I have been dealing with large amounts of stress and problems. Specifically, Chris Christie won the election for Governor of New Jersey, and he wants blood, in the form of thousands of layoffs at state agencies.  This troubles me, as I have only been at DOT a year and a half.  Despite this, I have risen up well to carve a niche for myself, as I have assumed a leadership position and done well with it despite having been thrown into it with less than a year of DOT experience under my belt.  I had to learn incredible amounts of stuff as I went along, which is the most stressful way one can learn, but I manage.  Also, the region management found me a bigger vehicle.  As you may remember, my state-issued car was a Toyota Prius, reliable, but lacking in legroom or ground clearance.  But they managed to upgrade me to a Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, which has more room, and even a lumbar adjustment in my seatback (although the lumbar on Malibus is manual, with a handle, as opposed to the nice button on my beloved Crown Vic).  But its wayyy better than a Prius

In other news, family life is about where it always is...at least my sister does not torment me to the extent she used to...maybe college is changing her for the better after all Mom, though, will always be mom...

I haven't been in the mood to bang out regular updates anymore. It was taking me 3 to 5 hours to make each of them, and there's less and less for me to write about ME...most of my time was consumed finding all the people whose birthdays it was and finding a quote of the week to use. In the future, it looks like certain of the special features may be deleted or pared down. Specifically, I am thinking of having birthday announcements only for VIPs: i.e. close personal friends and my most loyal e-proppers like Tialoca, Michael, and Marianne; or eliminating Quotes or Trivia.  Updates may go to an irregular timing like Michael does as well. We shall see what happens...

SPECIAL FEATURES: Sorry, no special features here...they may be back eventually

.

END OF THIS WEEK'S UPDATE

Please leave eprops and comments using the links below. If you want to read updates from past weeks then you can scroll down further.

Rest assured, I have not forgotten my dear Xanga site or the awesome, loyal readers who leave wonderful comments. The T-Mobile/Danger Sidekick data crisis has mostly been solved, except for a few minor bugs here and there...at least I finally have my address book contacts and Facebook access on there back

I went to some car shows on October 25 in Fair Lawn and Pompton Lakes; these events were originally scheduled for the 18th but postponed due to rain. They were fun, and I got myself a new collectible from one of the vendors: a 1:24 scale 1997 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor with NJSP graphics

I anticipate to resume regular updates next week, possibly with photos from the car shows I attended on the 25th.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Sorry, no special features here They will come back gradually when I resume regular updating

Damn this Sidekick data outage!

As all loyal T-Mobile Sidekick users are painfully aware, there was a major server failure at Danger Inc. on October 2 that has left all Sidekick users without address book contacts, web access, and everything except the rudimentary ability to send phone calls and texts. Between that and a few other problems I am facing I have had no time for updating this lovely blog of mine...I still can't even get Facebook on my phone yet I at one point fell SIX DAYS behind on wishing people happy birthdays Anyways, I miss blogging so much and hope to be able to get back to my regular updating scheme within a week or two. Until then, hang in there loyal readership!

SPECIAL FEATURES: Sorry, no special features here They will come back gradually when I resume regular updating.

I had another fun night at Whiskey Cafe on the 26th. Sunday the 27th was a rain day. I was stuck home

On Monday the 28th I went to the Apple Store and bought my brother his Christmas present (early ), a new 16GB iPhone 3G-S. This purchase had to be accelerated as my sister's phone died, and my brother is passing the iPhone 3G I got him last Christmas to her.  You can't even tell that 3G was 9 months old! That's a testament to how well my brother cares for his stuff

Not much else to type about...

Now time for birthdays!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Ariel (left), Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Sam, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jennifer, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Arelys, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Wanda, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Ali (right), Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Shani, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jessica, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Chirag, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Stay tuned for the next update coming next week!

TRIVIA FACTS:

Even the solid ground we walk on has oxygen in it! Approximately 20% of the Earth's crust is oxygen.

AWESOME JOKES:

AWESOME QUOTES: "Clinic's been quarantined. Patient came in complaining of avian flu like symptoms. And fifty extra dollars in spending money." -Dr. House, in Episode #409 "Games"

AWESOME COMMENTS:

"have you ever been to the car museum on muskogee, ok?  they have a collection of majarajah cars that are incredible...your ad reminded me of the place...you should go, really...." -Tialoca

"Dear Gabriel, I figured I'd forgotten about you because I hadn't visited in so long, but I see you aren't posting as much. I'm beginning to post a little more often myself, after just posting once a week since the beginning of the year. I like the 1955 Chevy cop car the most from the last few entries. Your rotors sure look shiny. I need some too. Is Benito available? (Just kidding of course.) With all the beautiful women on your site I'm almost afraid of reading your blog while at work! The boss might think I'm on some sexy woman site or something. RYC: I sometimes think creatively I'm like a jack of all trades and a master of none. (Come to think of it, I'm a pretty good handyman too.) Well, gotta go. Spicy Cock soup anyone? (LOL)" (I see he liked last week's joke ) -Michael

AWESOME CAR PICTURES: Sorry, no Car Pictures this week!

Currently Smokey and the Bandit: Pursuit Pack By Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, Paul Williams see related

I had a nice weekend, with another fun night at Whiskey Cafe on the 19th. Not much else to type about...

Now time for birthdays!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jenny, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Rosa, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Luisa, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Megan D. (right), Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Kyle, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Silvia, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Lauren, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Dina, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Porzia, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Erica, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Rachel, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Derek, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Andrea, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Limary, Happy Birthday to you!!!

Stay tuned for the next update coming next week!

TRIVIA FACTS:

Desmond Llewlyn has appeared in more 007 movies than any other actor, as he played the role of Q in seventeen movies (he did not appear in Live and Let Die, and he passed away weeks after the global release of The World Is Not Enough).

AWESOME JOKES: This week's joke is courtesy of Crystal C. It is an actual product stocked at a Pathmark in northern NJ:

AWESOME QUOTES: "When I hired you, I knew you were insane. I will continue to try and stop you from doing insane things, but once they're done, trying to convince an insane person not to do insane things is, in itself, insane. So when I hired you, I also set aside fifty thousand a year for legal expenses. So far, you've come in under budget." -Dr. Cuddy, addressing Dr. House in Episode #109 "DNR"

AWESOME COMMENTS:

"i think i saw that cop car on the andy griffith show..." -Tialoca

"birthdays are fun!!" -Florida

AWESOME CAR PICTURES: This week, I will show some my latest eBay purchase and an additional classic car ad from long ago 

Pictured above is an authentic dealer brochure for the 1979 Chevrolet Corvette.  It was printed in July 1978 and shipped to dealers in the fall of 1978 to coincide with the launch of the new 1979 models. New for 1979 on Corvettes was a twin-snorkel air cleaner, and the spoiler that was available only with the Pace Car replicas in 1978 was now an option available for all Corvette models.  All Corvettes were powered by the 350 cubic inch Chevrolet V-8, available in two levels of performance: the base engine with 195 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque, or the L-82 which packed 225 hp and a very good 285 lb-ft of torque which was good enough for 0-60 times of 6.6 seconds (not bad considering all that emissions stuff holding it back. In today's world, we have much better and lower restriction catalysts/exhaust pipes available for use in cars like this, these upgrades yield much improvement in performance). 1979 was Corvette's best selling year of all time, with 53,807 total cars sold.

Pictured above is a 1935 Cadillac advertisement. Text reads as follows: "The man who owns a Cadillac can take it into all lands, and everywhere he will find the same generous recognition of its inherent quality and prestige-- for Cadillac is, in fact as well as in name, the Standard of the World."

Currently Live and Let Die By Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Clifton James, Julius Harris see related