right on bro!

I got a letter in the mail the other day from Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America. He invited me to dinner next month with himself, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and the Big Kahuna himself, President George W. Bush.

The reason that he was inviting me was because of my hard work in supporting the Republican Party this year. As a result, I am rewarded with an exclusive invitation to this dinner - for the low, low price of a $25,000 donation.

I don’t know how I got on the Republican Party mailing list. I think it had something to do with my days as an L.A. bureaucrat. I certainly can’t remember doing any Republican Party-like activity, either.

Well, anyway, thanks for the invite Dick, but, no thanks. Please give my regards to George.

The office that I work at closed early today. Pretty sweet. I’m at home chilling right now, trying to figure out how to structure the weekend.

Regul, your sandwich is in the fridge.

I heard the neighbors next door doing it last night.

My old boss at my last job is now working as a contractor at my new job. I gave the referral - they needed somebody immediately, and he was the only one that I knew that was available that could do the job well. So it’s like Freaky Friday or something, except without the humor.

Dude. The season finale of 24 was excellent. This week, we get the season finale of Lost, Alias, and CSI: Miami (haven’t watched it yet). After that…I have jack shit to look forward to for the summer, TV-wise. What am I going to do?

What else? I made a minor breakthrough on my project at work, and I feel good about it. I like coming home feeling good about the work I did during the day.

As it turns out, Monday is indeed a holiday, and I think we get the day off. So I have an unexpected 3-day weekend. Hmmm.

Like I said in my last entry, I went to San Jose this weekend for Regul’s birthday weekend. It was my first time there. San Jose is nicely green, suburban, and quiet, and there wasn’t much traffic. Kinda makes me wonder what I’m doing in LA (although my living situation has much improved since I came out here to the Westside).

I had a good time - played some poker, watched some fireworks, drank a bunch of booze, etc. Also read Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of the Start.”

This week’s turning out to feel uncreative. Did I hear that next Monday is a holiday?

I was having a perfectly good (if hungover and tired) weekend, until I got ripped off by a cab belonging to City Cab (it’s the name of a taxicab company here in Los Angeles). I took a taxi from LAX to my home, and the driver, Bashir Hassan, didn’t turn on the meter. So I asked him, as we were halfway through the airport, “Hey, aren’t you going to turn the meter on?” He patted the meter and said, “Yeah.”

Well, five minutes later, he still didn’t turn it on, and I said, “Hey, turn the meter on,” and he said, “It’s on.” I said, “No it isn’t” (there were no numbers and the VACANT light was on) and he said, “Yes, it is. We’ll check it when we get there.”

Well, that should have been warning #1 for me to get out immediately, but I was already near Westchester, and was tired and just wanted to go home. Plus, I actually trusted the driver, which was a big mistake.

And, of course, lo and behold, when we get there…”Twenty five bucks plus $2.50 service charge.” Well, I’d just taken a taxi from home to LAX on Friday, and it was less than $15 - I said “No way” and told him exactly that. He said, “These are our new rates” and pointed at the rate sheet.

Well, how is your average passenger supposed to a) determine that the cabdriver’s meter is or isn’t working and b) calculate mileage and time stopped for their ride? I couldn’t, so I got worked. I argued with him for a few minutes, and then I finally said fuck it, paid him, and told him I’d call his dispatch and the city. He said, “Fine, go ahead.”

Well, I called dispatch, and they said the ride should have been no more than $18, with the $2.50 fee included. However, their complaint department isn’t open today so I’m going to have to call tomorrow. Weak.

I already lodged a complaint with the City of Los Angeles’ taxi services Website, and I’ll call City Cab’s complaint line in the morning. I could care less about the ten bucks, but I want it back, and more importantly, I want an apology.

Meanwhile, boycott City Cab, and if they ask why, tell them “Because Michael from rightonbro.com said so!” From now on I’m just going to use Independent Cab - this is not an endorsement, but I’ve never had any problems with them. Plus, my neighbor is a cab driver for them, and if there are any problems, I can always go throw eggs at his house or something if I’m feeling particularly spiteful.

Other than that, the weekend in San Jose/San Francisco was dope. This blog entry was supposed to be about that, but then this whole cab thing happened, and now I’m too annoyed to write about the trip. I’ll give you the update later.

Thanks to everybody who told me about the Prius thing. At first I was like, “yeah yeah yeah,” but then I realized, I bought my Prius just two weeks ago, and it’s kind of early in the year. So I think I’m going to get it checked out.

I’ve just been working, for the most part. Montez came over yesterday and I helped him create a couple of demos for something he’s working on. I hope he gets it, whatever it turns out to be.

What else? I finally got around to finishing Eleanor Rigby this weekend. The ending was pretty lame, but it’s a solid read, especially if you can identify with being alone and in your 30s. Next up is a couple of business books that have been lying around the apartment for awhile.

Yesterday, I watched the season finale of Survivor. I’ve never really watched it before - maybe once or twice at my parents’ house during vacation. It was pretty cool, I guess. I can see why it’s such a watercooler topic, and I’d probably at least watch a few episodes when the new season comes on.

I’ve been doing pretty well at Halo 2 lately. Regul and I have been playing the new Double Team (2 vs. 2) mode, and we’re 10-14 over the past two days. Now that I wrote about it, it probably means we’re gonna get our asses kicked though.

I’m pretty much done grilling steaks. Any suggestions for other things to grill?

Quiet weekend. Cleaned, paid some bills, did some laundry, played some Halo, went to Chipotle, read a book, watched “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.”

I got the Prius washed and was nervous about taking it to the car wash, asking the attendant, “You know how to drive this thing, right?” He did.

I like these kinds of weekends, every once in awhile, where you just kind of get up and do whatever.

Went to Brass Monkey last night to hang old with the old crew. I’d never been there before. It’s a pretty cool bar, with okay food and free parking - until the karaoke started. Then it was time to leave. But it was all good - happy birthday April!

Work went okay this week. Got a bunch of stuff moving, and I feel pretty good about it.

Montez has his new podcast up. He’s funnier, and the show is getting better.

Prius is going well, so far. I’m still getting used to the slight shudder that the car makes when it switches from gas to electric mode, and vice versa. I’m averaging about 41mpg right now, which is pretty much where I expected to be, so that’s good.

This week’s episode of 24 ruled once again. I still have a lot of catching up on all of my other shows to do. Don’t have anything scheduled for this weekend, so maybe I’ll do it. I’m hoping for a nice chill weekend, trips to with some laundry, trips to Subway, and maybe a little bit of work.