telling my father multiple times that he was going to take all his chips. Finally after arguing for 10 minutes and me basically saying we don't play until this is resolved, he agreed to give 3rd place $60 and 2nd place $80 out of the $700. Play started again, and he was gunning for us Kovacs even more now. His play was getting sloppy however, the next day was his birthday, and he had been drinking hard and had just done a few shots with friends. He then made a bet and the girl behind him went all in. He then tried to take back his bet, and we called him out on it. Although he was still dominating the table and even took out my uncle. I was almost out of chips, he had almost all of them, but my dad still had a chance.

My dad goes all in and he calls, he has my dad now, talking about his full house as the chips are getting counted out. He shows his 8's full on 5's and his jaw drops as my dad pulled another King for Kings full on Queens. This was the beginning of the end for him. He goes on to lose all his chips to my dad and me.

He wins $60 when he could have won $500 if he had been humble and sober.

"Karma. You got to love it." - Earl

What an F-ed up night

2005-11-10T22:42:00.000-08:00

So tonight I got home from work and had dinner with my parents. My dad was on the phone with car dealers. I don't know who drives me more nuts, the car dealers with their lies or my dad. I got a call from our friend saying there were two women picking things up off the ground at the house we are building. So I ran over then and no such women. I get back and we head down to Southfield to look at some cars. I hit a big dirt clump in the middle of the road. Kinda scared me. Then since we are only about 20 minutes from Detroit we head over to the casino. Side note: I got a quarterly bonus today, which I wasn't really expecting, so I figured I might as well gamble it away. On the way to the casino I run over a curb and bottom out the trailblazer. We finally get to the casino, and I realize that the dealer never returned my ID when he made a copy. Even with my mustache, which is thick, I can't get into the casino. We try and drive quickly to the dealership to get my ID. My mom is driving now, and we can't find the express way. Tempers start the flare. "fuck!" starts to be thrown around by all. My dad and I yell at each other. My dad drives me nuts more then dealers. It was a long ride home. I get home and my internet dies on me for like 1/2 an hour. And it's late, so I got home just in time to go to sleep and get ready to work on friday.

Work = Headache

2005-11-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

Today I had a meeting with the senior engineers about the project I’ve been working on. Engineering at Numatics is a group effort that involves a million different ideas from engineers, marketing, and customers. These ideas are rarely the same and often conflict. And if there is one thing I've learned about design engineering (at least in the pneumatic valve field) everything is inter-connected. I will be going to work tomorrow barely ahead of where I was almost 2 months ago. It hurts my head, but I guess I'm getting paid.

Symphony

2005-11-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to my first symphony. It was a great time. The theme was ‘From Russia with Love.’ It opened with Mily Balakirev, and then Gershwin’s Concerto in F major, and finished with an amazing song by Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade.

Scheherazade is one of my father’s favorites and was the reason we went. It is a truly beautiful thing how all the instruments in an orchestra come together. It’s hard to say in words how spectacular this song is. You can hear the story of 1001 Nights being told as you listen to the music. I highly recommend that everyone go see a symphony orchestra in person. My first time was an unbelievable experience, and was not my last.

Also I ran into and got to chat with my old high school chemistry teacher Dale Wolfgram. He has not changed a bit, but I guess I have as he did not recognize me with my mustache.

Well I've gone and done it

2005-11-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Just like the iPod, I've gone and followed a new tread. But I guess this one will be nice and give me something else to do while I spend countless hours on the computer at both work and home.