This was an awesome Facebook status update and subsequent comments to see after waking up at 7am on a holiday:

Joe: When god gives you lemons, get a new god.

The guy who was hit by a car last Thursday died the same day, after hours in the trauma ward. He was 66 years old and on his morning walk. I found this out from the police officer when he called to get a more detailed statement that evening.

I take back my thoughts on being a police officer, this whole event has affected me way more than I thought it would. I think I'm too emotional to be a cop. Things like this would happen on a regular basis and I don't think I could handle it.

Something tragic happened on my way to work this morning. I was stopped at the light, and while waiting for it to turn green, a guy who was turning hit a pedestrian at about 20mph. I heard the thud, and looked over to see the guy flying over the car and landing face first on the ground. My light was still red, but I immediately jumped into action. I turned in front of the cars next to me (illegally, but who fucking cares at this point), parked my car, and run out to the guy while calling 911. He was face down with a pool of blood forming around his head and unconscious. He was wearing a jacket with longish hair which prevented me from getting to his neck to check his pulse so I checked it on his wrist. The operator said not to move him, and the guy who hit him was now out of his car standing and watching me. He kept said "oh, he's dead", and I kept saying, "no he's got a pulse". The guy seemed way too calm for the situation but I figured he was probably in shock. At least he didn't hit and run.

So I then proceed to direct traffic around the body in the middle of the road. I felt the need to do this because it was still pretty dark out and the guy was wearing dark blue clothing. Katella is a pretty busy street, being three lanes and all, and I didn't want anyone running this guy over. My days as a police reserve officer kicked in, I guess. Plus there really wasn't anything else we could do until the police and ambulance got there. I called one of the Leads at work to let them know what was going on, as I continued to direct traffic until enough cops showed up to sufficiently do it themselves. I then gave a statement, and stayed until the guy was in the ambulance. The guy who hit him thanked me for helping out. The cop is supposed to call me and get a more detailed statement, but has yet to do so. I hope he does, so I can inquire about how the guy is doing.

I was pretty surprised that no one else stopped to help. It was suggested that maybe other people saw I was already helping and didn't think there was anything else they could do. But I think that unless I saw about...3 or 4 cars that had already stopped to help with something like this would I even think about passing by. I didn't even think for a second about just continuing on to work. I knew he needed help and I stepped up to the plate. And after everything, I thought to myself that I really do think I want to be a police officer someday. Because to me, helping out felt like an obligation rather than a decision. Not in a bad way, I just felt as though that was where I needed to be. So it only makes sense to pursue a career of this sort. And criminal justice was my major for a year or so in college also so I've already got a little bit of background in it.

But anyway, I do hope this guy ends up being okay. If I don't hear from the cop by tomorrow afternoon I may call the station and inquire as to what hospital the guy was taken to so I can find out his condition. I am saddened by the fact that people in orange county keep letting me down lately. It seemed like really bad irony that I posted on facebook last night about how much I dislike the self centered people in this area. Because this morning only proved it even more. I mean, you'd think at least a few people would stop and ask if there was anything they could do or whatever. Some other pedestrians stood on the curb and watched, but I was the only person who took initiative. Even the guy who hit him didn't go near the guy. Well, that's the world we live in for you I guess. Sad, isn't it?

Also, I can't post it on facebook because my mother is on there. Dammit!

I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I GOT THE JOB!

I officially start on Monday. I'm insanely excited about starting this job, and hope I can impress the hell out of everyone and move up to a Lead position in no time.

GAH THIS HAS MADE MY WEEK! I needed the good news. Badly.

I'm going to try and summarize my weekends at faire thus far.

First weekend: It was so great to see everyone! I had two guys crashing in my giganto tent as cuddle buddies the first night - it was nice welcome back to this environment. There's a reason I have a 6 person tent and a queen size air mattress! :) I played in blues on Saturday to help them out, and had a good time. Didn't really gig at all, I've got to remedy that somehow. I'm still not entirely comfortable out on the streets interacting, but only practice will make that better. Drank a ton of whiskey Saturday night, which was weird since I don't normally drink that stuff, but I guess I felt a necessity to drink so I didn't get fresh with my cuddle buddy back at my tent. ;) Sunday I spent lounging around in the guard area and at Belrose. It felt very weird to not be working all day long this year.

Second weekend: Another weekend of not much work at Belrose. I feel as though I'm doing something wrong by not working all the time. I've gotten into a bad habit of sleeping in past opening, and that cuts about 2 hours out of my faire day. But then again, when I'm not working, I get bored easily anyway and run out of things to do. I started a trend of wearing something different every day at faire. Should've taken pictures but I keep forgetting that I bought a new camera.

Third weekend: I got to drive my guards miata to faire, and I enjoyed that greatly, minus the fact that my foot got sore having to always be on the pedal for the whole 5 hours up and 5 hours back. I had the tent to myself this weekend, which was sorta sad but also relaxing in a way. I finally remembered to take some pictures, and concocted my favorite faire outfit on Sunday. I'll definitely wear it again, it was comfortable and even looked really good on me!

I'm looking forward to this upcoming weekend, with guard dinner and whatnot going on. I am going to goodwill tonight to look for a dress to wear. Yes, I'm a cheap bastard. ;) I will be in blues at least on Saturday, and hope to go out and gig with my guard. We need to pull out the gauntlets gigs again, it's classic. Another drive up in the miata, but at least this time I won't have to drive the whole time.

Okay so I got a tattoo last year of raindrops, since my nickname is Rayne (they're "raynedrops" haha). I had it done at faire, after hours, so it wasn't that well done. I liked it though, but wanted it updated. So I had it touched up here in town yesterday, but I still don't think I got exactly what I wanted across, it looks a little too cartoony. But hopefully it looks at least a little better. Here are the before and afters (shitty pictures I know because they are taken with my camera), and let me know what you think.
Before: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=34220470&l=7c4b0128f1&id=45805887
After: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=35695989&l=cc18f14083&id=45805887

So I just got verbally hired by a company out in California. The boss called me and pretty much said, "I want you to work for me". I'm so excited! I was hoping at best to be back in cali by 2012, so this is an amazing surprise opportunity for me to have stumbled upon.

I don't have many details about the job yet, I know it involves changing the meters over to automated ones all around Orange County. I know it is a union job, so starting pay is about 8 dollars more per hour than I currently make, 11 dollars more than I was making at my last job in Orange. The job will be 4 ten hour shifts, so 3 day weekends will make going to faire a lot easier.

Marissa: Have you rented out your rooms yet? If you haven't by September, let me know!

Everyone cross your fingers that the background checks and everything go well, and I officially get hired!

Also a bonus, I'll be manager at Belrose for next southern faire if I do end up moving back. :)

Apparently I made it through the night. My head hurts, I woke up in my car on the side of the road. The passenger door is open and there's a pool of blood on my nice leather seats. I scan the area - no signs of movement. I try to get out of my car, but my head is pounding so bad that I feel like everything is spinning. So I stay in, and seconds later I've slipped back into a sleep coma.

The dreams start coming now. Dreams of the night before. Only bits and pieces.

There is screaming at first, the guy is screaming. I'm driving fast, staring at him. All I had asked was for him to climb back and shut the back hatch door, left open from when we left the bridge hastily. It took me a few minutes to realize why he was screaming. When I did, I slammed on the brakes. Me feet swung out from the pedals and towards the guy. I was kicking him repeatedly.

I'm out of the car now, holding one of the guns. I'm walking through woods. Now I'm running through the woods. There's a sound behind me, the sound of someone...or something chasing me. I spin around to shoot, but its already on me. I swing the shotgun like a baseball bat, and it makes contact with the zombie, knocking him to the ground. And that's when I realize...the zombie is wearing the same clothes as the guy was.

I'm back at my car, opening the door to get back in. There's a sharp pain in my leg, but I can't figure out why.

Waking up now, back to reality. Though it doesn't really seem like I'm awake. Everything is still fuzzy and spinning. I try to recall my dreams, putting the pieces together, when it hits me like a wrecking ball. I was bitten.

The sun is setting, and the guy hasn't returned yet. The zombies are getting closer, but slowly, hopefully a sign that we haven't been spotted. I crack open a mountain dew as I wait, and promptly spill it all over myself from a jolt to my vehicle. I check my rear view mirror, and see the guy, finally he got back. I climb through my vehicle and open the back end. He's out of breath, and behind him, I see a mob of zombies coming up the bridge. I yell at him to get in, and I scramble back to the drivers seat.

The back end is still open, and I see them grasping to get in as I speed away. There are still the zombies in front of me also, and by now they've noticed us. I pick up speed going down the bridge and briefly close my eyes as I make contact with the cluster of zombies. Bodies fly everywhere, the thumps against the car make me cringe, but I push the gas pedal down further. But where am I going to go? I ask the guy if he has any suggestions, but the poor kid seems to be in shock from running still. Consulting him is useless at this point, so I drive off into Wisconsin...maybe it'll be better over there.

I hear the faint sounds of a firetruck up ahead. It seems I must be going in the direction of what civilization is left. Until I see the truck. The bright, candy apple red truck, laying on its side, covered in zombies. I whip my truck around as quick as I can, but they already saw me. I head back downtown, and figure my next best shot is to head to the law enforcement center.

As I draw closer, I realize my strategy is failing me. All these places in town have been hit. How did I manage to make it through the night if no one else did? As I'm thinking to myself, I realize there's another car driving down a cross street - the first vehicle I've seen, and possibly the first other survivor. I speed up and follow, whipping around the corner, driving over things I'm trying to not pay attention to...they are probably body parts, but I'm not gonna look. I can't look. I need to follow the car. It's heading across the river, over to Latsch Island.

As I reach the wagon bridge physically unscathed but mentally tortured, I realize the guy in the car has a gun aimed at me. Slowly I open my car door, yelling at him to give me a second, let me prove I'm alive. His hands are shaking. He's a young guy, and it's pretty obvious that it's not his gun. He's wielding it like a B movie star trying to look cool. I manage to finally talk him down, and we discuss our next move. He has the pistol, and also some shotguns from his fathers gun cabinet. So we decide to stay in Aghaming Park. Across the wagon bridge, amongst the boathouses. Only one access point. We drive and park in the middle, blocking the bridge. I offer to stay with the guns and guard the bridge, while he searches the boathouses for anything useful. Things are pretty quiet for a while, but I see a group of them slowly headed my way. I don't know if they've seen me yet, so I get back in my car to keep my movement to a minimum. Maybe they won't see me, or the guy. Maybe they'll just keep on walking to Wisconsin. Zombies can't swim...can they?

I scramble to lock my doors and windows, my mind racing the whole time. I grab duffel bag and throw what I can into it from the kitchen and bedroom, mostly consisting of nonperishable foods, a knife set, and whatever clothing is laying on my floor. There's a thud against the front door as I grab my phone and head out the back door to my car.

I manage to sneak around the front of the vehicle unnoticed, but shutting my door has caught the zombies attention. As I'm backing out, he lunges towards my suv, bouncing off the hood and getting himself half caught under my vehicle. The front tires roll backwards over him as I exit the driveway, and as I'm speeding off, I see his upper torso crawling towards me - the back half of him partially hanging off his waist.

Driving east, well southeast really, was where I ended up going. The deadness of the town made me feel as though I was in some sort of hollywood studio built town, with fake building fronts and perfect plastic lawns. I figured the best place to go would be the national guard armory, given their supply of firearms. I drive down the empty streets, hoping and praying that they stayed that way.

The world seemed to spin around me. Everything was moving fast and slow at the same time. I felt as though someone had drugged me, because this didn't seem real. But there it was, in front of my own eyes, a man getting eaten by a zombie.

I looked around my apartment, only to realize that I have nothing but shurikens and a whip to defend myself. I don't even have a baseball bat! Scanning my place for other blunt objects, I realize that I'm not in a very safe place here. Too many windows and doors for one person to watch. But where else could I go? Where else would I be safe?

As I'm pacing around my apartment, contemplating my next move, I spot the zombie across the street, looking up from his last meal - and looking at me.

Woke up this morning in a cold sweat. I could feel that something was wrong before I even got out of bed. My dreams turned into nightmares, and I had an odd feeling that I hadn't woken up from the last nightmare yet.

Walking into the living room, I started to realize that everything felt a bit off kilter. Typical outside sounds were obsolete. I looked out the window and realized there wasn't a car on the street, at 8am rush hour. No chirping birds either. The sun glared down upon the vacant city.

Movement caught my eye, and I felt a moment of relief. Someone was out for a jog, maybe I was just imagining the emptiness. But that relief didn't last long, when I saw he wasn't out getting some morning exercise, he was running. Running...from something. I couldn't quite make it out at first, but it was catching up to the runner...and then I realized...oh god...ZOMBIES!

SHIT. I'm only 9 months away from the 25-35 box.

Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 books you’ve read that will always stick with you -- the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the person who tagged you.

((Not tagging anyone, do it if you want.))

1. American Gods
2. Children of Noisy Village
3. Hitchhikers Guide
4. Harry Potter Book 7
5. The Great Hunt
6. Red Dragon
7. Monkeewrench
8. Silence of the Lambs
9. Redwall
10. Eye of the World
11. Little House on the Prairie
12. The Client
13. Along Came A Spider
14. Sam's Letters to Jennifer
15. Hannibal