For the most part I'll be taking weekends off. Too much to do. But every now and then I will bring you a random gem on the weekends (t-shirt posts will remain on weekdays for now).

T-Shirt of the Day

Today's shirt is one of my many Star Wars themed T-shirts. This one was actually purchased at Walmart a couple of years ago. Yeah, every now and then I'll pick up a shirt, and more at the evil Walmart. I actually have a tolerate/hate relationship with the place and don't think it's quite as evil as others, but that's another conversation for another day when I feel like making a serious post. Anyway...the Stormtrooper helmet and cross bones just...fits. I think they used to sell these on the Star Wars store website, but I only see the female, babydoll version on there now. If you're looking for a similar, just as cool (and one I want to add to my collection) shirt, then Wicked Vintage Tees has one with Boba Fett's helmet and the crossbones. Highly recommended.

In today's photo I just got finished playing a show in the very hot World Famous Milestone. Probably one of our better shows and one that left me plenty sweaty!

Weng Weng Rap

Don't know who Weng Weng is? You betta recognize...

It's Friday!

Have some fun...

Canned Bacon!!!

It's about damn time...

A new direction?

Okay, I think I'm taking this blog in a new direction (as evidenced by my
posts from today). Everyday I'm going to try to find the things that
make me smile, think and reflect. I have a feeling this is going to be
all over the place, but that's sort of the way I am anyway.

One feature I plan to keep regular (and maybe even branch off into a blog
of it's own) is my T-shirt of the day. Everyday I plan to showcase one
of my favorite Tee's (and I have many). I'll give a short description
of why I like it and, in most cases, links to where you can buy them
yourselves if you so desire. Some photos will be staged, others will be
candids, but they'll all give you more insight into what a total geek I am,
and the fact that I'm not afraid to show it.

First up is Dude-Vinci



I actually found this image on Google image search a while back. I love the Big Lebowski and The Dude is one of my heroes, his philosophy on life much the same as mine (though I only wish I could be as laid back as he is). I like the juxtaposition of The Dude in Da Vinci's rendition of "Man". I figured it must be a t-shirt design, but never really checked into it until a couple of months ago. Turns out a company called Wicked Vintage Tees not only made that shirt, but many other cool ones as well. I'll be showcasing at least one more of their designs in the future, and probably more since they have so many shirts I'd love to have.

By the way, that's my buddy Lee with me and we're pimping the Limited Edition "MikeHell's Sweet Action" condoms at the Hickory Hops beer festival.

Check them out!

This gives me hope in humanity...

Cat Found!

Do you have Adultitis?

I seem to be in denial at the moment, but you may want to see if you suffer from this
debilitating disease and see what you need to do about saving yourself
pronto!

Another video blog. Weezer - Pork and Beans. I really love this video for no other reason than it's fun. And I'm an internet dork.

I am totally geeking out over the new Indiana Jones movie. Everything I hoped for and more. Sure, some of it was outlandish, but it is and Indiana Jones movie after all. If you've ever read any of the comics or books, you'll know this is far from the most out there plot they could have went with and it fits...it really fits in with the other movies very well. Plus, I can't believe he said it...well, actually I can and I had a dorkgasm when it happened. I wont' spoil it, but fans of both Indiana Jones and Star Wars will know exactly what I'm talking about when it comes.

Now I just need to go watch it in an actual movie theater. Mikey hearts the interwebs.

I said I was setting up this blog so I could get away from blogging (I still kind of hate those words, but have grown to begrudgingly accept them) at Myspace so much. Or at least keep certain things over here different from my persona on that site. However I find that the two worlds often do bleed together and that many of my real life friends keep up with me more through the internet than they do in real life...which is fine by me. I'm not fan of the telephone that's for sure.

So I realize today that while my Myspace "friends" weren't left with a cliffhanger, any readers I have here (besides the one I know I have), don't have any resolution. Well, neither do I, but here...you can at least catch up:

Originally posted on Myspace, May 5 2008

What once looked like it was going to be a good thing turned out to be not all it seemed. And believe it or not, I'm happy with the outcome. I get a much needed break and a chance to start fresh, doing something I enjoy...hopefully.

I have been meaning to write this blog for a while, but between being super busy getting things ready to move out for the old company, and the emotional rollercoaster it put me through, I just waited until today...my first day of freedom.

When the new company came in to "save the day" we were all pretty optimistic about it, but when they gave us our "employment packages", none of us were very happy with what they had to offer. They raised our pay slightly...basically enough to cover the difference in their more expensive, yet not nearly as good, insurance. Bad thing was, they wanted to make us all salaried and they already had built in overtime which made our pay significantly less in the big picture. Plus they wanted us to sign a no-compete contract. Now whether or not I would want to stay in the gutter industry (more likely not), I did want that option to remain open. That no-compete contract would prevent that (even though I've been told that they don't always hold up...it was the principle of it all). I even told the guy who was handling all this that I had a feeling that they were going to use us to get the place running, to keep our customers and then replace us down the road with people they could pay less since he had already told us that we made more than they typically paid. He said they weren't that kind of company and wouldn't do that, but I told him he could say that all day, but in the end they could do whatever they wanted and we'd be stuck. This was especially a big deal to Bull (older guy I worked with) since he'd been doing this for over 20 years, his main options are in the gutter industry right now. There were a couple of other things we had issues with and in the end they weren't willing to budge, so we told them, "Thanks, but no thanks". The good thing is the company we did work for was behind us 100% and said they'd support whatever decision we made and wouldn't penalize us for not taking the jobs, severance-wise or unemployment benefits-wise.

I really do have a positive outlook on all of this. I think in the end I'll be much happier and hopefully be doing something I enjoy. Time will tell though, but for now I plan on taking a few weeks off to get some things done I've been planning on but have never gotten around to. Plus mentally I need a break. I won't wait too long to get serious about looking for a job (especially with the job market the way it is) and if something comes my way in the meantime that I just can't refuse I'll definitely jump all over it.

So...what to do now? I think I'll go take a nap! Thank you unemployment!

Good News???

(copied/pasted from an email I sent to friends, just to save time. More thorough updates as I know more...)

Things are starting to happen. Things that may keep us employed. One of the largest gutter suppliers in the country is interested in beginning to operate in Charlotte to fill the void that RDE is going to leave. If they were to do it and listen to our advice, I really think we could keep our customer base and even expand on that by bringing in some of our occasional customers on a more full time basis. There's nothing definite yet, but they were scheduled to come by and talk Monday...now the head of the company is on his way here tomorrow to look at the place, the potential and to look at us. We've been told to be prepared to interview tomorrow. Interesting. If they do go through with it I could see them hiring a few more people as they do a lot of their own manufacturing. How much, if any of that they would do out of Charlotte, we don't know, but I still imagine they'd want to add at least one more person in the warehouse anyway. I'm sure there will be a transitional period, and it's likely that RDE would co-exist with them for about a month or so until they get all their stuff in place. Also one of our customers put in a good word for Bull over at one of our competitors and they called his house today. He says if it works out that this deal ends up going through, he'd rather stay with us, but at least he has another option out there. Out of all of us, I was worried most for him.

The fast tracking of the whole thing has me really optimistic though. I think they see the upside of the Charlotte market and they have the means to be a major thorn in the sides of our competitors. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought in someone else to help oversee the whole thing, so we would likely have to change our work habits a little, but that wouldn't be a bad thing. It could be something big and we could be looking at a better situation than we've already been in.

Another Video Blog.

I will get back to writing soon...at the moment I don't feel like I have anymore to say, but these videos makes me happy.

Back many, many years ago Elvis Costello appeared on Saturday Night Live. He wanted to play Radio Radio, but the producers said no due to the "controversial" nature of the song. I could explain the whole thing, but you could you just go read for yourself at Wikipedia and I can save a whole lot of time.

I once found the original broadcast version on Youtube, but it has since disappeared, but luckily I found this which made me very happy. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beastie Boys with Elvis Costello and one of his best songs...





Also, Weird Al has been known to pay tribute to the performance live as well (you can also read about that on the Wikipedia page) and I have found video of that to share with you too (give it about a minute and a half):

A video by The Clash....just because I can.

I think from time to time I will post videos in here. Some music related, others just oddities I find. I have over 500 favorites over at You Tube, so I've got plenty to pull from. For now I bring you Guns of Brixton by The Clash...

And the walls come crumbling down....

We knew something was up. There was too much talk, too many strange things going on around work. Today we found out what we suspected was imminent.

To give you a little back story, the place I work in has three employees. There are three branches, one in Charlotte and two in Georgia. The other locations have more employees than we do. We have the largest gross profit of the three locations...and we do it with three people. Not only that, but most of our customers hate...I mean absolutely hate going to the competitors and only do when they have to. Between the three of us, we make deliveries, pull orders, run a sales counter, answer phones, make calls on delinquent accounts and help customers load their orders and with anything else they need. Customer service is what we pride ourselves in and the customers have let us know time and time again how much they appreciate the quickness and accuracy with which we pull their orders, as well as all the other ways we help them out.

But too many people had been asking questions. One of the big-wigs from our parent company called a couple of weeks ago just to ask who our biggest competitors were. The realtor who procured the building for us has started visiting us again after not having seen him in a while. The delivery drivers that shuttle materials between locations have been questioning the goings on around their facilities as well. Our ordering powers had been diminished in the past few months and the orders we sent to be called in for us (or delivered from the main office location out of GA) have been trimmed significantly, sometimes leaving us in a bind when a customer put in a large order. It's hard to keep people happy when you don't have the stock they need...but we tried and bent over backwards to make things work for them. Then this week our general manager and another of the head honchos came to visit. They were doing some quarterly physical counts, or so they said. This has never happened in the three years I've been here. Then the clincher...yesterday after they had both left a locksmith came by looking for our general manager and said he was there to re-key a lock (a screw up on his part as he wasn't supposed to come until today). After a short phone call to the GM in which I heard him say, "Oh yeah, it does say wednesday on here", then he went outside to finish the conversation before getting in his van and leaving. Now we knew something was up.

The answer came today. They're shutting us down. Not all three locations mind you, but just us. They say with the economy the way it is, with building in a downturn, it just wasn't profitable anymore. But wait, don't we have the largest gross profit? Don't we sell more of the high dollar items than the other locations? Isn't Charlotte one of the fastest growing cities in the country with the smallest downturn in building? All true, but it's about more than that...

It all comes down to the fact that we lease our building and they own the other two. They didn't want to commit to a new lease agreement with an uncertain economy. I think the other locations aren't far behind, but since they own the buildings, they're going to give them a little more time. And the re-keying? We thought it was because they were either firing one of us or shutting the place down immediately, but there's another reason for it that's really not worth getting into...just didn't want to leave that subject open.

The news isn't all bad though. They are going to give us a severance package, continue our insurance for a period of time and also help us try to find new jobs if we wish to have their assistance. I feel worst for one of the guys I work with...he's been with the company for over twenty years. He's seen the place change ownership several times and every time he's worried for his job security. He's told me and the other guy we work with that he loves working with us and wouldn't want to work with anyone else. He's 57. He's not in the best of health. In other words, he's not what employers are looking for. I have faith that in the end he'll land on his feet. Some of our customers have known him for years and one way or another someone is going to give him a job. He's a great worker and has a heart of gold, but still with the job market the way it is, I can understand why he's extremely pessimistic about his future.

As for me, I'm trying to be optimistic about the whole situation. We are going to be employed at least until the end of the month, possibly as long as the end of June, but that's the definite cut-off date. They're trying sell our company to one of our competitors and said that could mean that we'd get to keep our jobs, but I'm not stupid and know that more than likely we'd still be let go. Then the severance package...we don't know yet what we're getting (we'll find out in the next couple of days), but I'm sure they're going to take care of us very well. There's also our ESOP that we should see a little money from as well. And when all else fails and the severance ends, we can file for unemployment. I definitely won't mind taking a short vacation before starting the job hunt, but I won't sit around too long (I know it may take a while for me to find something). I've been thinking for a while that I needed a change of venue even though I loved working there, with the guys I worked with and even some of the customers. I'm planning on taking a class this summer and I think this change will be a good thing for me in the long run...if I can find a job before all my funds are exhausted. I know I can, but I am still a little worried about finding one that pays what I need. Still, I'm looking forward to the challenge of doing something new.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to miss the place, the people I worked with, the customers and the freedom that this job has offered me over the past few years. It's a sad day, but one with a ray of hope attached to it. I just keep telling myself it could be a lot worse...

Odd things are happening at work. I will know more tomorrow, but seems change is right around the corner. Hopefully the changes will be beneficial to me and not a detriment to my already unstable being. If it's for the better, it's good timing too, as I need to make some changes with myself...some of them permanently, some may be temporary, but I need to get my life back on track. I do plan on going back to school and that may delay some of the changes I need/want to make.

On a lighter note, I re-watched a movie that I saw in theaters last year last night. It's called Great World of Sound and is set and filmed right here in our lovely (I know that's debatable) nearby city of Charlotte. It's about a record company that's not quite on the up-and-up, but I won't give away any more than that. The actors are pretty much unknowns, the pacing is kind of slow at times, but I really, really dig this movie. It also has many cameos from local musicians, which is a good chance for me to to say, "Hey, I know that person!". Rent it if you can find it.

Speaking of knowing people in movies, I recently bought a copy of a movie called Bandwagon. It's another NC product and was filmed in Raleigh about 12 years ago. It had a very limited theater run (and I did catch it the one week it played in Charlotte) and has never been released on DVD (at least here in America...seems there is a DVD version out of Thailand for some reason). About 5 minutes into the movie, there's yours truly bobbing his head to a crappy metal band (they were crappy on purpose) while a fight breaks out in front of me. I got to see myself on the big screen and finally after all these years I have a copy I can show my friends. It's another good yet slow paced movie about the music business. The only person in it that I've ever really seen in anything since is a guy named KevinCorrigan who went on to play the younger brother on Grounded for Life and had a small roll inSuperbad last summer. He was actually the best part of Grounded For Life and the main reason I watched it when it came on.

Hopefully I'll get to see my mom on screen this year in a movie called All About Steve starring Sandra Bullock. She won a trip to CA to be an extra in the movie from an online contest. While on set she and my dad got to meet Sandra herself, as well as Thomas Hayden Church, Bradley Cooper, Kerri Kenney and Ken Jeong (a doctor and comedian who graduated from Duke University (boo Duke, but hey, it is a North Carolina connection). We're hoping her scene doesn't get cut and that you'll actually be able to see her if the scene is in the final version of the movie. I'm not crazy about Sandra Bullock movies, but this one looks like it could be okay, besides I'll have to give it a shot just to see if mom is a movie star like me...

If you go to a website and a pop-up window opens (most of mine get blocked, ocassionally one breaks through) that has a "Stupid Test: How Stupid are You?" and you take the quiz...you've already answered the question.

I started this blog several years ago, but it didn't last long. I recently deleted all those posts since they were outdated and I wasn't happy with the writing. Also many of the links were dead. So goodbye old blog, hello new....

I occasionally write blogs on myspace as well, and decided maybe it was time for me to find a second outlet...one that encourages me to write more often. Over at myspace I goof around a little too much to get serious about keeping up with my blog. I'm hoping this revamping of my old stomping grounds will get me a little more inspired. Don't expect much, but it could grow into something beautiful.

To expand a little on my little bio-blurb thingy over there on the right, I'm 34 years old and married with two beautiful girls, a 10 year old step-daughter (who I treat as my own) and a 6 year old. Those three girls are the loves of my life!



I play bass in a long running local punk band, Los Accidentes. All the members of the band are pretty well grounded here in our CLT area, so don't expect to see us hitting your town anytime soon. A few out of town shows may be in order down the road, but they won't be far...NC, SC and possibly GA but that's about it. Mostly we'll be staying within the confines of Charlotte and mostly at our home, The World Famous Milestone.

I love music, movies (especially sci-fi, horror, comedy and superhero movies...I guess those are sci-fi as well), art, toys and the geeky side of life!

Well, that's me in nutshell...if you want to see the stranger side of me check the link above to my myspace page. Just remember MikeHell is sort of a character...an extension of myself, but an exaggerated one. I have some crazy friends and I get some weird comments posted on my page from time to time...proceed at your own caution especially if you're easily offended.